Latest KFF Health News Stories
Suit Accuses Generic Drugmakers Of Overcharging Medicaid
Three firms are accused by a whistleblower of getting pharmacies to dispense more expensive dosage forms than what was prescribed.
HHS Secretary Tours Alaska Health Care Facilities; Judge Halts Rollback Of Ariz. Same-Sex Benefits
News outlets report on a variety of state health policy issues.
CDC Reports Slight Drop In Smoking; Tick Worries Blood Experts
News outlets report on a variety of public health issues.
Attention Focuses On ‘Super Committee’ And Medicare
Health care industries and professionals have contributed millions of dollars over the years to the lawmakers now on the special deficit panel, The Associated Press reports. Meanwhile, some liberal groups are pressuring to protect safety-net programs, while a member of the committee comments on the possibility of compromise.
Viewpoints: Perry And Medicaid; Flawed ‘Universal’ Coverage?; Nursing Home Regulation
A brief collection of opinions and editorials from around the country.
Med Schools Lack Curriculm On Gay Health, Survey Finds
A report in the Journal of the American Medical Association and a Mayo Clinic study examine medical school students’ curriculum and stress levels.
FTC Seeks More Details On Drug Company Deal
Pharmacy benefits management company Express Scripts announced in July it was acquiring a similar firm, Medco.
Republican Lawmakers Discuss Medicare, Autism Spending
GOP Rep. Joe Walsh talks to a high school class and Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., is backing efforts to provide federal funds for autism research.
Medicare Actuary: HHS’ Safety Plan Savings Projections ‘Reasonable’
But actuary Rick Foster said savings will be difficult to acheive by 2013. Meanwhile, more Medicare bundling experiments are coming.
Kansas Doctors To Request Rollback Of New Regulations; Anti-Abortion Group Backs Ohio Amendment
News outlets report on abortion issues in the states.
Health Law Supporters Press Obama Administration
Advocates of the law seek a change to the subsidy provision, and some fear that the administration is too eager to compromise with business.
Boston Hospital Names New Leader
Dr. Keven Tabb is picked to lead Beth Israel Deaconess.
TB Vaccine Candidate Shows Early Potential In Mice
Scientists at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Colorado State University report in the September 4 issue of Nature Medicine that “[a] potential vaccine against tuberculosis [TB] has been found to completely eliminate tuberculosis bacteria from infected tissues in some mice,” according to a HHMI press release. “The vaccine was created with a strain of bacteria that, due to the absence of a few genes, are unable to avoid its host’s first-line immune response,” the release states, adding, “Once this first-line defense has been activated, it triggers the more specific immune response that can protect against future infections” (9/4). A spokesperson for the campaign group TB Alert told BBC News, “These are interesting experiments but it is too early to tell what impact they will have on the development of a safe and effective vaccine,” the news service reports (Gallagher, 9/4).
Judge Halts Implementation Of La. Medicaid Managed Care Plan
News outlets report on Medicaid issues in the states.
Apply Lessons From The AIDS Response To NCD Control And Prevention In Developing Countries
In anticipation of the September 2011 U.N. High-level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) “should not only look at the lessons learned in the control of NCDs in developed countries, but also those from other areas of public health, especially AIDS, which can inform the design of an effective and sustainable response to NCDs in developing countries,” Rebecca Dirks from FHI 360 and colleagues write in this PLoS Medicine Policy Forum editorial piece.
Potential Budget Cuts Threaten U.S. Diplomacy And Development Aid, Reuters Reports
Reuters examines how budget debates in Congress “could undo” President Barack Obama’s “‘smart power’ approach, which elevates diplomacy and development alongside military power as guarantors of U.S. security in a rapidly changing world.” Programs run through the State Department and USAID that provide “[f]ood aid to hungry countries, … improved medical services for expectant mothers and the U.S. response to natural disasters such as earthquakes and droughts could be hit in a major scale-back of U.S. assistance,” the news agency writes.
“Sierra Leone’s free health care plan for pregnant women and young children is dysfunctional and hobbled by corruption and a lack of accountability,” according to a report (.pdf) released Tuesday by Amnesty International, Agence France-Presse reports. The nation’s free health care program for pregnant women, nursing mothers and children under five years old was launched in April 2010 with support from UNICEF, the World Bank, the WHO and the U.K. Department for International Development, AFP notes (9/6).
Mass. Has Fewest Uninsured, Texas Has The Most, Says Poll
A survey by Gallup and Healthways finds wide variations in the number of uninsured from state to state.
U.S. Calls For ‘Unfettered’ Access To Provide Humanitarian Assistance To 4M Somalis
Nancy Lindborg, USAID’s assistant administrator for the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance, writes in this post in USAID’s “IMPACTblog” that the U.S. “continue[s] to call on all parties involved to allow unfettered humanitarian access to Somalis in need.” She continues, “The unfortunate reality is that Somalia is the most difficult operating environment for humanitarians in the world today,” adding that “unless we — the international community — can get access to provide humanitarian assistance to southern Somalia, the already horrific situation will get worse. Without access, the number of people in crisis will increase, and famine will continue to spread in Somalia” (9/6).
Proposed Federal Requirement For Contraceptives Drawing Some Fire
A proposed rule that birth control be a free preventive service under the health law is drawing partisan cheers and jeers.
