Latest KFF Health News Stories
Debt Panel Proposals Target Health Costs
Deficit-taming proposals released this week by a White House-appointed commission would affect virtually all Americans.
At Senate Hearing, Democrats Blast ‘Mini-Med’ Insurance Policies
The Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing Wednesday about controversial “limited benefit” health insurance plans.
Republican Governors Want Health Law Flexibility, Could Help Insurers With Reform
Republican governors are telling income House Speaker John Boehner that they want flexibility in regulating programs such as Medicaid in a meeting they had with Boehner and McConnell Wednesday.
Jimmy Carter: Kennedy Obstructed Health Care Reform In 1970s
In an interview with CBS News, former President Jimmy Carter said “he doesn’t have ‘any doubt’ that [Former Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass.] stood in the way of his administration’s plans for national health care insurance.”
Justice Department Offers Expedited Antitrust Review For ACOs
The Justice Department announced Wednesday that it will offer an expedited antitrust review for accountable care organizations under the new health law.
States address a range of health policy issues.
States Continue To Confront Medicaid Issues
States struggle to balance their Medicaid budgets.
Medicare Beneficiaries Will Need Signficant Savings To Cover Health Insurance Costs In Retirement
A study finds Medicare beneficiaries will need signficant savings to cover health insurance costs in retierment.
Opinions and editorials from around the country.
In Spite Of Health Care Law, Patients May Still Pay For Preventive Care
While the new health care law requires insurers to cover preventive care for free, experts warn patients to read the fine print before assuming their cancer screenings will be free.
FDA Panel Rejects Expansion Of Drug Label
The Food and Drug Administration panel rejected a bid to label two drugs as capable of reducing prostate cancer risk.
Food safety bill must now be passed for the second time in the Senate
Health Costs: Employer-Sponsored Insurance Premiums Rise 41%
A new report presents state-by-state analysis of insurance premiums, other studies examine prescription drug use patterns and costs.
First Edition: December 2, 2010
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about how the debt panel’s plan would boost costs for seniors on Medicare; how parts of the GOP are making clear their positions regarding health reform “repeal and replace” strategy; and how limited health plans faced Senate critics at a hearing.
“A generation of babies could be born free of AIDS if the international community stepped up efforts to provide universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and social protection, the United Nations said on Tuesday,” Reuters reports. The declaration came on the eve of World AIDS Day, as U.N. leaders released a new report (.pdf), which found “millions of women and children, particularly in poor countries, fall through the cracks of HIV services either due to their gender, social or economic status, location or education,” according to the news service (Kelland, 11/30).
Report Analyzes Global Health Funding Trends, Predicts Lower Funding Growth
A report from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) finds that the recent global economic downturn “hasn’t quelled generous government and private donors from giving record amounts to improve global health,” but the analysis also revealed “that growth in funding is beginning to taper off, cut by more than half between 2008 and 2010,” the Seattle Times’ “The Business of Giving” blog reports (Heim, 11/30).
U.N. Launches Largest Ever Annual Aid Appeal, Asking For $7.4B In 2011
In its annual appeal, the U.N. on Tuesday asked “governments and private donors for a record $7.4 billion next year to provide 50 million people worldwide with food, clothing and other urgent humanitarian aid,” the Associated Press/Washington Post reports (11/30).
USA Today Examines Why Aid For Haiti Goes Unspent
“Ten months after the magnitude-7 earthquake that killed 230,000 people and destroyed at least 60% of Haiti’s capital city, Port-au-Prince, some relief agencies have not spent the bulk of the donations they raised after the disaster. They say they want to use the rest for the country’s long-term recovery, but they can’t get rolling because roads are torn up, government agencies aren’t functioning, and the economy is at a standstill. Agencies are also working to contain a rapid-spreading cholera outbreak,” USA Today writes in an article examining aid to Haiti since the quake.
