Latest KFF Health News Stories
Viewpoints On Debt-Ceiling Debate Center On Medicare
Some opinions on the effects of Medicare on the debt-ceiling debate, and vice-versa.
Antibody Discovery Leads Researchers One Step Closer To Universal Influenza A Vaccine
“The first human antibody that can knock out all influenza A viruses has been shown effective in lab mice, an exciting step forward in the hunt for a universal vaccine, researchers said Friday,” Agence France-Presse reports (Sheridan, 7/30).
“Officials in Nigeria’s northern Kano state say parents who refuse to have their children vaccinated against polio may be prosecuted,” VOA News reports. “Officials began a four-day immunization campaign in Kano on Thursday, with the goal of immunizing six million children,” according to the news service (7/29).
Disparities Persist Despite Insurance
A pair of studies highlights how health disparities continue to take shape and unravels some of the factors that are involved in differences in health outcomes.
Medical Device Review System Called Into Question
An advisory group offered criticism of the Food and Drug Administration’s review system for medical devices. But the FDA’s reaction appears dismissive.
Mass. Hospital-Doctor Group Still Seeks To Fulfill Premiums Pledge
Partners HealthCare System vowed to pay $40 million to help reduce insurance costs for small businesses, the Boston Globe reports. Also, California group announces plans for an ACO and Minnesota Public Radio examines how cost cutting efforts will affect health care.
HHS Reviewing Florida’s Plans For Medicaid
Officials from Florida and the federal government are working on the state’s plans to move all Medicaid enrollees to managed care plans. Meanwhile, Iowa is planning changes to its Medicaid program that could impact the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. And a Medicaid provider in Georgia finds anomalies in payments.
Nursing Homes To Face Medicare Pay Cut
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services finalized an 11 percent drop in nursing home payments, which will kick in next year.
HHS Announces New Guidelines For Women’s Preventive Services
The rule includes everything from distribution of birth control pills to administration of breast exams. Ultimately, women will no longer pay out of pocket for preventive services. However, Politico reports that the Department of Health and Human Services may include a “conscience clause” in the regulation.
Race And The Personalized Medicine Debate
The Washington Post reports on how race is emerging as an important issue in the discussion surrounding personalized medicine.
What Will The Health Law Look Like In The Future?
News outlets report on a range of issues related to the health law, from efforts to repeal the measure’s tax on insurance policies to competing claims about its costs.
Bipartisan Support For NIH Funding Eroding
CQ HealthBeat reports on how there is increasing skepticism, especially from members of the GOP, that the National Institutes of Health should be protected from budget cuts.
Field Trials Of Rapid, Inexpensive And Portable HIV Test Show Success, Researchers Report
“The first field trial for a ‘lab on a chip’ accurately detected both HIV and syphilis among a Rwandan population, researchers reported Sunday” in an online report published by Nature Medicine, the Washington Post reports (Torres, 7/31).
New York Times Examines Maternal Mortality In Uganda
“Half of the 340,000 deaths of women from pregnancy-related causes each year occur in Africa, almost all in anonymity,” the New York Times writes in an article profiling several cases of women who have died during childbirth in Ugandan hospitals.
Development Assistance Committee Review Suggests More Coordination In U.S. Foreign Aid Program
“The U.S. should improve coordination among its more than two dozen government departments to promote coherence in its multibillion-dollar foreign aid program and avoid duplication,” according to a peer review from the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Guardian reports.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about how the politics and policies involved of the debt-ceiling deal are taking shape.
Possible Medicare Cuts In (Very) Tentative Debt Deal
From the morning talk shows throughout Sunday afternoon, a debt-limit deal appeared to be in the works.
Medicare, Medicaid Payments Part Of Default Scenarios
News outlets are covering the possible fallout for the health care system if no debt-ceiling deal is reached.
Nursing Homes Attack Medicare’s Payment Cuts
Medicare announced a change in nursing home payments Friday, according to news coverage.
Political, Economic Tensions In Malawi Threaten New HIV/AIDS Strategy
In a guest post on the GlobalPost’s “Global Pulse” blog, Janet Fleischman, a senior associate at the CSIS Global Health Policy Center, describes the Malawian government’s “plans to launch a ‘test and treat’ program in which all HIV-infected pregnant women will immediately be put on antiretroviral treatment (ART) drugs for life.” But she adds that “[t]he growing political and economic crisis in Malawi, highlighted by the government’s use of force against peaceful demonstrators last week, could also imperil the groundbreaking expansion of Malawi’s national HIV/AIDS program.”
