Latest KFF Health News Stories
Health Reform Profiles: People Working In The Health Industry And Those Struggling With Coverage
News reports today featire profiles of people who work in the health care industry and people struggling with their insurance coverage.
WellPoint Stock Surges As Public Plan Struggles
Stock for the insurer WellPoint hits year-long high as lawmakers move away from a public plan.
Illinois Prepares To Implement Medical Error Reporting Law
Illinois prepares to implement a medical reporting law while CVS receives a contract to provide $1 billion in pharmacy benefits in Texas.
Pelosi Calls House, Senate Bills ’75 Percent Compatible’
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., indicated Thursday that she may be open to a Senate compromise that would expand Medicare and allow the federal government to oversee nonprofit national health plans in lieu of the public option.
Senate Faces Another Working Weekend
The Senate will be working again this weekend, although the emphasis will likely be on appropriations bills.
Today’s Opinions And Editorials
Today’s Selection Of Opinions And Editorials
Some Rural Communities Concerned Reform Provisions Could Hurt Medicare Services
Newspapers in Alaska and Washington state explore how health reform provisions might affect Medicare services in rural areas, while a Colorado newspaper looks at one seantor’s efforts to increase the number of doctors in rural areas.
Disabilities Account For A Quarter Of U.S. Adult Health Care Costs
“Just over one-quarter of U.S. adult health care spending was associated with disability in 2006, according to a new study by researchers at RTI International and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention,” Insurance Journal reports.
The roundup includes research and policy briefs on Medicare buy-in, measuring quality and cost performance of physicians and “Cadillac” insurance plans.
First Edition: December 11, 2009
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including continuing reactions to the Senate’s proposed Medicare expansion deal.
MedPAC Suggests Recouping Overpayments To Hospitals
Under preliminary recommendations, Congress would adjust for overpayments that resulted from documentation and coding changes.
Reid Files Cloture Motions To Pave Way For Final Health Bill Vote Before Christmas
Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D- Calif., said she would be open to keeping the House in session during Christmas week if it could lead to final action on health reform before year’s end.
Financial Times Analyzes Global Approaches To, Debate Over Family Planning
The Financial Times’ Andrew Jack analyzes the debate over different approaches to family planning worldwide. According to Jack, there is a “growing worry that some developing countries have failed to follow the broader ‘demographic transition’ to lower fertility levels that has occurred in past decades in the western world and more recently across Latin America and much of Asia. …”
Global Food Prices Reach 14-Month High, FAO Report Says
In its latest report, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on Wednesday said the agency’s Food Price Index had been increasing for four consecutive months and reached a 14-month high in November, Reuters reports.
FY2010 State And Foreign Ops Bill Expected To Move On The Hill This Month
The fiscal year 2010 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations bill, which includes funding for global health-related measures, “is moving on the Hill as part of a mammoth catch-all spending bill that’s expected to move through both chambers this month,” Foreign Policy’s blog, “The Cable,” reports.
ARTs Safe Without Routine Lab Tests, Lancet Study Finds
A Lancet study published online Tuesday validates the safety of administering first-line antiretroviral therapy (ART) to patients with HIV without routine toxicity and efficacy lab tests, “[b]ut tests of immune-system function might still be a good idea to monitor the progression of the disease and guide the second year of treatment,” HealthDay/U.S. News & World Report reports. Patients in Africa “often receive [HIV] drug treatment … without routine laboratory monitoring,” according to the article.
Many Questions Remain On Medicare Expansion Proposal
A proposal to expand Medicare to include people aged 55 and older as part of an alternative to creating the public option may have also expanded support for the Senate version of the overhaul bill.
Today’s Opinions And Editorials: Public Option, Catholic Bishops, Nurses, Medicare
Today’s selection of opinions and editorials on health policy include perspctives on the public option, Catholic Bishops and ‘death panels.’
Fewer Massachusetts Taxpayers Penalized For Lacking Health Insurance
Fewer Massachusetts taxpayers penalized for lacking health insurance.
