Latest KFF Health News Stories
Obama Administration Asks High Court To Rule On Health Law
The Justice Department’s formal appeal puts to rest speculation about the administration’s legal strategy. In addition, Republican state attorneys general separately asked the Supreme Court for a verdict early next year. Many observers say the new timeline will make the court’s ultimate finding a factor in the presidential election.
Analyzing The Health Law’s Tax Credits And The CLASS Act’s Future
This round-up of health law implementation news also includes a report that the comment period for state health exchanges has been extended and news that Catholic organizations have stepped-up their opposition to the measure’s requirement that contraceptive services be covered.
Small Phase I Trial Shows HIV Vaccine Candidate Is Most Powerful To Date
Researchers at the Spanish Superior Scientific Research Council (CSIC) have successfully completed a small Phase I human clinical trial of an HIV vaccine candidate that granted 90 percent of 30 study participants an immunological response against the virus, Gizmag reports. “The MVA-B vaccine draws on the natural capabilities of the human immune system and ‘has proven to be as powerful as any other vaccine currently being studied, or even more,’ says Mariano Esteban, head researcher from CSIC’s National Biotech Centre,” the magazine writes (Borgobello, 9/28).
Adult Male Circumcision Not A Cost Effective Anti-HIV Tactic, Panel Of Economists Says
A panel of economists commissioned by the Copenhagen Consensus Centre who “conducted a first-ever cost-benefit analysis of the top AIDS-fighting approaches by comparing the costs of prevention and treatment options per lives saved … said Wednesday that adult male circumcision, a global priority for preventing HIV infection, is not nearly as cost-effective as other methods of prevention,” USA Today reports. “The World Bank and the U.S. State Department support a major push for adult male circumcision,” however the panel said that “more cost-effective ways to prevent the spread of the disease are an HIV vaccine, infant male circumcision, preventing mother-to-child transmission of the disease and making blood transfusions safe,” the newspaper writes.
Longer Looks: A Surgeon Examines His Professional Development
This week’s articles comes from The New Yorker, MedPage, the Harvard Business Review, The Atlantic, American Medical News and Columbia Journalism Review.
Hospital Readmission Rates Reflect Problem In Addressing Hospital Failures
News outlets continue their coverage of a report by the Dartmouth Atlas Project.
States Join Forces To Fend Off Medicaid Cuts
Red and blue states alike are lobbying with a common message: They oppose federal cuts to Medicaid that could create even more red ink for already-stretched state budgets.
Military Benefits Face Same Cost Challenges As Social Security, Medicare
Last year the federal government spent a record amount on benefit costs for military retirees.
Gingrich Issues New ‘Contract With America’; Includes Health Insurance Proposal
GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich, who seeks to cast himself as his party’s “idea guy,” has issued his “21st Century Contract with America,” which includes a proposal that people either choose a tax credit or the ability to deduct the cost of their health insurance.
IOM Offers Additional Ideas To Revamp System Of Geographic Adjustments To Medicare Payments
Modern Healthcare reports that this round of recommendations focuses on ways to set the work adjustment, calculate the labor portion of practice expense and use cost-sharing weights.
State Roundup: Mass. Doctors Not Keen On New Payment Methods
News outlets report on a variety of state health policy options.
Medicaid Payments In N.Y., Kentucky Questioned
New York auditors says nursing homes were overpaid, while a Kentucky state senator says doctors at the University of Louisville misused Medicaid funds.
Viewpoints: Rising Health Costs And The Health Law
A selection of opinions and editorials from around the country.
Jails Are Holding Increasing Numbers Of Mentally Ill
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that in Georgia more mentally ill people are locked away than are treated in state psychiatric hospitals. In other state news about mental health, Florida seeks to recoup $4 million from a company that managed Medicaid mental health services, and Milwaukee considers bolstering services.
Initiative Pays Primary-Care Docs For Coordinating Medicare Patients’ Care
The Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday a new initiative created by the health law that will ask physicians to focus on patients with chronic conditions. The program will be tested in five to seven markets across the country.
First Edition: September 29, 2011
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports that a Supreme Court ruling on the 2010 health law is now likely before the 2012 presidential election.
Administration Seeks Quick Supreme Court Health Law Ruling
This Justice Department step is being viewed as a signal that the Obama administration wants the high court to decide the question of the health law’s constitutionality before the 2012 presidential election. KHN summarizes today’s news coverage.
NFIB Asks High Court To Strike Down All Of The Health Law
The National Federation of Independent Business, a small-business advocacy organization, will file an appeal today. In it, the group will ask the Supreme Court to move beyond the law’s individual mandate and strike down the entire measure.
