Morning Breakouts

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Scientists Say Antibiotic-Resistant Salmonella Strain May Spread Worldwide

Morning Briefing

“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

Morning Briefing

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.

First Edition: August 3, 2011

Morning Briefing

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

Morning Briefing

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.

N.Y. Brothers Earn $1 Million With Medicaid-Financed Business

Morning Briefing

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

Morning Briefing

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

Morning Briefing

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).

Reducing Commodity Costs For ARVs Could Mean Providing Treatment To Millions More People

Morning Briefing

“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

Morning Briefing

“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.

Different Health Care Delivery Systems Offer Differing Visions Of Efficiency

Morning Briefing

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

Morning Briefing

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).

Super Committee’s Muscle Draws Interest, Questions

Morning Briefing

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.