Latest KFF Health News Stories
U.N. Issues Appeal For Air Cargo Space, Warns About Rising Child Mortality Among Somalis In Kenya
UNICEF on Tuesday “appeal[ed] to the air transport sector to provide free and discounted cargo space to bring emergency food supplies into the region,” the U.N. News Centre reports (8/2). UNHCR, the U.N. refugee agency, warned in its latest situation report that “[c]hild mortality rates among Somali refugees in Kenya are on the rise and there are ‘alarmingly high rates’ of malnutrition,” according to Deutsche Presse-Agentur/M&C (8/3).
With Deal In Place, Focus Shifts To Role Of ‘Super Committee’
This panel will be tasked with searching out more than $1 trillion in spending reductions from the mandatory-spending side of the budget, which includes Medicare and Medicaid. If they fail, automatic across-the-board cuts will be triggered.
Debt Deal’s Potential Medicare Cuts Echo Through Health Care Industry
Medicare and Medicaid advocates prepare for their luck to run out as the debt deal will likely lead to pressure on providers and could lead to family physicians, hopsitals and even elderly patients feeling the pinch.
Obama Administration Issues New Guidance On Aid To Drought-Stricken Somalia
The Obama administration on Tuesday issued new guidance stating “the U.S. would not prosecute relief agencies for delivering aid to parts of Somalia controlled by the Islamist insurgent group al-Shabab, despite concerns that unrestricted aid in the failed state would be diverted to the wrong hands,” Inter Press Service reports (Hough, 8/2).
Children Of Depressed Mothers In Developing Countries Less Likely To Thrive, Report Says
“Children of depressed mothers in developing countries are 40 percent more likely to be underweight or stunted than those with mothers in good mental health,” according to a report published in the August edition of the WHO Bulletin, Reuters reports. “The analysis was based on 17 studies of nearly 14,000 mothers and their small children carried out in Africa, Asia, and South America and the Caribbean,” according to the news agency.
State Roundup: Moving Vets Off Medicaid; San Fran. Grapples With Loophole
News outlets report on a variety of state health policy issues.
U.S., Western Governments Can Help Prevent ‘Mass Starvation’ In Somalia
With the State Department’s reassurance to aid groups on Tuesday that they “will not face prosecution if they are forced to pay bribes to al-Shabab or if militants divert some food supplies,” organizations still have “the problem of gaining access to famine victims and ensuring the safety of their personnel, a number of whom have been murdered by the militants,” a Washington Post editorial says. “But the crisis may be causing al-Shabab’s cohesion to break down; some commanders have been cutting deals with aid organizations to receive food supplies,” the editorial states.
Viewpoints: Geithner, Bowles, Simpson, Ryan, Vladeck, Wilensky On Health Spending And The Deficit
A selection of opinions from prestigious authors.
Insurance Rate Reviews Pick Up Momentum
Regulators at the state and federal levels are stepping up oversight of health insurance rate increases.
‘Political Resolve’ Needed To End World Hunger
“[A]s the worst drought in 60 years again devastates the Horn of Africa, throwing as many as 12 million into desperate hunger
N.H. Says Group That Administers Insurance For Cities Owes $100 Million
State investigators say the Local Government Center is required by law to return the surplus to the cities.
Survey Finds Employers Expanding Coverage Under Reform
A new survey finds that employers are providing benefits to a growing number of people, particularly as employee benefits are extended to cover workers’ adult children – a provision of the health law. In related news, Senate Republicans are calling for standardized rules on child-only health plans to encourage more activity in the area because many companies left this market as a result of the health overhaul’s requirements.
New Leadership At HHS Insurance Exchange Office
Steve Larson will join forces with another HHS official to oversee exchange planning. Meanwhile, Julie Appleby provides an exchanges primer.
Nursing Homes Struggle To Bounce Back From Medicare Cuts
Trimming expenses is just one way nursing home companies hope to stage a comeback.
Hospitals That Readmit ‘Too Soon’ Will Face Medicare Penalty
California Watch reports that Medicare will soon start “docking” hospital payments if too many patients are readmitted within 30 days of being discharged.
Government’s Tab For ‘Big’ Health Care Programs Keeps Growing
USA Today reports on new data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis that projects that Medicare and Medicaid will crack the $1 trillion cost threshold for the first time this year.
Conn. And Calif. Lower Premiums In High-Risk Pools
The sharp price reductions are for plans that serve residents who have medical conditions and have trouble qualifying for traditional insurance.
Mich. Physicians Group Seeks Standing In Kan. Abortion Case
The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists is seeking to appeal a federal court ruling that temporarily blocked the Kansas law, the Kansas City Star reports. Meanwhile, the effort by abortion opponents in Massachusetts could be a complication for presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
World Must Scale Up AIDS Fight, Even As Donors Scale Back
UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe writes in a Los Angeles Times opinion piece that “amid all the good news” about HIV prevention recently presented at the 6th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention, “one stubborn fact was hard to ignore: AIDS remains a metaphor for inequality.” With discrepancies in access to HIV treatment and prevention between developed and developing countries, “[i]t is hard not to conclude from all this that life is not valued equally across the world. This is morally wrong and unacceptable,” he writes.
Concentrated HIV Epidemics Emerging Among MSM In Middle East, North Africa, Study Shows
Concentrated HIV epidemics are emerging among men who have sex with men in the Middle East and North Africa, “and high levels of risky sexual behavior threaten to spread the AIDS virus further in the region, researchers said Tuesday” in a study published in PLoS Medicine, Reuters reports. The researchers “found evidence for concentrated HIV epidemics
