Latest KFF Health News Stories
Group Of Health Research Funders Calls For Increased Sharing Of Public Health Data
Public health research data “must be made more widely available in the scientific community if researchers are to unlock its full potential and make progress in public health, the world’s top health funding agencies said Monday,” Reuters reports. “In a joint statement, 17 major health research funders from around the world pledged to work together to support ‘timely and responsible’ sharing of data gathered during studies on health,” the news service notes (Kelland, 1/10).
House Postpones Repeal Vote, Tones Down Rhetoric
House GOP leaders have suspended legislative action for the week ahead because of the Arizona shootings over the weekend.
Political Dynamics, Stakeholder Positions Become Clear In The Next Chapter Of The Health Debate
Just as the repeal positions of some big insurers are becoming clearer, more details on the Democrats’ strategy to defend the law are emerging.
Roundup: Okla.’s Health Reform Lawsuit; Medicaid Issues Draw Attention In Texas, N.Y., N.J.
State news from around the country.
At issue are charges to public hospitals and clinics that treat a large number of poor patients and a Vermont law that restricts prescription drug data.
CMS Issues Rule To Reward Hospitals For High-Quality Care
This proposed rule delineates how Medicare will reward hospitals for delivering high-quality care.
How The Overhaul’s Small Business Tax Credit Is Working
Kansas Health Institute News explores how tax credits – one existing at the state level and the new one put in place by the health law – may be encouraging small business owners to provide health coverage to their employees.
Viewpoints: Health Reform Repeal; CBO’s Numbers; Reviving Public Option?
Opinions and editorials today are from The Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Slate, Arizona Republic, Star Tribune, Modern Healthcare, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Kaiser Health News.
First Edition: January 10, 2011
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
House Delays Vote On Repeal Of Health Care Law
Following the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) in Tucson Saturday, House leaders postpone all legislative business for the week.
House Approves Rule For Repeal Vote; Clears The Way For Wednesday Action
The party-line vote set in place the rule that will govern next week’s House floor action regarding the GOP proposal to repeal the health law.
Food Price Rise Will Affect ‘Millions,’ FAO Economist Says
Abdolreza Abbassian, an economist with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), on Friday “warned of a ‘worrying rise’ in food prices which will affect millions of people following unexpected shortfalls in major cereals owing to bad weather in 2010,” Agence France-Presse reports.
U.N. Announces Members Of Independent Panel To Investigate Source Of Haiti’s Cholera Epidemic
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced the names of four experts to be part of an independent panel that will “investigate the source of Haiti’s cholera epidemic, which some Haitians blame on U.N. peacekeepers,” Reuters reports (Worsnip, 1/6).
With “scores of commercial serology tests for tuberculosis … being sold in high-burden countries,” the “WHO is due to release a negative policy recommendation
Male Circumcision Helps Reduce Rates Of HPV Transmission To Women, Study Finds
“Among HIV-negative sexual partners, male circumcision helps prevent the transmission of human papillomavirus [HPV] from men to women,” according to a study published online Thursday in the Lancet, HealthDay News/Bloomberg Businessweek reports. “However, circumcision offers only partial protection and partners must still practice safe sex, the researchers pointed out,” according to the news service (1/6).
CBO Estimates Health Overhaul Repeal Price Tag To Be $230 Billion
With the CBO findings, GOP efforts to undo the health law and to claim the mantle of fiscal responsibility took a hit. Democrats immediately pounced on the cost issue as new ammunition in this ongoing battle while Republican leaders instead pointed to their own estimates.
New Poll Finds Americans Split On Repeal; Divide On Capitol Hill Deepens
A new Gallup Poll found that public opinion is “closely divided” over whether Congress should vote to undo the health law. And on Capitol Hill, the divide is deep and entrenched, closely tracking with political loyalties.
California Insurance Watchdog Asks Insurer To Delay Rate Hike
For some consumers, the rate hike proposed by Blue Shield of California would be as high as 59%.
Fact-Checking Claims, Questions In The Continuing Overhaul Debate
News outlets review some of the law’s policy specifics and ask questions about its components, such as how the law’s prevention fund is faring.
