Latest KFF Health News Stories
Mass. Senate Approves Health Costs Bill To Help Small Biz Pay Health Costs And Other State News
The Associated Press reports that the Massachusetts Senate Tuesday approved a bill that would make wealthy hospitals pay $100 million in a one-time contribution to help small businesses ease insurance premiums.
Kaiser Health News presents a selection of Wednesday’s opinions and editorials from around the nation.
KHN And WSJ Reporters Discuss Health Overhaul
Kaiser Health News’s Mary Agnes Carey and The Wall Street Journal’s Janet Adamy discussed the many ways the health overhaul law will affect health care consumers young and old, and especially people with Medicare coverage, on NPR’s Talk of the Nation Tuesday.
Federal Employee Unions Pressing For Bill To Cover Young Adults
The health law allows parents to keep children up to age 26 on their plans, and some private insurers are putting the provision in place quickly. But FEHBP is not scheduled to allow the change until January.
Fraud And Abuse Cases Come To Conclusions
A Los Angeles man has been convicted of using HIV patients to obtain $80,000 worth of painkillers. A Boston doctor lost his bid to regain Medicare billing rights after pleading guilty to falsifying records, in order, he said, to help patients maintain insurance coverage.
Texas Prison Health Care System To Lay Off Nearly 12 Percent Of Workforce
The state institution that provides health services to Texas state prisoners will lay off 363 workers because of budget cuts.
Health Care High School To Open In Chicago
Crain’s Chicago Business reports that, in the fall, the city will open its “first charter high school specializing in health care, a move local hospitals hope will help relieve chronic workforce shortages.”
CMS To Spend $73 Million Over 5 Years To Improve Public Websites
The agency hired CGI Federal Inc., a consulting firm, to make its three websites more user friendly.
New Online Diagnosis Tool Offers Prescriptions In A Hurry
News outlets report on the expanding online relationship between doctors and patients.
Hospitals Under Pressure From Flagging Budgets, Regulators
Maryland and New York hospitals are squaring off against various financial and regulatory challenges.
WellPoint CEO Braly Faces Sharp Criticism At Shareholders Meeting
“Pressure is mounting on WellPoint Inc. Chief Executive Angela Braly, who faced tough questions about the health insurer’s practices at its annual shareholders meeting Tuesday, before the gathering ended abruptly after a director collapsed,” The Wall Street Journal reports.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including the latest developments regarding legislation related to the Medicare physician payment fix.
To Sell Plan, White House Officials Focus On Four Key Aspects Of Health Reform
White House officials eager to sell the most popular elements of the health reform law are focusing on four areas to try to gain votes and popularity for key lawmakers ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Administration Touts Small Business Tax Credits For Health Insurance, Rules Issued
The new health law created tax credits of up to 35 percent of premiums for small businesses starting this year.
AP Examines HIV Microbicides, PrEP Research
“Try after try to make vaginal creams that could repel the AIDS virus have failed. Now researchers are testing if a drug used to treat HIV infection finally might give women a tool to prevent it
BMJ News Examines How Drug Resistance, Access Undermine Malaria Fight In Uganda, Cambodia
BMJ News looks at how lack of access to drugs and resistance are undermining the fight against malaria.
WHO Director-General Pushes For Sustained Commitment To MDGs At World Health Assembly
During her opening address to the World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, Switzerland, on Monday, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan called for increased global efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Pana/Afrique en ligne reports. Chan also set-up several global health challenges to be addressed during the five-day meeting, according to the news service.
States Combat Health Costs, Workforce And Safety Issues
A Nebraska city hopes to lower health costs by requiring retirees to pay more; California officials say a hospital risked patient injuries; and Texas doctors are increasingly arriving from abroad.
