Latest KFF Health News Stories
White House Considers Help For States With Proposed Medicaid Expansion
Reuters reports that President Barack Obama and his White House team is considering ways to help states cover the increasing costs of health care reform legislation.
Congress Expected To Shun Mammography Recommendations In Final Health Bill
“Annual mammograms, seemingly on their way out under new federal guidelines last year, may be coming back,” The Wall Street Journal reports.
Pediatric Specialists And Pharmacists May Get Boost From Health Bills
News outlets reports on how the health care bill pending in Congress might affect pediatric specialists and pharmacists.
First Edition: January 12, 2010
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about President Obama’s meeting with organized labor leaders to discuss the ‘cadillac’ tax.
Obama Administration Supports Cairo Conference Goals, Clinton Says
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday “reiterated the Obama administration’s support” for universal access to family planning and maternal health care, All Headline News reports. Clinton spoke at an event marking the 15th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development Action Plan held in Cairo, Egypt.
Wall Street Journal Examines Polio Vaccinations In Afghanistan
In a story about polio vaccination campaigns in Afghanistan, the Wall Street Journal examines how the Taliban and international health agencies are working together to promote oral vaccination campaigns across the country. Vaccination campaign volunteers usually bring a “single-page letter requesting people to cooperate, ‘for the benefit of our next generations.’ The letter’s signatory: Mullah Mohammad Omar, the one-eyed supreme leader of the Taliban,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
ProPublica Examines USAID Efforts To Fund, Train Local Organizations In Pakistan
“As the United States prepares to drastically increase civilian aid in Pakistan, [USAID,] the agency in charge has asked for help training the local organizations that will spend that aid money, saying those organizations ‘do not meet the minimum standards for managing’ U.S. government funds,” ProPublica reports in a story that examines the challenges associated with channeling aid money for Pakistan away from American contractors and NGOs to Pakistani organizations.
Official H1N1-Related Death Count Approaches 13,000 Worldwide, WHO Says
H1N1 (swine flu) has killed 12,799 people worldwide since the virus first emerged, the WHO said on Friday, United Press International reports (1/8). According to the WHO, more than half of the H1N1-related deaths worldwide occurred in the Americas, China Daily reports (1/9).
Calif. Gov. Schwarzenegger Plans Health Cuts; News Outlets Report On Medicaid Funding Issues
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is planning cuts to health programs and has “warned more would come if the federal government does not increase program reimbursements,” ModernHealthcare reports.
Detroit Paper Explores Pain Of Facing Breast Cancer Without Insurance
A woman with a $7,000 annual income and $67 in the bank was diagnosed with breast cancer, leading to a week of phone calls from her surgeon to state, federal and hospital officials before a charitable agreement was struck with a medical center.
Today’s Selection Of Opinions And Editorials
A sampling of opinions and editorials from around the country.
Health IT Roundup: Stimulus Funding Pushes Effort To Wire Doctors’ Offices
Federal efforts to get doctors and hospitals to go digital are a cause for optimism from health IT supporters, but draw protest from some in the medical community.
Jobs Numbers In Health Sector Defy Recession, More Growth Expected
As most sectors of the economy shed jobs last month, health care companies continued to hire more people in a trend that’s spanned more than two years.
Insurance Mandates Spark GOP Fight While Proposed Insurance Pools, Abortion Issues Are Examined
The Wall Street Journal reports that Republicans “are attacking the legal premise of the legislation, saying Congress has no power to make people carry health insurance or pay a penalty or tax.”
U.S. Changes HIV Policy To Allow Foreigners With Virus To Enter The Country
Two new policies on HIV have been issued by the United States government with Medicare covering screening and foreigners with the virus being allowed to enter the country.
New Federal Law Expands Mental Health Coverage
The Los Angeles Times reports on the federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, which went into effect on Jan. 1.
Lawmakers, Public Grapple With Health Care Endgame
Many Democrats consider their health overhaul a political liability now, but “are betting that the only thing worse than passing a bill many of them don’t like is not passing one at all.”
CMS Study Finds Senate Health Bill Would Increase Costs Less Steeply Than Thought
A report from the Center on Medicare and Medicaid Services finds that the Senate health bill would increase spending less steeply than previously thought.
Uphill Battles For Lawmakers As Intensity Picks Up On Health Bill Negotiations
Politico reports that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “is telling her caucus not to believe stories that the House will simply roll over and accept the Senate’s hard-fought health care bill.”
