Latest KFF Health News Stories
States Struggle To Balance Budgets, Health Programs Face Cuts
States struggle with budget cuts, especially to Medicaid and other medical assistance programs for the poor.
Health Care Sparks Battles Between State, Federal Legislation
Backlash growns among states to federal overhaul’s proposal to impose a mandate for individuals to buy health insurance.
Advertising On Heath Overhaul Picks Up Again
Health care advertising is revving up in advance of the final votes on pending congressional legislation.
‘Vaccine Court’ Finds No Link Between Vaccines And Autism
A federal court finds no link between vaccines and autism after examining three cases that started in 2007.
Major Catholic Health Group Supports Democrats’ Health Reform
“Breaking with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the president of the Catholic Health Association has endorsed the Senate health care reform legislation that is scheduled to be voted on by the House of Representatives this week,” according to Catholic World.
Senate Parliamentarian Frumin Could Referee Overhaul Battle
Senate Parliamentarian Alan Frumin, a veteran master of civil procedure who first joined the office he now leads in 1977, will be thrust into a deciding role if Democrats pursue their health overhaul efforts with help from a filibuster-proof tactic known as budget reconciliation.
FDA Questions Third-Party Review Of Medical Devices
The FDA is considering ending a program that allows medical-equipment makers to have their products reviewed by third-party companies instead of by FDA officials.
Insurers Describe Coverage Of Abortion In States With Separate Premiums
In North Dakota, which has a system much like the one that anti-abortion advocates are seeking in the national health overhaul, large insurer says it doesn’t sell abortion polices because customers don’t seek it, The Washington Post reports.
Stimulus Funds Spur Indiana Doctors, Hospitals To Switch To Electronic Records More Quickly
The offer of federal stimulus funds is spurring Indiana health care providers to convert to electronic medical records, the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reports.
Program To Obtain Transplant Organs From ER Patients Creates Controversy
A pilot program to use transplant organs from ER patients sparks controversy and questions, according to The Washington Post.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including the latest on Democrats’ efforts to corral the votes necessary to pass the health reform bill.
Confident Democrats Predict House Passes Health Bill This Week
Democratic leaders of the House, as well as top aides to President Obama, said that while the party didn’t yet have the votes lined up to pass the Senate’s version of health reform, they expected to have them by next weekend.
Health Bill Update: Pelosi Counting Votes, Scott Brown Lambastes Dems
News outlets reported that Democrats seeking to pass a health bill next week got a boost from a Cabinet official, a key senator and the Catholic Health Association, while newly-elected Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., attacked the Democrats’ plans.
Pelosi: A ‘Climactic Health Care Vote’ As Early As Next Week
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled Friday that votes on a health care overhaul could come by the end of next week after President Obama postponed until March 21 an overseas trip.
Democrats’ Health Bill Plans Could Hinge On Parliamentarian’s Ruling
The Democrats’ plan for passing the health overhaul faced questions when the Senate parliamentarian said President Obama must first sign into law the Senate-passed health bill before senators could consider separate fix-it legislation as part of the reconciliation process.
More Focus On Reaching MDGs Needed, Development Officials Say
During a conference in London Thursday, development officials urged world leaders to “accelerate efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 and [said] rich countries must make good on promises to boost aid to poorer nations,” Reuters AlertNet reports.
U.S. State Department Releases Annual Human Rights Review
The U.S. State Department on Thursday released its annual review on the state of human rights around the world, the Associated Press reports. The 2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, which includes an assessment of 194 countries, “described abuses in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe,” according to the news service (Klug, 3/11).
GAVI Alliance Reaches Agreement With Drugmakers On Reduced-Price Pneumococcal Vaccines
Several drugmakers have reached an agreement “to supply up to 200 million doses a year of cut-price pneumococcal vaccines to developing nations,” according to GAVI Alliance, Reuters reports. A formal announcement of the deal is expected “in the next couple of weeks,” GAVI’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer Helen Evans told the news service Thursday.
After announcing a revised appeal of $1.4 billion in February to finance emergency relief as well as recovery and reconstruction, the U.N. “is struggling to provide support for equake-ravaged Haiti,” according to humanitarian chief John Holmes, Reuters reports. “We did extremely well on raising funds for the initial flash appeal, but we are struggling, I’m afraid, to raise resources for the revised appeal. … We have got 49 percent of what we need for the whole year and we are appealing to donors to come forward with more resources for that relief operation,” Holmes said.
African Leaders, Donors Endorse ‘Ambitious’ Agriculture Development Plan
At a meeting this week in Nigeria to address African agriculture production, “African leaders and donor agencies have endorsed an ambitious plan to generate employment, income and food security in Africa by developing agribusiness and agro-industries,” Punch reports. The event was organized by the AU, the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDP), FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the African Development Bank (AfDB), according to the newspaper (Ibrahym, 3/12).
