Latest KFF Health News Stories
Candidates Continue To Clash Over Health Care Law
Races around the nation are increasingly focusing on what they’ll do with the new health law if they’re elected.
USAID Administrator Outlines Feed The Future Initiative At World Food Prize Symposium
USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah on Friday in Iowa “described the Obama administration’s international agricultural development effort, Feed the Future, as a flagship effort for” his agency and “a key plank in the administration’s global development strategy, but said it can’t succeed without more support,” CongressDaily reports (Hagstrom, 10/18).
States address a range of health policy issues.
A selection of today’s opinions and editorials from across the U.S.
Reports Examine Drug Company Payments To Doctors
Several news outlets examine the millions of dollars drug companies pay to doctors. That money goes primarily for speaking engagements and other educational efforts.
Feds Ask Connecticut To Reconsider Rate Hike Approval, Other Health Law Implementation News
The Hartford Courant reports that a high-ranking health official in the Obama administration has asked Connecticut insurance regulators to reconsider allowing Blue Cross Blue Shield in Connecticut to raise health insurance rates by 47 percent.
New Research Blames Billions In Medical Costs On Obesity
A new study finds that obesity is responsible for 17 percent of U.S. health costs.
Studies Explore Efforts To Measure, Improve Hospitals’ Surgical Outcomes
Two new studies suggest that Medicare could do a better job of measuring quality medical care in hospitals, and that surgical errors are surpringly common.
As State Commissioners Meet On Medical Loss Ratio, Insurers Warn Of Impact
CNNMoney reports that insurers are warning that a provision in the health law that requires them to spend 80 or 85 percent of premiums they collect on actual medical costs and not administrative expenses could put them out of business.
Health IT Sector May Face Workforce Shortage
A top federal health IT official said there is a workforce shortage in the sector that could hinder the widespread adoption of electronic medical records, but federal aide is on the way.
DOJ Sues Michigan Blue Cross Blue Shield Over Pricing Deals
The U.S. Justice Department is suing Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and alleging it violated antitrust laws by forcing hospitals to charge higher prices to rival insurers.
Boeing To Shift Some Health Costs To Workers
Boeing will increase the costs of health insurance for its 90,000 nonunion workers next year in response to rising health costs, spurred, in part, a Boeing official said, by the federal health law.
Judge In Va. To Rule On Health Law’s Mandate By Year’s End
A federal judge will rule by the end of the year on a Virginia challenge to the federal health law provision requiring people to buy insurance.
First Edition: October 19, 2010
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about the latest developments in Virginia’s court challenge against the health law and a U.S. government lawsuit targeting Michigan Blue Cross Blue Shield for anti-trust activities.
Federal Judge Says He’ll Rule On Virginia’s Health Law Challenge By Year’s End
The judge also said his decision will be a “brief stop” on the way to the Supreme Court.
Farming techniques must adapt to mitigate the effects of climate change and ensure global food security, Olivier De Schutter, the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to food, said in a statement to mark Saturday’s World Food Day, Agence France-Presse reports.
Dengue Cases In Western Pacific Doubled In Last 10 Years; WHO Says Disease Needs Higher Profile
The number of dengue cases “has more than doubled in the last decade” in the Western Pacific, according to the WHO, BBC reports. “National resources need to be mobilized to sustain dengue prevention and control, and the disease’s profile needs to be raised on the global health agenda to stimulate the interest of international agencies and donors,” said Shin Young-soo, the WHO’s regional director for the Western Pacific, where the majority of the population at risk of dengue lives.
Government Officials, U.N. Staff Meet With Sex Workers In Asia To Examine Access To HIV Services
In parts of Asia, “policies outlawing sex work are undermining HIV/AIDS prevention efforts by fragmenting and stigmatizing the sex workers and turning condom possession into an act that could lead to jail time, NGO officials say,” IRIN reports (10/15).
Support For Health Law Dips, GOP Aims To Seize Opportunity
Politico reports that support among the public for the health overhaul dipped during the last month, even as the “percentage of Democrats who say they’ll go to the polls to defend the law rose.”
