Latest KFF Health News Stories
U.N. Says Libyan Capital ‘Urgently’ Needs Humanitarian Aid
U.N. humanitarian agencies on Monday said areas of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, “urgently need humanitarian assistance, including medical treatment for injuries caused by the ongoing conflict in the North African country,” the U.N. News Centre reports.
Russia Aiming To Cut Number Of Smokers By 15% By 2050
Russia is aiming to cut the number of smokers in the country by up to 15 percent by 2050, “huge ambitions considering 40 percent of Russians light up,” VOA News reports.
New HIV Prevention Findings Delay Release Of WHO Guidelines For Discordant Couples
“Upbeat new HIV prevention findings presented last week at an international AIDS conference held in Rome have complicated attempts by the World Health Organization (WHO) to draft much-anticipated guidelines for heterosexual couples in which one partner is infected,” ScienceInsider reports.
Voters Offer Split Reactions On State Abortion Measures
In related news, The Washington Post reports on one doctor’s experiences as a physician who provides late-pregnancy abortions.
Surge Of Generics Will Trigger Drop In Drug Prices
With a number of the world’s best-selling drugs soon to go “off patent,” patients and insurers will see a reduction in prescription drug costs.
State Roundup: Funding Cut At Texas Mental Health Centers
News outlets report on a variety of state health policies.
World Food Program Plans To Begin Airlifts To Somalia This Week
The World Food Program (WFP) has said it plans to begin food airlifts by Thursday “to parts of drought-ravaged Somalia that militants banned it from more than two years ago,” the Associated Press reports. The agency plans to send five tons of high-energy bars by air with more food to follow by land, the news agency notes (Straziuso, 7/25).
Report: Seniors Still Struggle With Drug Costs
The Hill reports on the findings from the Medicare Rights Center.
Calif. Governor Vetoes Adult Day Care Bill
The legislation would provide new funding to help about half the seniors and disabled residents who had been covered under an older program that the state is discontinuing.
Whistle-Blower Lawsuit Alleges Dialysis Provider Wasted Drugs To Boost Profits
The New York Times reports that millions of dollars in Medicare payments could have resulted from this practice. The suit is being brought by a former clinic nurse and doctor.
NY Times: 10 States Will Be Subject To Insurance Rate Reviews By Feds
Federal auditors will take over in the states where the Obama administration finds current regulation of premiums not adequate.
N.H. Hospitals Sue Over Medicaid Payments
As states seek to keep spending down for the health care program for low-income and disabled residents, they look to trim reimbursement rates and move more enrollees to private plans that control costs.
NFIB: Some Small Businesses Drop Coverage
The organization links the cause of this finding to the health law, but critics of the survey dispute the it.
South Korean Group Delivers Food Aid To North Korea
The Korean Sharing Movement, a South Korean relief group, “crossed into North Korea Tuesday with 12 trucks full of flour, marking the first food aid of its kind since a North Korean attack last year,” VOA’s “Breaking News” blog reports. The group delivered 300 tons of flour to the border city of Paju. It will feed 22,000 children, according to the Reverend In Myung-jin, who leads the group (7/26).
World Leaders Should Either Scale Up Commitment To Polio Eradication Significantly Or Abandon Goal
“There are few ideas as powerful as the eradication of a human disease. But the euphoria around the world’s single success to date
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about Washington’s debt-celing showdown, and news that the federal government will conduct health insurance rate reviews in 10 states.
Obama, Boehner Each Claim High Ground On Debt Ceiling As Parties Dispute Entitlement Reform
On Capitol Hill, two plans emerged: the House GOP plan would squeeze savings from government entitlement programs, while the Senate Dems’ approach would leave Medicare unchanged.
Some Hospitals Face Hard Times
Walter Reed Army Medical Center will close its doors after nearly a century. By month’s end, the Shriners Hospitals will stop its tradition of providing free care to children. And, lastly, hospital bonds maybe vulnerable to downgrades because of potential reduction in Medicare reimbursements and Medicaid cuts.
East Africa Famine Highlights Need For Better Science Communications
The drought in the Horn of Africa “emphasizes the gap between our rapidly increasing ability to predict disasters, thanks largely to advances in science and technology, and our capacity to generate the political will to carry out effective mitigation strategies,” according to a SciDev.Net opinion piece by editor David Dickson.
African Leaders Must Invest In Malaria Prevention
In a Daily Caller opinion piece, Richard Tren, director of Africa Fighting Malaria, highlights a finding in a recent malaria report that the U.S. government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation “were responsible for 85% of the steep increase in malaria funding between 2007 and 2009.” But “[i]f 30 African heads of state were to give up their private jets, a fund of well over $500 million could be generated,” Tren writes.
