Latest KFF Health News Stories
UNICEF said that Myanmar is planning a mass polio vaccination campaign of children under age five after the country confirmed its first case of the disease in three years, Agence France-Presse reports (2/21). “A seven-month-old infant was infected with vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) in December,” according to UNICEF’s office in the country, IRIN writes (2/17).
Judge Upholds Health Law’s Insurance Coverage Requirement
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., became the third judge to uphold the constitutionality of the health overhaul’s individual mandate. The decision was issued Tuesday evening.
The GOP Strategy To Defund The Health Law
With a shutdown looming, the cuts included in the continuing resolution that would fund the federal government for the current fiscal year offer insights into what Republicans view as the measure’s soft spots. Still, Dems are holding the line.
State Roundup: Budget Cuts To Affect Health Care For State Workers, Disabled, Elderly
States in the news today include New Jersey, California, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
WSJ: IT Companies Could Get Boost From Health Care Coding Switch
The Wall Street Journal reports on this development related to the impending switch from ICD-9 to ICD-10.
Supreme Court Raises The Bar For Suits Against Vaccine Producers
The decision, announced Tuesday, will make it harder for parents who maintain that their children were injured by vaccines to file lawsuits against drug makers. Public health advocates say the ruling will help maintain the nation’s vaccine supply levels.
Wisconsin’s Benefit Backlash Spreads To Other States
The public employee reaction is occurring in other states, too, as newly elected conservative governors attempt to roll-back health and pension benefits.
Opinions and editorials from around the country.
Planned Parenthood Cuts Draw Opposition From State, Local Officials
New York City’s mayor has joined two Democratic governors to speak out against the GOP plan.
HHS Issues Home Health Grants To States
In other Medicaid news, the Obama administration has dispatched experts to go into the field to help budget-strapped states find ways to save money on the health insurance program for the poor.
Opponents Of Med-Mal Reform Settle On New Argument
The Hill reports that trial lawyers and consumer advocates are now taking the position that the threat of medical malpractice lawsuits “prevents” doctors from “rationing” medicine.
Will Massachusetts’ Health Law Derail Romney’s Presidential Ambitions?
Politico reports on the signs in the early primary states indicating that a presidential run by Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts who signed into law that state’s universal health care plan, could be haunted by the issue.
First Edition: February 23, 2011
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about the latest court ruling regarding legal challenges to the health law.
As G20 Financial Leaders Discuss Food Prices, Some Push For Fulfillment Of G8 Pledges
As G20 financial leaders met in Paris over the weekend, the Washington Post reports on the “debate over how to respond” to the recent increase in food prices. France, the G20 chair, spurred discussion about “whether new regulations on commodity trading might prevent speculators from pushing up prices by investing heavily in grains or other goods on the expectation that they will increase even further in value. Yet it is unclear how much of a role speculation plays in the movement of prices,” the Washington Post writes.
Haiti’s Cholera Outbreak Has Plateaued, Death Rate Remains High In Rural Regions, U.N. Says
The U.N. on Friday said Haiti’s cholera outbreak appears to be waning overall, but high death rates from the virus in rural regions of the country remain a concern, the Associated Press reports. According to figures released by the Haitian government, 231,070 cholera cases and 4,549 deaths from the disease have been reported since the outbreak first emerged in October.
The House voted 235-189 on Saturday to pass legislation that “would fund government operations through Sept. 30, the end of fiscal 2011, while sharply reducing spending across a wide swath of federal agencies and programs,” CQ reports. “Most spending levels under the bill would be based on fiscal 2010 levels, less eliminations, reductions and rescissions totaling roughly $61.5 billion. The measure would provide $99.6 billion less than President Obama sought for fiscal 2011,” the news service writes (Weyl, 2/19).
Former U.N. Secretary-General Annan Discusses Africa’s Agriculture Potential At IFAD Conference
Kofi Annan, the former U.N. secretary-general who now heads the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), discussed the possibilities for agriculture in Africa and called for reforms to improve farming on the continent in a speech given Saturday during the opening day of the U.N. International Fund for Agricultural Development’s (IFAD) annual meeting in Rome, Italy, the Jakarta Post reports (Asrianti, 2/21).
Government Showdown Looms As Budget Battles Continue
And as lawmakers attempt to find a middle path, issues continue to bubble up surrounding health reform implementation, as well as how and if these efforts will be funded.
Medicaid Central To White House-State Budget Tensions
As governors arrive in Washington, D.C., for the weekend meeting of the National Governors Association, the White House is bracing for more Medicaid budget crunching and coverage issues.
