Latest KFF Health News Stories
Clinton Calls For Immediate Action On Global Food Shortage, Food Price Spikes
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton at a meeting of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome said that without immediate action, food shortages and volatile prices could spark global destabilization, the Associated Press reports.
Africa’s economies are expanding, but the continent is still too dependent on the export of raw materials, and trade between African nations needs to be increased, the African Progress Panel (APP) said in a report released Thursday at the World Economic Forum on Africa, which is taking place this week in Cape Town, the Associated Press/Washington Post reports.
Viewpoints: Will GOP Back Away From Medicaid Plan Too?; Exchanges Geared To Politics, Not Health
Today’s opinions come from The New York Times, the Denver Post, Kaiser Health News, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the Center for Public Integrity, the Miami Herald and the Los Angeles Times.
Research Roundup: Racial Disparities In Cancer Screening And VA Treatment
Today’s studies come from Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, Health Affairs, the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Commonwealth Fund and the Journal of the American College of Radiology.
News Outlets Offer Different Takes On Nurse Supply And Demand
There seems to be no easy solution to Georgia’s nursing shortage. However, Minnesota schools are producing more nursing graduates than ever before.
State News: Fla. Lawmakers To Vote Today On Medicaid Changes
News outlets across the country report on developments in health policy.
Medical Societies Still ‘Welcome’ Drug Company Support
ProPublica reports that the relationship continues between societies that represent medical specialists and certain corporate interests.
Appellate Hearing For Two Health Law Challenges Scheduled For Tuesday
USA Today reports on the specifics of these cases and this step in the process.
Vermont Legislature Passes Bill To Establish Single Payer Health Plan
The bill now goes to Gov. Peter Shumlin, who is expected to sign it.
Abortion Bills Move To Governors In Texas And Florida
Bills in both states are designed to cut down the number of abortions.
IPAB Claims A Friend Within The GOP
During a break in a Thursday House subcommittee hearing on elements of the health law, Mark McClellan offered positive views of the IPAB. Also during the hearing, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius commented on how the reform law assists entitlement reform and gave her views on the measure’s pre-existing condition program.
House Panel Takes On Medicare Payment Reform Issues
During a Thursday hearing, medical societies weighed in on efforts to fix Medicare reimbursement, and Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., said a repeal of the current physician payment formula is on the “short list” of things to get done this summer.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports that the GOP may be rethinking its plans to revamp Medicare — especially as a new round of debt accord talks begin between Vice President Joe Biden and congressional leaders.
TB Medication Variations In Private Markets Could Harm Treatment Efforts, Study Says
A wide variation in the dosages and forms of medicines prescribed by private physicians to patients with tuberculosis (TB) in developing countries could lead to the development of more drug-resistant strains of the bacterial infection, according to a study published online Wednesday in PLoS One, the Financial Times reports (Jack, 5/4).
Lawmakers Question U.S. Aid Program To Pakistan In Wake Of Bin Laden’s Death
Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) on Wednesday “urged a halt to an aid program for flood victims in Pakistan in the wake of revelations that slain al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden lived there unperturbed for years,” Agence France-Presse reports.
New Round Of Deficit Talks Begins Amidst Debt-Ceiling Concerns
How to handle entitlement spending issues including Medicare will be central to the discourse.
Opponents Offer Dire Warnings About Medicaid Block Grant Proposal
The plan advanced by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to transform this program has been the subject of much of the concern. However, another alternative, this one offered by Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and based on “global cap” for federal spending, is also getting negative reviews from Medicaid advocates.
