Latest KFF Health News Stories
Today’s Opinions And Editorials
Kaiser Health News presents a selection of opinions and editorials from around the nation.
Physicians Can Receive Federal Incentives For Switching To Electronic Medical Records
Payments, which will begin next year, are funded by the federal stimulus bill passed in 2009.
Senate Retirements Focus Democrats On Election Prospects And Health Bill Impact
The two candidates in the race to replace Sen. Edward M. Kennedy are focusing on the health care reform bill to highlight their differences, Politico reports.
Nelson’s Medicaid Deal Comes Under Attack
A deal secured by Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., to ensure that the federal government will pay for all of a proposed Medicaid expansion in his state is drawing fire from nearly all sides.
Democrats Closing In On Health Bill Agreement
Lawmakers are close to making a final deal on merging the two health care reform bills in Congress after meeting with President Obama for the second day in a row.
Obama Reportedly Backs ‘Cadillac Tax’ In Final Health Bill
President Barack Obama is reportedly urging Congress to include a “Cadillac Tax” in the final health bill.
Health Care Reform Bill Could Penalize Married Couples
“Some married couples would pay thousands of dollars more for the same health insurance coverage as unmarried people living together,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Few People Sue British National Health System
An examination of the British health care system shows that while there is some dissatisfaction, there are few malpractice suits against the system.
Analysis: Medicare Part D Has Lessons For Health Reform
The Wall Street Journal has an analysis of Medicare Part D and what lessons it might provide for health reform.
First Edition: January 7, 2010
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, with many stories detailing the continuing efforts to blend together the House- and Senate-passed health reform bills and the key issues in play.
House Democrats Develop Wish List For Final Reform Package, Return To The White House
High among the emerging priorities are national health exchanges and an end to insurance companies’ antitrust exemption.
Senate: Democratic Retirements Raise Questions About Political Support For Health Reform
Experts say the retirements of Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., are not likely to have a direct impact on the final push for health legislation, but do underscore the political challenges that are emerging.
Rural Health Care Advocates Struggle For Attention In Texas
Meanwhile, a new public safety policy at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy is drawing attention and criticism from some civil rights groups.
Reuters examines efforts to control tuberculosis in China, which has the “world’s second largest tuberculosis burden after India.” The news service writes, “China has 4.5 million TB cases currently; and each year 1.4 million people fall ill with the disease. TB killed 160,000 people in China in 2008, according to the World Health Organization.”
Democratic Leaders Plot Course To Finish Health Reform Legislation
Democrats are gearing up for House-Senate intraparty negotiations in an effort to send a bill to President Obama before his State of the Union Address.
Developing Countries Reassess Need For Donated H1N1 Vaccine
As the number of H1N1 (swine flu) cases in some regions of the world continues to fall, developing countries scheduled to receive donated H1N1 (swine flu) vaccines from the WHO are reassessing just how much vaccines their countries need, the Canadian Press reports. “The WHO had hoped to provide vaccine for up to 10 per cent of the populations of developing countries that wanted donated vaccine,” the newspaper writes.
Study Suggests Why Circumcised Men Less Likely To Become Infected With HIV
A PLoS One study published Tuesday sheds a new light on why men who have been circumcised are less likely to become infected with HIV, ANI/Times of India reports (1/6). Pooling data from “three randomized-control trials in sub-Saharan Africa, where the circumcision rate is relatively low and the HIV infection rate is relatively high,” the researchers from the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and Johns Hopkins University found “for the first time that circumcision significantly changes the bacterial community of the penis,” according to a TGen press release.
Public Option, Affordability Issues Central To Health Bill Negotiations
House Democrats who favor a government-run public insurance plan signal willingness to move on the bill without a public option if other tenets of the bill fulfill the same goals: affordabilty and holding insurance companies accountable.
Goosby Outlines PEPFAR’s Strategy To Strengthen Health Systems In Reuters Interview
U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Eric Goosby on Tuesday in an interview with Reuters outlined the need for the U.S. to shift the focus of PEPFAR’s “global multibillion-dollar fight against HIV/AIDS to transform healthcare in some of the world’s poorest countries,” the news agency writes.
