Latest KFF Health News Stories
GOP Looks To Make Its Case At Health Summit While Democrats Remain Skeptical
Politico reports that the planned Feb. 25 health care summit between Democrats, Republicans and President Obama “gives the GOP a venue to accomplish something it hasn’t been able to do since President Barack Obama took the oath of office: Sell voters on Republican solutions to big problems.”
Research Roundup: Bundled Payments, PTSD Incidence, Cost Of Treating Immigrants
Today’s research roundup features studies from RAND and the journals Health Affairs, JAMA, Cancer, Hormones and Cancer and Journal of Traumatic Stress.
First Edition: February 12, 2010
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including the continuing flap regarding Anthem Blue Cross’ planned rate hike and more coverage of the proposed health summit to take place later this month.
Health Care Lobbying Spending Rose To Record Heights In 2009, Report Finds
Drug and health products industries spent nearly $267 million on federal lobbying.
WellPoint Defends 39% Premium Hike In Letter To Sebelius
The parent company of Anthem Blue Cross blamed the current recession and rising health care costs for the planned increase.
COBRA Extension Included In Newly Unveiled Senate Jobs Bill
The measure also would postpone for seven months a scheduled cut in Medicare physician payments.
Heavy Rains Hit Tent Camps In Haiti
Heavy rains hit earthquake survivors in tent camps in Port-au-Prince on Thursday, “bringing a warning of fresh misery to come for the 1 million people living on the streets,” Reuters reports. “While the rain could wash away some of the dust from the hundreds of collapsed structures in the stricken city, it could also worsen a fierce blight of mosquitoes,” according to Reuters, which reports that Haiti is struggling to get all the earthquake survivors out of make-shift tents and into more substantial shelters (Loney, 2/11).
Scientists Find Single Dose Of Drug Cures Visceral Leishmaniasis
Scientists have discovered that a single infusion of Gilead Sciences’ drug AmBisome, known generically as iposomal amphotericin B, cures patients with the visceral leishmaniasis, or kala-azar, a parasitic infection, Reuters reports. Spread by the sand fly and affecting 500,000 people a year, visceral leishmaniasis is found in Asia, Africa, and parts of Europe, but is concentrated in India, according to the news service.
News outlets chronicle deceptive marketing practices by some companies, and rate hikes from others.
Mass. Gov. Seeks Greater Authority To Attack Health Costs
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick asked the state legislature to grant his administration broad new authority to determine rates charged by medical providers in hopes of curbing costs and making health care more affordable.
States struggle with strapped budgets, resulting in possible cuts to adult day care centers in California and cuts to Medicaid in Texas and Kansas. In Florida, Gov. Crist says he is now “open” to expanding Medicaid Reform program and La. Gov. Jindal proposes shifting some institutional care to community-based options.
Today’s Opinions And Editorials: A Litigation Explosion, Anthem Blue Cross And Starting Fresh
Today’s collection of opinions and editorials.
States Push For Insurers To Increase Coverage
States tackle several health care policy issues focused on health insurance coverage. They include possible health insurance mandates to cover prosthetics in Idaho and a push for insurance companies to cover oral chemotherapies in Kansas.
Medicaid And Other State Programs Face Questions About Fraud, Other Difficulties
Several states are exploring fraud and abuse in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Payments, Pricing Info, Paperwork May Contribute To Costs, Confusion
The way doctors, hospitals and other health care providers are paid creates a so-called perverse incentive to order more and more medical services, even when those services do not contribute to better health.
AMA Unhappy With Senate Plan For Medicare ‘Doc Fix’
The American Medical Association is criticizing a plan to avoid a cut in Medicare payments to physicians, calling it a ‘Band-Aid’ measure, Bloomberg/BusinessWeek reports.
Proving Value A Challenge For Comparative Effectiveness And Pharmaceutical Technologies
The Wall Street Journal reports that “an examination of one of the best-known examples of a comparative-effectiveness analysis shows how complicated such a seemingly straightforward idea can get” as officials look for savings in the health care system.
Gregg Ready For ‘Dialogue’ On Health Reform, Pelosi Ready For Reconciliation Fight
Politico reports that Sen. Judd Gregg could be a Republican partner for Obama’s White House as the administration looks to move forward on salvaging some health reform.
