Latest KFF Health News Stories
As the company splits into two separate entities, it has indicated that $1.5 billion will be set aside to cover an expected settlement with the federal government over claims that the company went way too far in selling a seizure drug.
Republican Rivals’ Attacks On ‘Romneycare’ Gaining Traction
GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney’s health policies are not only the target of his Republican opponents but are also drawing attention and barbs from Democrats. Also on the trail, Newt Gingrich, another GOP primary candidate, criticized the tenor of the campaign season so far.
Abortion News: Ind. Planned Parenthood Faces State Challenge
Across the country, state officials and lawmakers are weighing in on abortion clinics and practices.
On Tuesday at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., Chelsea Clinton, board member of the William J. Clinton Foundation, and Christy Turlington Burns, founder of Every Mother Counts, helped launch the GW + Phones = Hope campaign, which is “working with the national nonprofit Hope Phones to collect phones to benefit maternal health programs in Democratic Republic of Congo and Nepal,” the “GW Hatchet” blog reports (Ferris, 10/18).
AP: Poor Neighborhoods Take Toll On Health
The federal government conducted a social experiment to explore the difficulties poor neighborhoods pose to public health.
Viewpoints: If Not CLASS, Then What?; House GOP Abortion Bill; MLK’s Legacy In Health Care
A selection of today’s editorials and opinions from around the country.
CMS Provides New Guidance On EHR Payment Program
Modern Healthcare reports on this development, which will set up a “double check” to ensure that hospitals have what is necessary to become “meaningful users” of electronic health records.
States Take Cautious Approach To Health Law’s New Coverage Mandates
Politico Pro reports that states are waiting to “get greater clarity” on the federal benefit package in order to minimize the extra coverage costs for which they might ultimately be responsible.
Medicare Part B Premium Costs Likely To Cut Into Social Security’s Increase
Social Security benefits will increase by 3.6 percent, but many consumers won’t feel more weight in their wallets because of an expected boost in Medicare costs.
Aid Groups, Health Ministry Plan To Administer Oral Cholera Vaccine To 100,000 Haitians
Working in conjunction with the Haitian Ministry of Health and the Haitian aid group GHESKIO, Boston-based Partners In Health (PIH) will begin an immunization campaign in January aimed at providing two doses of the oral cholera vaccine Shanchol “to 100,000 Haitians living in two vulnerable communities: a neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, where potable water and latrines are luxuries, and to an isolated rural village in the lower Artibonite Valley region,” the Miami Herald reports.
Vaccines Among Most Successful, Cost-Effective Health Investments In History
“Vaccines are among the most successful and cost-effective health investments in history,” Seth Berkley, CEO of the GAVI Alliance, writes in this post in the Huffington Post’s “Impact” blog. Because vaccines have saved millions of lives, “donors, the global health community and developing countries themselves [must] stay focused on immunization,” he writes.
The Guardian Interviews GlaxoSmithKline Lead Researcher About New Malaria Vaccine
The Guardian features an interview with Moncef Slaoui, now chair of research and development at GlaxoSmithKline, who discusses his 23-year involvement in the research leading to the RTS,S malaria vaccine that has shown to halve the risk of malaria among African children. Slaoui said cellular immunity is the key to the vaccine’s success and research on the vaccine has advanced the company’s knowledge of adjuvants, substances that stimulate the immune system, which has allowed the development of other vaccines (Boseley, 10/19).
India Must Stay The Course In Efforts To Eradicate Polio
“Clearly, there is no room for complacency” in India’s efforts to eradicate polio, defined by the WHO as no recorded case of the disease for three years, because “[t]he goal of complete eradication is within reach,” Deepak Gupta, a senior U.N. professional in Strategic Health/Development Communication, writes in an Asia Sentinel opinion piece. “[T]he next three years — till 2014 — will be crucial,” he writes, meaning experts should focus on “intense communication and preventive work, especially with regard to critical risk-factors like poor routine immunization and lack of proper sanitation,” he states, concluding, “The challenge is to ensure the sustainability of the success achieved so far” (10/19).
First Edition: October 20, 2011
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports analyzing the super committee’s progress, and detailing how Republican rivals’ stabs at ‘Romneycare’ are starting to gaining traction.
ACO Rule Relaxes Requirements For Doctors, Hospitals
The Obama administration today released much-awaited final rules on Medicare accountable care organizations that make it easier health care providers to participate.
Deficit Panel Hears Advice, Ideas From All Sides
Much of the input the super committee receives is familiar and expected. For instance, Democratic lawmakers are urging the panelists to protect the 2010 health law, Medicare and Medicaid. Republicans are pushing for the health law’s repeal and cuts to federal health programs.
Romney Faces Health Policy Attacks In Tuesday’s GOP Presidential Debate
Again on the defensive about the Massachusetts health law he signed while governor, GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney reiterated that he didn’t think the federal government should have used the state’s measure as a model and acknowledged that he didn’t finish the job in terms of reducing health care costs.
