Latest KFF Health News Stories
States Consider Cuts To Medicaid To Ease Tight Budgets
Governors around the country are eyeing the high costs of the health program for the poor, but federal rules are complicating their decisions.
Obama Rallies Health Law Backers; HHS Report Claims Premiums Will Go Down Because Of The Overhaul
In a Friday morning speech, Obama offered a message to “fire up” health law supporters.
Clinton, Other Speakers Discuss Poverty, Development Issues At World Economic Forum
“Poverty and unemployment reared their heads at the World Economic Forum on Thursday, with speakers urging the elite audience to bridge a growing gap between booming multinationals and the jobless poor,” Reuters reports.
BMJ News Reports On Calls For WHO To Control, Prevent Spread Of Cholera
Following the outbreak of cholera in Haiti, during the WHO executive board meeting last week, member states voiced concerns that cholera “is not being adequately addressed despite its prevalence in epidemic form in many areas,” BMJ News reports.
Former Health Care Company Executive To Lead GHI
A State Department spokesman confirmed Wednesday that Lois Quam, a “former UnitedHealth Group executive,” will become executive director of President Barack Obama’s Global Health Initiative, The Associated Press/Star Tribune reports.
Reid Standing Firm In Opposition To Senate Health Law Repeal Vote
Across the Hill, House Republicans have renewed their interest in proposals to privatize Medicare, leading Democrats to jump to the defense of the health insurance program for seniors.
In California, Anthem Blue Cross, Aetna And PacifiCare Agree To 60-Day Rate Hike Delay
Blue Shield of California has still not agreed to the state health insurance commissioner’s request to delay the planned hikes.
Justice Dept. Sues Guidant Over ‘Faulty’ Heart Devices
The suit alleges that Guidant, a subsidiary of Boston Scientific Corp., knowingly sold defective defibrillators.
Senate GOP Ready To Question CMS Chief
With Dr. Donald Berwick’s recess appointment to head the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid now being revisited and the White House’s renomination of him to this position, Republican Senators are ready to revisit some volatile issues.
Budget Woes Lead States To Seek Ways To Ease Medicaid’s Requirements
While The Hill reports that CMS administrator Donald Berwick says his agency is trying to help states find solutions, National Journal notes that mounting budgetary pressure has put the program in “dire fiscal straits.”
The Latest Example Of Corporate Preparations For Health Law Changes
The Wall Street Journal details how the restaurant chain Chili’s is preparing for how its bottom line could be impacted by the health overhaul. Even so, The New York Times reports, a consulting firm concludes that current worries about the well-being of private health insurance are “misplaced.”
In Effort To Find Common Ground, Possible Areas Of Agreement And Disagreement Emerge
During his State of the Union address, President Obama signaled an openness to working with Republicans on ways to improve – but not undo – the health law. An area that seems open to such an effort is fixing the overhaul’s 1099 tax reporting provision, which is gaining bipartisan support on Capitol Hill. But in terms of medical malpractice reforms, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius noted key policy differences between the President and a GOP-sponsored House bill.
Today’s state news includes reports from Florida, California, Arizona, Texas, Iowa, Michigan and Kansas.
New Feature: KHN’s Selection Of Thought-Provoking Magazine Articles On Health Policy Issues
A selection of thought-provoking magazine articles on health policy issues, including a recent New Yorker piece by Dr. Atul Gawande, Sharon Begley on ‘Why Everything You Hear About Medicine Is Wrong,’ an in-depth look at the challenges of creating ACOs and more.
Studies today come from the Archives of Surgery, the Archives of Internal Medicine, the Annals of Internal Medicine, the Annals of Family Medicine, the CDC, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Health Affairs, the Urban Institute and the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Today’s opinions include commentaries from The Los Angeles Times, Politico and the Boston Globe.
First Edition: January 28, 2011
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports that President Obama is expected to really the health reform troops in a speech today.
Opinions: Global Poverty; Global Fund Corruption; Tackling Poverty, Environmental Issues
Opinions include essays on global poverty, global fund corruption and the intersection of tackling poverty and environmental issues.
Reuters Examines How Russia’s ‘Drug Problem’ Has ‘Become An AIDS Problem’
Reuters, in a piece exploring the issue of heroin use in Russia describes how the country’s “drug problem has now become an AIDS problem.”
