Latest KFF Health News Stories
Iowa: GOP Presidential Debate Turns Up Campaign Heat
With the Iowa caucuses fast approaching, new political ads are hitting the airwaves, and Saturday night’s debate draws lots of fact-checking by news organzations.
State Roundup: Iowans And Wellmark Premium Hikes; Fla. Medicare Audit
News outlets report on a variety of state health policy issues.
Fla. Squeezes Medicaid Spending; Colo. Dispute Threatens Budget
Medicaid spending is a key part of budget deliberations in Florida and Colorado.
Globe And Mail Reports On Potential Factors Leading To Increasing HIV Incidence In Uganda
After experiencing a decline in the number of new HIV infections in the 1990s, Uganda’s “HIV [incidence] rate is creeping back up again. New infections are increasing, and the sense of urgency has vanished,” the Globe and Mail reports, adding that the country “has become an early warning signal to the rest of the world: If the fight against AIDS fades into complacency and neglect, the disease can roar back again.” The article discusses how complacency among the general population, as well as government policies of Uganda and the U.S., “have contributed to the rise in HIV infections here, analysts say” (York, 12/9).
U.N. Seeks Aid Money For Zimbabwe, Half For Food; WHO Says Country Must Spend More On Health
“The United Nations said on Friday it was seeking $268 million for aid efforts in Zimbabwe next year, with half the money to be used to buy food for more than 1.4 million people facing shortages” in 2012, Reuters reports. “The humanitarian situation in the country has continued to improve over the past couple of years. However, challenges still exist such as food insecurity” and lack of access to safe water, which has led to cholera and typhoid outbreaks, Alain Noudehou, country head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said, the news service notes (12/9).
Poll Investigates The Impact Of Unemployment
A poll by NPR and the Kaiser Family Foundation examines the repercussions of unemployment, including the impact this state has on insurance and health.
What Does The Health System’s Future Hold?
In a pair of articles, The Wall Street Journal examines the future of the American health care system and finds that many experts think there is little new in strategies to squeeze costs and improve quality.
A selection of editorials and opinions on health policy from around the country.
Retiree Health Funds Run Low, Program To Close Early
A notice in Friday’s Federal Register made clear that the fund designed to help cover health insurance for early retirees would stop taking claims for expenses incurred after Dec. 31.
House Plan Would Give Temporary Relief To Docs, Draws Hospital Concern
The “payment patch” would largely be paid for by charging higher Medicare premiums to affluent seniors and by cutting hospital payments.
Lawmakers Move Closer To Completing Legislative To-Do List
Still remaining on the list, however, is action to prevent a scheduled reduction in Medicare payments for physicians. A proposal to avert this cut is included in a broader measure that would extend the payroll tax break.
PlusNews Examines African Government Funding For, Engagement In HIV Research
“Unless African governments increase their funding for and engagement in HIV research, the continent cannot hope to attain equal status in determining its research agenda and priorities, speakers said at the 16th International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) in Africa,” PlusNews reports. “Donor-driven funding often means that research starts and ends on the say-so of funders, rather than being based on a country’s needs,” the news service writes. The article includes comments from researchers, funders, and representatives of research initiatives (12/9).
Millions Of People In African Sahel Need Food Assistance, U.N. Agencies Say
“Millions of people in Africa’s Sahel region need urgent help to cope with food shortages brought on by erratic rainfall and drought, and at least one million children in the area face malnutrition next year, U.N. agencies warned,” AlertNet reports. “The World Food Programme (WFP), which called for a new type of response to climate-related crises, estimates that between five and seven million people in the semi-arid zone just south of the Sahara need assistance now,” and it “said the situation would worsen if nothing was done to help the countries in need — as more people are expected to run out of food supplies by February and March next year,” the news service writes (Fominyen, 12/9).
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about Congress’ efforts to inch toward the finish line on a spending deal, on a payroll tax bill and on a way to avert a scheduled deep cut in Medicare reimbursement rates for doctors.
Health Care – And The ‘$10,000 Bet’ – A Hot Topic At GOP Debate
The candidates traded barbs about the individual mandate to buy insurance and what they would do about the health law.
Romney Assails Gingrich For Remarks About GOP Medicare Plan
Former Massachusetts governor reminds voters in Iowa that his opponent once dismissed the bill drawn up by House Republican Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan.
House GOP’s Tax Bill Includes Medicare Pay Fix, Cuts To Health Law Funding
The plan would cut $21 billion in health law funding and $16 billion in hospital payments.
Kaiser Health News: Fund To Help Cover Early Retirees Nearly Out Of Money
The KHN blog Capsules reports that the $5 billion fund that helped cover health insurance for more than 5 million people will stop taking claims for expenses incurred after Dec. 31 because it is running out of money.
Science Examines HIV Prevention Trials, Challenges To Implementing New Strategies
Science examines recent successes in clinical trials in the HIV prevention field, limitations to mathematical models resulting from these trials, and funding issues facing campaigns to ramp up HIV prevention interventions. “[M]odels now suggest that combining [prevention strategies] might virtually stop HIV’s spread,” but “there’s a vast difference between a study having success and thwarting HIV in the real world,” according to Science. “Models only point out routes to ending AIDS, and many will surely differ,” the magazine writes, concluding, “But for the first time since AIDS surfaced 31 years ago, many researchers believe the destination itself is no longer a mirage” (Cohen, 12/9).
