Latest KFF Health News Stories
GAO, Senate Question Role Of Hospital Supplies Middlemen
Group Purchasing Organizations – brokers of supplies for hospitals – received mixed reports from the Government Accountability Office and the Senate Finance Committee.
Malaria Vaccine Development Meeting Begins In Washington
Agence France-Presse reports on a malaria vaccine development meeting that kicks off Tuesday in Washington, D.C.
Health Law Includes Help For Young Women With Breast Cancer
The new federal health law seeks to raise awareness among young women and their doctors about the risk of breast cancer. Meanwhile, advocates push for Medicare coverage of breast protheses.
First Edition: September 27, 2010
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports that some campaigning Democrats are embracing the health overhaul.
MDG Summit: Funding The Global Fund; Arab World’s ‘Own Challenges’
BusinessDay reports that following last week’s Millennium Development Goal (MDG) summit at the U.N. in New York, advocates “have called on rich nations to double their pledges to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and Malaria, saying it desperately needs more money if the world is to meet the health-related Millennium Development Goals by 2015.” According to the article, the advocates are concerned that the $40 billion maternal and child health initiative announced by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last week at the summit “might divert money and attention from the Global Fund.”
V.P. Biden Pledges To ‘Sustain Long-Term’ Aid For Pakistan; U.S. Concerned About Aid Branding
Vice President Joe Biden and British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg recently said the U.S. and Britain would provide “‘sustained long-term’ support to Pakistani flood victims,” Agence France-Presse reports.
At FAO Special Meeting, Delegates Recommend Addressing Root Causes Of Food Price Escalation
“Delegates at a special U.N. meeting about high food prices Friday blamed the hikes on speculation, futures markets and national responses to crop failure,” the Associated Press/Moscow Times reports (9/27).
A second poll, this one from the Kaiser Family Foundation, finds public support for the health law regained some favor.
Congressional Races Taking Shape Around Health Reform Positions
As some vulnerable Dems struggle to maintain their independence from the party’s health reform agenda, the law inspired some challengers to step forward and run for congressional seats.
HHS Pumps Up Rhetoric But Eases Rules On Health Insurance For Kids
The Obama administration’s health officials have stepped up rhetoric condemning health insurers for abandoning the child-only market because of new health law requirements, but at the same time say they may ease the way for those firms to resurrect those plans.
States around the country confront various health issues.
Report: Workers’ Medical Costs Projected To Jump Next Year By More Than 12 Percent
The Chicago Tribune reports that health care bills for an average employee is slated to climb more than $486 next year, a 12.4 percent increase from this year, according to a study by Hewitt Associates released last week.
No Evidence Sometimes Needed To Adopt New Treatments; To Give Them Up Is Another Story
During the past decade, the New England Journal of Medicine twice published studies showing arthroscopic surgery and nothing were equally effective treatments for knee pain.
Today’s OpEds: Reform And Cost Control; The GOP ‘Pledge’; New York State’s Medicaid Program
A selection of opinion and editorials from news outlets across the country.
Congress Considering Program To Help Women In Military; War Videos Prepare Doctors For Bomb Wounds
Congress “is considering” a $3 million pilot program, that “would establish a Women Veterans and Service Members Joint Health Resource Center in South Jersey.” And, UCLA is producing videos of war injuries “prepare military doctors for the wounds they will see when they deploy to Afghanistan and Iraq.”
Many Adults Skip Vaccines Because Of Costs
The New York Times’ Patient Money column examines the importance of vaccines for adults.
Government Health IT Market Poised To Grow Dramatically
The Washington Post reports on the growing field of government health IT.
Community Health Centers Help Those Without Insurance
A West Virginia program using community health centers drives down emergency room visits.
