Latest KFF Health News Stories
Device Maker Study: Hospital Middlemen Arrangement Wastes Billions
The payment arrangements of group purchasing organizations wastes billions of dollars each year, according to a new study funded by the Medical Device Manufacturers Association, a trade group that represents device makers.
N.Y. Officials Seek To Ban Purchase Of Sugary Drinks With Food Stamps
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Gov. David Paterson push to keep New Yorkers on food stamps from buying sugary drinks.
Doctors Say Practices Disrupted By Piecemeal Medicare Payment Fixes
News outlets report on workforce issues affecting doctors and nurses.
Tight Finances Creates Competition Among AIDS Researchers
“As the economic downturn depresses global investment in AIDS prevention, scientists and those who fund them are struggling to set priorities among several competing research methods that could slow the spread of the disease, which causes about 2.7 million new infections worldwide a year,” CQ HealthBeat reports.
First Edition: October 7, 2010
Today’s early morning highlights include stories on waivers given some companies that offer only minimal health insurance coverage, insurers’ political efforts during this campaign season and efforts in New York to bar the use of food stamps to buy soda.
Bloomberg reports that 30 companies have secured a waiver from the federal government to avoid a new, health law consumer protection that would prohibit capping insurance costs.
Health Care Votes Haunt Anti-Abortion Dems; Republicans Confront Challenges With ‘Pledge’
Politico reports that anti-abortion Democrats are facing stiff opposition in their bids for re-election. Organizations like the Susan B. Anthony List and other anti-abortion groups are now attacking former allies who once sided with them on abortion.
Today’s OpEds: Mini-Meds, Ariz.’s Anti-Health Mandate And Are Premium Refunds A Bad Thing?
Kaiser Health News presents a selection of Wednesday’s health care opinions and editorials from around the country.
Health Law Rhetoric Increases In Races Across Country
In races around the U.S., the health care law is proving to be a main factor in deciding who gets elected, with Republicans promising repeal and Democrats defending the tenets of the law.
States address a range of health policy issues.
Donors Pledge Nearly $12B For Global Fund, Missing Lowest Funding Target
Donors at a replenishment meeting in New York on Tuesday pledged $11.7 billion over three years for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, “higher than past support but below the lowest target set by the agency in its efforts to combat disease in the developing world,” the Financial Times reports (Jack, 10/5).
Medical Device Industry, Advocates Weigh In On Proposed Expedited Approval Process
The Hill’s Healthwatch blog reports that players are weighing in on a proposal to expedite the approval process for some medical devices.
Should Medicare Consider Cost-Effectiveness When Setting Reimbursement Rates?
Medicare reimbursement rates should be based on how effective the treatment is for a particular illness, according to a piece by two policy experts in the October edition of Health Affairs.
U.S. ‘Among The Lowest’ In Aid Quality And Effectiveness, Report Finds
The U.S. “ranks among the lowest in terms of the quality and effectiveness of its aid,” according to a new Center for Global Development (CGD)/Brookings Institution report, Foreign Policy’s “The Cable” blog writes. The report examined “30 separate, measurable indicators and evaluated them in terms of four dimensions: maximizing efficiency (how smartly the money is distributed), fostering institutions (whether the money is helping host governments), reducing the burden on recipient countries (how much the host countries need to do to get the money), and transparency and learning (how much we know about how the aid is being spent).”
African Development, Economies Improve, Many Governments Doing Poorly, Index Says
According to an index on African governance released by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, “[m]ost countries are improving their economies and their human development, yet nearly two-thirds are suffering a ‘democratic recession’
IOM: Nurses Can Take Bigger Role In Medical Care
Nurses could take a bigger role and more responsibility in medical care – a move that could lower costs and stave off a physician shortage – without putting patients at risk.
Retiree Benefits Prove Promising Hunting Ground For State Budget Cuts
State and local officials facing down looming budget shortfalls are beginning to look at cutting public employees’ famously generous retirement benefits.
Twenty-two countries “are facing enormous challenges like repeated food crises and an extremely high prevalence of hunger due to a combination of natural disasters, conflict and weak institutions,” the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) and the World Food Program said in the State of Food Insecurity in the World 2010 report (.pdf) on Wedensday, Xinhua News reports.
Gallup: Fewer Get Insurance From Employers
A new poll has found that fewer adults have employer-sponsored than did two years ago.
