Latest KFF Health News Stories
Reuters: Supreme Court To Decide Generic Drug Labeling Issue
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a generic drug labeling case, Reuters reports.
Consumers, Employers And Insurers Work To Incorporate Reform’s New Rules
Big employers and insurers continue to brace for health reform’s changes and new rules. In other news, CalPERS gives the new health law positive early reviews while other reports focus on how reform could impact Medicare coverage.
First Edition: December 13, 2010
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about today’s expected ruling by a Virginia federal court judge on a challenge to the health law’s constitutionality.
“Detailed genetic tests confirm that the cholera strain that has killed more than 2,000 people in Haiti came from South Asia and most closely resembles a strain circulating in Bangladesh,” according to a study published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, Reuters reports (12/9).
News Outlets Examine Flooding In Pakistan Four Months On
“More than four months after the worst flooding in Pakistan’s history, vast stretches of land are still under water in the province of Sindh, isolating many communities. … The world’s attention has long since moved on from the Pakistani flood story, but there are still more than 1 million people who remain displaced in Sindh alone, said U.N. humanitarian affairs chief Valerie Amos last Friday after touring the flood zone. Jackie Dent, a World Food Program spokesperson, said that although isolated outlying villages are becoming ‘few and far between as waters recede and access improves’ more are still being found,” TIME reports in an article looking at the effects of flooding and the prospects for recovery.
On Friday, Indian Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and EU Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht met to “present a status report on the ongoing free trade talks” that some health advocates fear could limit the supply of generic medications in developing countries, according to Business Standard. “An EU source said the report would signal that talks had made excellent progress and should be wrapped up by early next year,” according to the news service (Aiyar, 12/10).
The rate of health care-associated infections in developing countries is more than three times the rate of cases in the U.S. and more than double the rate in Europe, according to a study published Friday in the Lancet, BBC reports (12/9).
HHS Slaps ‘Mini-Med’ Plans With New Restrictions
The Department of Health and Human Services offers new guidance on “mini-med” health plans, requiring that insurers selling these limited coverage offerings must inform consumers “in plain language” how such plans fall short of the health law’s minimum coverage standards.
In the midst of the lame duck session, House lawmakers approve a one-year Medicare pay fix for physicians – clearing the measure for the president’s signature; meanwhile, the Senate falls short of votes needed to pass legislation to provide 9/11 Ground Zero workers with health benefits and other compensation.
In Effort To Curb Preventable ICU Infections, New Reporting Requirment Kicks In Jan. 1
A new rule will require hospitals to report infections the follow a patient’s treatment in intensive-care units. Meanwhile, a new study finds mortality risks related to dialysis are higher at for-profit chains.
States address a variety of health policy issues and challenges.
Deals, Expansions And ACOs Mark Hospital Sector Activity
Hospitals and health systems are the subject of proposed deals and acquisitions. Meanwhile, the concept of accountable care organizations continues to trigger interest and curiosity within the health care sector.
The New York Times: Aetna’s Former Chief Executive Ponders The New Health Law
Insurers continue to “ponder” their future under the new order of the health law and, in California, rate increases trigger a blame game.
GOP Lawmaker Calls Government Funding Bill A ‘Trojan Horse’ For Health Reform
Politics continue to swirl around health overhaul and deficit reduction issues. A new Bloomberg poll, for instance, indicates that the public wants the deficit addressed, but still wants Congress to stay away from Medicare, Medicaid and other entitlement programs.
This week’s research roundup includes studies from the Annals of Internal Medicine, Health Affairs and the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine.
OpEds: Palin On The Ryan Roadmap, Seniors And Primary Care Docs, Arizona Transplant Controversy
Today opeds come from The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Arizona Republic and The San Francisco Chronicle.
First Edition: December 10, 2010
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including a report about the Obama administration lawyer charged with defending the health law.
