Latest KFF Health News Stories
Guardian Interviews USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah
The Guardian examines USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah’s role in U.S. development policy and looks at some of the domestic challeneges he faces.
Rising Food Prices, Health Concerns Prompt Shifting Diets Worldwide, Oxfam Survey Says
“Rising food prices, hovering near record highs after a spike in grain costs, are changing diets particularly in developing countries such as Kenya, according to a survey issued by charity Oxfam on Wednesday,” Reuters reports. The survey was conducted in 17 countries (6/15).
Senate Dems Signal Hard Line On Medicare In Budget Talks
Although Vice President Joe Biden offered an optimistic assessment of progress in the budget talks he has been leading, Senate Democratic leadership reiterated yesterday that Medicare cuts should not be on the table during these negotiations.
Budget Woes Lead GOP Governors To Push Feds To Relax Medicaid Rules
President Barack Obama has the power to relax rules, which would allow cash-strapped governors more flexibility in spending Medicaid dollars, including allowing them to tighten eligibility requirements.
State Roundup: Mass. Health Spending’s Rise; Huge Ky. Hospital Merger
News outlets offer a variety of stories about state health policy issues.
Wis. Supreme Court Ruling Upholds Union Law Pushed By Gov. Walker
The decision overturns a lower court judge who had halted implementation of the law, which requires public employees to pick up a greater share of their health care costs and pensions.
Study: Number Of Americans Caring For Aging Parents Tripled Since 1994
The research also found that these caregivers experience significant losses in wages, pension benefits and social security for the time they must take off from work to provide this care.
British Government Revises Health Care Overhaul Plan
The initial blueprint by Prime Minister David Cameron drew criticism from providers and members of his own coalition government, who argued it equaled “partial privatization of the system.”
Report: For-Profit Medicaid Managed Care Plans Have Higher Admin Costs
The report, which is to be released today, indicates that publicly traded commercial Medicaid plans may not serve beneficiaries as well as those owned by providers, health systems or community health centers.
GAO: HHS Okayed Waivers Mostly When High Cost Increases Were Projected
Democrats view the report as evidence that waivers were not given out by the administration as political rewards to labor unions and other allies.
CBO Portends ‘Heavy Lifting’ To Avert Medicare Doc Pay Reduction
The report offers cost estimates for a range of approaches that would head off a 29.4 percent reduction in Medicare physician payments scheduled to kick in Jan. 1, 2012. Meanwhile, in other news, a plan to curb the overuse of costly medical imaging demonstrates the difficulties posed by attempting even small changes in the health insurance program for seniors.
A selection of opinions and editorials from around the country.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including a report that GOP governors are pushing back against federal Medicaid rules.
Meningitis Vaccine Showing Success In West Africa
The New York Times reports on the success of a new meningococcal vaccine in West Africa, where very few cases of the disease have been detected in countries that use MenAfriVac, which costs 50 cents per dose.
Where Does Non-Emergency Food Aid Fit In Development?
“Pre-positioning food stocks has some important advantages besides saving time: it can lower program costs for the food itself (by minimizing purchases during food price spikes) and shipping (by avoiding bunching of shipments). Mostly, however, it’s crazy that the Congress still requires that U.S. food aid be bought here and transported around the world on U.S.-flagged ships,” Kimberly Ann Elliott, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, writes on the “Views from the Center” blog.
Local Misconceptions Of Children’s Immune Systems Hindering HIV Treatment In Malawi, Study Says
Some caregivers in rural Malawi have expressed a reluctance to begin antiretroviral therapy for children living with HIV because of a belief that their “bodies were too weak for pills and their blood was ‘still raw,’ but that as it ‘ripened’ with time, HIV-related opportunistic infections would leave them,” according to a study presented this week at the 1st International HIV Social Science and Humanities Conference in Durban, South Africa, PlusNews reports.
New York Times Examines Evolving Role Of Social Media In Disease Tracking Efforts
The New York Times examines how social media is changing efforts to monitor the spread of diseases. According to the article, “technology is democratizing the disease-hunting process, upsetting the old equilibrium by connecting people through channels effectively outside government control. While the online chatter can be unproductive or even dangerous
World Economic Forum On East Asia Panel Calls For Governments To Do More To Achieve MDGs
Economists at a meeting of the World Economic Forum on East Asia called on governments to do more to meet the Millennium Development Goal targets, VOA News reports (Padden, 6/13).
