Latest KFF Health News Stories
Scientists Say Antibiotic-Resistant Salmonella Strain May Spread Worldwide
“Scientists have identified an emerging ‘superbug’ strain of salmonella that is highly resistant to the antibiotic Ciprofloxacin, or Cipro, often used for severe salmonella infections, and say they fear it may spread around the world,” according to a study published online Tuesday in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, Reuters reports (Kelland, 8/3).
Hundreds Of Parents In Nigerian State Refusing Polio Vaccinations For Children
Hundreds of parents “are defying threats of jail time by refusing polio vaccines for their children in a high-risk northern Nigerian state,” according to Muhammad Abdu Zango, Kano state coordinator of Journalists Against Polio, the Associated Press/Seattle Times reports.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about the impact the debt deal might have on health care providers, as well as how the agreement’s “super committee” will be charged with finding spending reductions in Medicare, Medicaid and a range of other government programs.
With Clock Ticking, Debt-Deal Moves Toward Finish
A Senate vote on the package is set for today. The deal itself has left both liberals and conservatives unhappy but clarified both parties’ priorities. For Democrats, it was protecting Medicaid and Social Security. For Republicans, preventing tax increases.
Debt Deal Triggers Nerves In Health Industry; Providers Brace For Cuts
Physicians, hospitals, nursing homes and home health care providers are all bracing for pain as the debt-ceiling agreement kicks in.
N.Y. Brothers Earn $1 Million With Medicaid-Financed Business
The New York Times details a the expensive lifestyle of two men from Brooklyn who earned nearly $1 million a year running a Medicaid-financed nonprofit organization serving the developmentally disabled. Meanwhile, in Florida, state officials submitted their plans for converting Medicaid to a managed care program.
UNICEF Faces $50M Shortfall To Aid Children In Flood-Affected Areas Of Pakistan
UNICEF last week said it “faces a shortfall of more than $50 million to meet the continuing critical needs” of children in Pakistan, one year after monsoon floods submerged nearly one-fifth of the country, the U.N. News Centre reports (7/29).
Famine Will Spread In Somalia Unless ‘Massive’ Response Mounted, U.N. Says
The famine in the Horn of Africa is getting worse, and unless there is “a massive increase in the response, the famine will spread to five or six more regions” in Somalia, Valerie Amos, the U.N. under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, told reporters on Monday, Reuters reports. Amos said the U.N. needs an additional $1.4 billion to help those in need and that the African Union would soon hold a funding conference, the news agency notes (Charbonneau, 8/1).
State Roundup: Fla. To Limit HMO Choices For State Workers
News outlets report on a variety of state health issues.
Reducing Commodity Costs For ARVs Could Mean Providing Treatment To Millions More People
“Reducing commodity costs [for antiretroviral drugs] by a mere five to 10 percent can represent hundreds of millions of dollars in savings for the global community. In turn these savings translate into millions of more patients who can receive access to life-saving treatment,” David de Ferranti, president of Results for Development Institute (R4D), and Kanika Bahl, managing director at R4D, write in a Huffington Post opinion piece. They discuss a strategic plan for increasing access to and lowering the cost of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) that R4D developed for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Neglected Tropical Diseases Becoming More Common In Europe, Study Shows
“Worm infestations, food parasites, Chagas disease, sand fly-transmitted infections and other neglected tropical diseases usually found in Africa and Asia are turning up more often in Europe, according to a new study” published recently in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases by researchers from the Sabin Vaccine Institute, the New York Times reports.
Editorials Dissect Debt Deal, Contraception, HSAs, Long-Term Care
A selection of ediorials from around the country.
Different Health Care Delivery Systems Offer Differing Visions Of Efficiency
One California partnership that involved a large insurance company, a major hospital chain and a group of doctors has reduced health care costs. But a new report shows that the growing number of hospital-based physicians may ultimately be taxing Medicare resources. Meanwhile, a public hospital’s attempt to redesign its care delivery model offers “a mircrocosm of reform goals.”
GlobalPost Interviews USAID Officials About Family Planning, Funding
GlobalPost’s “Global Pulse” blog features an interview with Ellen Starbird, deputy director of the Office of Population and Reproductive Health at USAID, and Judy Manning, health development officer in USAID’s Research, Technology and Utilization Division, who discuss “family planning and reproductive health issues, including new innovations and promising technologies still in the research stage.” Starbird says that funding for family planning programs is critical for “making possible for women in the developing world the kinds of choices that women all over the developed world have” (Donnelly, 8/1).
Debt Deal Raises Concerns For States
State officials worry that federal funding for health and other programs could be squeezed by the special congressional committee that will hammer out further spending cuts.
Health Insurance Exchange Administrator Announces HHS Exit
Joel Ario, the Health and Human Services official who has been responsible for the development of the health law’s health insurance exchanges, is leaving the agency.
Super Committee’s Muscle Draws Interest, Questions
Some lawmakers are questioning the powerful panel’s ability to recommend changes to entitlement programs and the tax code. This group must present a deficit-reduction package to Congress by Nov. 23. Failure to do so would lead to across-the-board cuts to high-priority programs such as defense spending and Medicare.
Judge Temporarily Bars Kansas From Cutting Planned Parenthood Funds
New state law would have stripped federal family planning funds from going to Planned Parenthood.