Archives: Morning Breakouts

In Iowa meeting, several high-profile Republicans renew opposition to health overhaul, the Associated Press reports.

In the Republicans' weekly address, Virginia governor says the sooner the case gets to the Supreme Court the better.

During a visit to the Indian state of Bihar, Bill Gates, co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, on Thursday discussed his foundation's work in India and global health priorities, ANI/Sify News reports (3/24).

Science Magazine reports on the recent push to make preventing and treating cancer a global priority, particularly in developing countries, where it's estimated "less than 5% of the world's cancer resources are [currently] spent."

"The number of tuberculosis cases in the United States reached an all-time low last year, with only 11,181 cases reported to public health authorities, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention," the Los Angeles Times' "Booster Shots" blog reports.

Chinese health officials this week announced the country will move forward in May with a ban on smoking in all indoor public spaces "in an effort to shield the world's most populous nation ... from the harmful effects of the habit," Reuters reports. The plan will "require businesses to display prominent no-smoking signs, forbid vending machines from selling cigarettes and ensure that designated outdoor smoking zones not affect pedestrian traffic, according to a ministry statement reported in Chinese media on Thursday," the news service writes (Wee, 3/24).

"New models of financing and delivering development programmes are bringing far-reaching changes to the international public sector," with "[t]raditional government-to-government transactions

A congressional report found that the retiree health plan could run out of money as soon as this year. Meanwhile, the health overhaul's insurance exchanges create a challenge for GOP governors.

Momentum appears to building for efforts to address record budget deficits by reining in spending on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Meanwhile, as both parties agree they need to reach a deal to provide funding to keep the government functioning in the the current year, legislative riders that would impose restrictions on federal agencies and cut off funding for Planned Parenthood continue to trip up their progress.

In New York, the issue is among the most contentious and is tied to the state's budget, which must be completed by April 1. In Florida, the measure approved by the state's appropriation's panel is matched by a similar version moving in the Senate. Both are part of an effort to overhaul Florida's Medicaid program.

Discussions and debate in Louisiana, Kansas and Colorado included buzz words such as "government takeover" and "stalemate," as well as the concept of opting out.