Latest KFF Health News Stories
“Prompted by concerns about an unethical U.S.-sponsored study in the 1940s,” the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues on Tuesday announced the formation of an international panel “that will examine whether current rules adequately protect volunteers in global clinical trials,” Science’s “ScienceInsider” blog reports (Kaiser, 3/1).
Two-Week Budget Measure Signed Into Law
President Barack Obama invited congressional leaders to meet with Vice President Joe Biden in hopes of taking on longer-term fiscal issues such as Medicare spending.
Governors’ Medicaid, Budget Concerns Trigger Debate
As governors took to Capitol Hill this week to talk about their state budgets, Medicaid and the implementation of the health law, more attention was focused on the issues and cost estimates involved in the debate.
HHS Inspector General: Many Nursing Home Workers Have Criminal Records
The New York Times reports on a study issued by the HHS inspector general that has led some experts to urge additional federal regulations.
Bipartisan Senate Bills Would Open Medicare Physician Payment Data To Public
These data are seen as a means for identifying fraud and abuse in the Medicare program.
A selection of viewpoints from around the country.
Health Care Fraud A Hot Topic On Capitol Hill
Hearings in the House and Senate Wednesday examined public and private efforts to address health care fraud.And, according to a new Government Accountability Office report, for Medicare, the funds lost to fraudulent or improper billing total $48 billion.
For Mitt Romney, Another Voice Adds To The Criticisms Of Mass. Health Plan
The Boston Globe reports that House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., said the health reforms Romney oversaw as govenor of Massachusetts were “not that dissimilar” to the new health law.
HHS Report: Early Retiree Insurance Program Reaches 5,000 Employers
So far, the payout has disbursed an estimated $535 million to help younger retirees pay for health care.
Health Law Legal Challenges Draw Analysis, Predictions
In analyzing the recent Florida decision that overturned the health law, one state senate’s legislative counsel determined that only a decision by the Supreme Court is binding beyond the circuit in which it is issued. Meanwhile, another legal expert offered a prediction on how Justice Roberts would vote on the measure’s constitutionality.
Planned Parenthood Still A Target, But Benefiting From Substantial Lobbying Effort
After the Senate cleared the two-week stopgap budget bill, both sides of the fight over Planned Parenthood funding continue their lobbying campaigns.
Longer Looks: Best Health Policy Picks From Thought-Provoking Publications
Every Thursday, KHN’s Jessica Marcy compiles this selection of interesting perspectives – from a variety of publications – on health care in America.
State Roundup: N.Y. Malpractice Fight; Costly Prisoners In Calif.; Abortion Battles
A panoply of health care news from states from coast to coast.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about the difficulties lawmakers face in finding a compromise on long-term budget issues, such as Medicare and Medicaid spending.
Clinton Defends State Department Budget Requests Before House Panel
In her testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday about President Barack Obama’s FY12 budget request, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton also defended the State Department’s FY11 budget request, Bloomberg reports. Clinton said the proposed budget cuts for FY11 would be “devastating” to U.S. national security, and U.S. programs in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq would see “sharp reductions” if the proposed cuts are passed. Clinton “used the hearing to warn lawmakers against the impulse to withdraw from global engagement,” according to the news service.
The Lancet Infectious Diseases’ Newsdesk examines how resource gaps in immunizations, health workers and financing are creating barriers to efforts to achieve the U.N. Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target to reduce child mortality by two-thirds by 2015, as highlighted in a recent Save the Children report. The article describes the role GAVI Alliance has played in increasing the number of children receiving vaccines worldwide and notes the $3.7 billion gap the group hopes to fill to expand its immunization campaign over the next four years.
