Latest KFF Health News Stories
House To Vote On Ending Insurer Antitrust Exemption Today, White House Backs Measure
The White House announced support Tuesday for a House bill that would end the federal antitrust exemption for health insurers.
Doctors Work Fewer Hours, Study Finds
Doctors are working fewer hours even as the shortage of primary care physicians persists.
Anthem Blue Cross Will Go Forward With Rate Hikes, Execs Tell Calif. Lawmakers
Anthem Blue Cross executives told California lawmakers Tuesday that they plan to go ahead with a rate hike of up to 39% for individual health insurance policies.
A Bird’s-Eye View Of Health Lobbying
The Center for Public Integrity has published an in-depth analysis of lobbying disclosure forms that shows the scope of health overhaul lobbying activities in 2009.
Doctors Face Medicare Payment Cuts; Congress Considers Short-Term Fix
Medicare reimbursement rates could fall by 21 percent on March 1 if Congress does not act.
Reid Wants COBRA Subsidy Extension, Eyes Medicaid Funds For States
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is trying to extend unemployment benefits, health insurance subsidies for the recently laid off and help for state Medicaid budgets that would cost $100 billion.
First Edition: February 24, 2010
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including the run-up to tomorrow’s White House health summit and the latest from Capitol Hill regarding the outlook for health reform.
Obama Backs Repeal Of Health Insurers’ Antitrust Exemption
The White House makes another move in its tussle with insurers.
Doubts, Questions Loom Over Planned Bipartisan Health Summit
More reactions to President Obama’s health proposal are trickling in from Capitol Hill, as the White House attempts to parry Republican criticism by asking GOP lawmakers to put their own plan on the table.
Obama Builds On Senate Health Bill In Hopes Of Broader Support
President Obama’s new proposal, an effort to resuscitate the stalled health debate, merges the separate legislation passed in the Senate and House into something with which the administration hopes both chambers will find agreement.
The White House Weighed Political Risks In Health Plan Calculation
President Obama’s health overhaul proposal suggests the administration will continue an aggressive push for sweeping legislation, flouting conjecture that the loss of a filibuster-proof Senate majority would lead to scaled-back plans, news analyses suggest.
Insurers Reject Obama’s Proposal For A Rate-Hike Review Panel
President Obama’s recently unveiled overhaul proposal puts the heat on insurers by requiring federal oversight of their premium rate hikes, something the industry has strenuously objected to.
Flightless Mosquitoes Could Fight Dengue, Study Says
By rendering female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes
Today’s Opinions And Editorials
Kaiser Health News presents a sampling of Tuesday’s opinions and editorials from around the United States.
As states grapple with lower revenues in this budget cycle, New Jersey considers cuts to public employee benefits and Ohio governor proposes switching some Medicaid funds to help seniors at home.
Senate Committee Report Addresses U.S. Government Response To Haiti
A Senate Foreign Relations Committee report, written by two Senate staffers, who just returned from Haiti where they assessed relief efforts, draws attention to “immediate shelter and sanitation concerns” and voices “concern about the coordination of Washington’s U.S. government response to Haiti,” Politico’s Laura Rozen writes on her blog. A link to the text of the report appears on Politico’s Web site.
Research Addresses Preterm Birth, Stillbirth Health Issues, Highlights Preventive Interventions
New research published in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth notes some of the “serious short- and long-term health issues” associated with preterm births and identifies steps that can be taken to reduce the number of stillbirths and premature births worldwide, United Press International reports. Each year, 13 million babies are born preterm and there are 3.2 million stillbirths, according to the research. “Neonatal deaths account for more than 42 percent of mortality in children under age 5
Poll: Americans Split On Health Care Bills, But Majority Frustrated By Delays
A new tracking poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation finds Americans still split on the proposed health care overhaul.
Blair Talks About Combating Malaria In Nigeria, Part Of 3-Nation African Trip
“Former British prime minister Tony Blair on Saturday called for concerted efforts to combat malaria in Nigeria which accounts for a quarter of the [nearly] one million malaria deaths annually in Africa,” Agence France-Presse writes (2/20). Blair is scheduled to visit Nigeria, Liberia and Sierra Leone on a three-country trip to Africa, VOA News writes (Ssali, 2/20).
