Latest KFF Health News Stories
Texas, Calif. Grapple With Medicaid Challenges
News outlets look at Medicaid issues in two of the largest states.
Lawmakers Continue Medicare Plan Posturing
While some Republican lawmakers defend their votes in support of Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget blueprint that includes a revamp of Medicare, some Democrats make clear their intent to protect the program.
Medicare Payment Proposal For Medical Imaging Triggers Opposition
Two House members, one Democrat and one Republican, are voicing opposition to plans to curb medical imaging tests paid for by Medicare.
Disappointment Abounds Regarding ACO Regs
In this pair of articles, Modern Healthcare reports on the American Hospital Association’s criticism of the antitrust approach included in the accountable care organization regulations recently released by the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as on the negative reaction expressed by a Cleveland Clinic executive.
Rule Would Let Patients Find Out Who’s Looked At Their Health Records
The regulation, issued Tuesday, would allow patients to request a report that documents who has accessed and viewed their protected health information. And, in other news, research shows that electronic health records have become an important public health research tool. In becoming so, however, EMRs raise ethical questions.
Procedural Questions Could Slow Health Law Challenges
Questions – including whether the law’s opponents can even bring lawsuits to block its implementation – could delay rulings and slow the course of these challenges in reaching the Supreme Court.
House Votes Down Symbolic Effort To Raise Debt Ceiling
In what was viewed as a largely symbolic vote, the House rejected an effort to increase the nation’s borrowing ability. Congressional Republicans viewed the step as a means to advance arguments that any effort to increase the debt ceiling should be accompanied by spending cuts and program revisions – including changes to Medicare.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about a move yesterday by the Department of Health and Human Services to reduce prices on health plans for people with pre-existing conditions.
HHS Seeks To Draw More People With Medical Problems Into Health Plans
News outlets examine the newest effort by the government to make changes to the plans, which are a bridge until provisions of the new health law take effect.
Media Examine Funding For HIV/AIDS As Disease Turns 30
“As the war on AIDS heads into its fourth decade, the need for funds is spiralling relentlessly higher, prompting a quest for new resources from consumer levies to contributions from developing giants,” Agence France-Presse/France 24 reports (5/30).
UNICEF Publishes Vaccine Costs In Effort To Promote Price Competition
UNICEF for the first time on Friday published the prices it pays pharmaceutical companies for vaccines, “as the world’s biggest buyer of lifesaving immunizations aims to spark price competition in the face of rising costs,” the Associated Press/Washington Post reports (5/28).
Scans, Hospital Infections At Heart Of New Quality Issues
Deadly bacterial infections in patients are the aim of new efforts to clean up hospitals while bone density scan payment and heart scan screenings are also examined.
A roundup of state health-care related news from Texas, Connecticut, Maine, Florida, California, Louisiana, Georgia and Wisconsin.
New York Times Examines 30 Years Of AIDS
The New York Times looks at the evolution of the battle against AIDS since the first federal announcement of the disease 30 years ago this week.
Wall Street Journal Reports On U.N. AIDS Declaration Negotiations Prior To High Level Meeting
The Wall Street Journal reports on negotiations surrounding a U.N. declaration to be discussed at the High Level Meeting on AIDS scheduled for June 8-10 in New York.
Oxfam Report Warns About Steep Increases In Food Costs, Demand
With food costs rising for the second time in three years, Oxfam released a report on Tuesday predicting “the price of some staples such as corn will double in the next 20 years amid a permanent crisis caused by rising demand, flat crop yields and climate change,” Forbes reports (Max, 5/31).
Lax Tax Rules In Developing Countries Hinder Aid, Clinton Says
In a speech to the OECD last week, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that foreign aid is undermined by lax tax enforcement systems in developing countries and their wealthy citizens who avoid paying taxes, Agence France-Presse reports.
UNAIDS Director Says Pope’s Comments On Condoms Open Dialogue For HIV Prevention
UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe on Saturday “told a Vatican conference [Pope Benedict XVI] had opened the door to greater dialogue with his groundbreaking comments on condoms and HIV prevention
Health IT Roundup: Feds Monitor Privacy Breaches And Propose Changes To HIPAA Records Sharing
News outlets report on telemedicine, drugstore software problems and the effort to protect patient privacy.
Advocates Express Aid Concerns After G8 Summit Ends
After the conclusion of the G8 summit in Deauville, France, last week, development experts expressed concern that the G8’s aid package, aimed at encouraging democracy mostly in North Africa, would result in less aid for the rest of the continent, Inter Press Service reports.
