Latest KFF Health News Stories
Medicaid: Maine’s Governor Defends Cuts; Fla. To Continue 5-County Pilot
Media outlets track state Medicaid news from Texas, Maine and Florida.
Research Roundup: Insurance Coverage In The Great Recession; PCIP Vs. CHIP
This week’s studies come from the Archives of Internal Medicine, The New England Journal Of Medicine, The Urban Institute, The Kaiser Family Foundation and the Government Accountability Office.
State News: Ariz. Planned Parenthood Resumes Some Services
News outlets report on a variety of state health policy news.
3-Year Study Identifies Key Interventions To Reduce Maternal, Newborn, Child Deaths
A three-year study conducted by the WHO, Aga Khan University, and the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH) “has identified key interventions to reduce maternal, newborn and child deaths,” PANA/Afrique en Ligne reports. “According to the study
Feds Deny Florida’s Request For Waiver From MLR Rule
The Department of Health and Human Services denied Florida’s request on the basis that complying with the health law’s medical-loss ratio rule would not destabilize the insurance market.
Study: Dentists’ Role In Medical Checkups
A study in the American Journal of Public Health indicates that many people who don’t have regular contact with a physician still see a dentist at least once a year — potentially positioning these professionals to spot the early signs of chronic illnesses.
Miami’s Jackson Hospital Posts Loss Again; Nurse Strikes Threatened
In hospital business news, two Philadelphia landmarks agree to join operations while Jackson Hospital in Miami is facing a cash crisis. The New York Times reports that newly emboldened nurses unions are confronting hospital management over proposed budget cuts. And Houston faces the loss of a key psychiatric hospital.
Health Costs On The Rise; A Worry For People Near Retirement
A new report from S&P Indices finds that the average costs of health care services covered by commercial insurance and Medicare reflects an annual increase of 5.11 percent for the year ending in October.
SGR In The Spotlight: Examining The ‘Doc Fix’ Dilemma
News outlets report on how this formula, created to control Medicare spending on physician services, has evolved into a “budget-busting juggernaut.”
Longer Looks: Cancer Vaccines, Top Health Stories Of The Year
Selections this week come from Newsweek, The Atlantic, Zocalo Public Square, Health Affairs, The New Republic and The Daily Show.
Women, Girls Affected By HIV In Indonesia Face Poverty
“The number of reported HIV cases has tripled in Indonesia in recent years, curtailing productivity and trapping affected girls and women, especially, in poverty, according to a recent U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) report,” PlusNews reports. “Women, representing a quarter of all people living with HIV in Indonesia, shoulder family finances when their partners can no longer work, or when they face education and employment discrimination, said the report,” the news service adds.
The Guardian Examines Global Disability Issues
The Guardian on Thursday published several articles about people living with disabilities. One article reports on how “[a]ccess to HIV information, testing and treatment for people with disabilities was raised for the first time as a central theme at the International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA), held last week in Addis Abba, Ethiopia” (Powell, 12/15). A second article interviews 14 people with disabilities about the challenges they face in their respective countries (Cummins, 12/15). A third article presents an interactive graphic of the key data on global disability from the first WHO World Report on Disability, published in June (Cummins/Villani, 12/15). And a fourth article examines the stigma faced by those with disabilities around the world (Ford, 12/15).
Innovative Programs Can Help Developing Countries Retain Health Care Workers
“Medical schools in poor countries continue to produce doctors that they will eventually lose to more lucrative careers in cities or other countries,” but some of these countries “are already showing bold efforts to meet the challenge” of retaining health care workers, Manuel Dayrit, director of the WHO Department of Human Resources for Health, writes in a SciDev.Net opinion piece. Dayrit discusses programs in Ethiopia, Sudan, and the Philippines that use community-based education and local service contracts to retain health care workers in areas where they are needed.
A Call For Continued Investment In Global Health, Development
In this Politico opinion piece, former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), who chairs the non-profit Hope Through Healing Hands, writes, “Continued investment in the fight to end global AIDS is more than an investment in the lives of families and communities in developing nations — it is an investment in security, diplomacy and our moral image worldwide.” He says the goals announced by President Barack Obama on World AIDS Day — including providing antiretroviral treatment to a total of six million people by the end of 2013 — “must have the support of Congress.” Frist continues, “Under the current budget cuts, more than four million people will likely lack mosquito nets, a cheap way to prevent malaria. More than 900,000 children will lack access to vaccinations for measles, tetanus and pertussis.” He stresses the “need for accountability, transparency and results,” citing the Millennium Challenge Corporation as “a good example of promoting aid effectiveness from ‘input to impact.'” He concludes, “Foreign aid is less than one percent of our national budget, so cutting it would have a miniscule effect on our deficit reduction” (12/14).
BBC’s ‘Assignment’ Examines Cholera In Haiti
The BBC News audio program “Assignment” reports on the cholera epidemic in Haiti “and examines the controversy that surrounds it.” Correspondent Mark Doyle traces the alleged origin of the disease in Haiti, which had not recorded a case of the disease in about a century, discusses the U.N. report on the situation, and talks about how “families of cholera victims are now demanding compensation” (12/16).
Gilead Submits Application To FDA Asking For PrEP Approval For Truvada
Pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences on Thursday submitted an application to the FDA asking the agency to approve its antiretroviral drug Truvada for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to reduce the risk of HIV infection among adults, a Gilead press release reports. “If the [application] is approved, Truvada would be the first agent indicated for uninfected individuals to reduce the risk of acquiring HIV through sex,” the press release notes (12/15).
Swaziland To Face Increased Food Insecurity In 2012, Official Says
“Archaic agriculture practices and erratic rainfall in the recent planting period is expected to lead to an increase in food insecurity for most of Swaziland’s 1.1 million people in 2012, says a government agriculture official,” IRIN reports. “In the 1970s Swaziland was a net exporter of food, but since the early 1990s the country has been dependent on donor assistance to greater or lesser degrees. In 2010 about one in 10 Swazis depended on food aid,” according to the news service.
