Latest KFF Health News Stories
Farmers, Aid Groups Call Attention To Drought, Food Shortages In West Africa
A coalition of farmers from West Africa’s Sahel region, known as Billital Maroobe, wrote an open letter to regional leaders Monday, appealing for help with drought and famine conditions that are affecting people and livestock, Agence France-Presse/IC Publications reports.
Drugmakers, Insurers And Hospitals Expected To See Gains From Health Bill
Industry groups are expected to profit from the health overhaul, which expands their customer base by offering coverage to 32 million people who are now uninsured.
Former Presidents Bush, Clinton In Haiti; IADB Forgives $479M Haiti Debt
“Former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton clasped hands with residents of one of Haiti’s massive tent cities Monday” during a tour of Port-Au-Prince, the Associated Press reports. “At a news conference with President Rene Preval on the grounds of the collapsed national palace, Bush said he was struck by the devastation caused by the Jan. 12 earthquake. ‘It’s one thing to see it on TV, it’s another to see it firsthand,’ said Bush, who was making his first visit to Haiti. ‘Hopefully our visit will remind people that Haiti needs help,'” the news service writes.
Unions Take Hard Look At Lawmakers Who Voted Against Health Bill While Tea Party Promise To Fight On
Battle over health care reform continues.
Health Care Bill Victory For Pelosi
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) fought for each vote for the health care bill that passed the House on Sunday.
Medical ID Thefts Increase, Lack Of Transparency Still Plagues Hospital Safety Data Reporting
Medical identity theft is on the rise. Another report investigates why hospital safety data is not available to the public.
Obama Prepares To Sell Health Care Plan; Dems, GOP Strategize On Next Steps
Following the health care vote, Obama moves from pushing health care reform to explaining it to the public.
Some GOP States Mounting Legal Challenges To Health Bill
Officials in 12 states have vowed to seek to overturn the health overhaul, arguing that it goes beyond the limits of federal power. But constitutional scholars say the states will have a tough fight making the claims.
Deficit Forecast -Questioned By Some – Buttressed Support For Health Overhaul
The Congressional Budget Office report that found the health legislation would cut the deficit by $140 billion over 10 years boosted Democratic momentum and pulled fiscally conservative moderates behind the bill.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including a range of stories touching on everything from the politics and opposition related to the newly pased overhaul bill to its supporters’ next steps and some of the measure’s policy implications.
Senate Parliamentarian Set To Rule As Debate Shifts To Upper Chamber
The Senate Parliamentarian Alan Frumin met with Democrats and Republicans Monday afternoon on a Republican challenge to health care reform using reconciliation.
Obama To Sign Senate Health Reform Bill Tuesday
Meanwhile, Republicans plot methods to repeal the legislation.
House Passes Historic Health Care Reform Legislation
The House passes historic health care reform legislation Sunday night without any Republican votes and sends the bill to the President.
What’s Next? Senate Prepares To Consider House-Passed Reconciliation Fixes
Senators are preparing for their own health care vote that could come as soon as the end of this week after the House passed the upper chamber’s health care reform bill Sunday and sent the Senate a bill of “fixes” to that legislation.
Administration Official Discusses Obama’s Commitment To Africa’s Food Security In Reuters Interview
Food security is central to President Barack Obama’s Africa policy, “the administration’s top official for Africa,” Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson, said in an interview with Reuters. “We want to see the food security initiative take on greater momentum as more African countries are drawn into this program,” Carson said.
Former Presidents Bush, Clinton Visit Haiti To Highlight Need For Aid
Former U.S. presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton are visiting Haiti on Monday “to spotlight the dramatic need ahead of a critical March 31 U.N. donors conference in New York, where Haitian officials will ask for $11.5 billion in reconstruction help,” the Associated Press/New York Times reports. “It is the first joint visit to the impoverished Caribbean nation for the two former leaders, who were tasked by President Barack Obama with leading the U.S. fundraising effort” after the January 12 earthquake according to the news service.
World’s Slum Population Increased By 55M Since 2000, Despite Exodus Of 227M, Report Says
“Almost a quarter of a billion people moved out of slum conditions in the past decade,” but the number of people living in shantytowns around the world “increased by 55 million to 827.6 million as population growth and migration from the countryside outstripped the effect of upward mobility in cities,” according to a U.N. Habitat report, released Friday, in Rio de Janeiro ahead of the five-day World Urban Forum “on the state of the world’s cities,” Reuters reports (3/19).
Next Step: Selling The Health Bill To The Public Before November
Both sides hope to use their arguments about the health care reform bill to gain advantages in the mid-term election.
