Latest KFF Health News Stories
Insurers, Other Interest Groups Prepare For Final Health Reform Votes
Insurance companies are arguing that the health reform legislation progressing in Congress would increase premium costs for many Americans. Meanwhile, some of the coalitions seeking reform have begun to splinter.
Individual, Employer Mandates Prove Thorny Topics For Lawmakers
The current House reform bill unveiled last week, would require Americans to do purchase insurance something the Congressional Budget Office in the early 1990s once called “an unprecedented form of federal action.”
GOP Is Preparing Its Strategy, Version Of Health Overhaul Legislation
House Republicans are set to push their alternative health care reform bill just as the House prepares to consider Democrats’ reform legislation.
Today’s Opinions And Editorials
Kaiser Health News presents a selection of opinions and editorials from around the nation.
Washington Post Examines How Altman ‘Revitalized’ The Kaiser Family Foundation Mission
The Washington Post examines how Drew Altman led the Kaiser Family Foundation to become “a vast repository for facts and figures on health-care issues and the refrm debate.”
U.S. Officially Ends HIV Travel Ban
The White House on Friday announced an end to a 22-year-old travel ban on HIV-positive foreigners visiting the U.S. or seeking residency, the New York Times reports. The newspaper writes that President Barack “Obama announced that a rule canceling the ban would be published on Monday and would take effect after a routine 60-day waiting period” (Preston, 10/30).
Malaria Conference Begins In Nairobi, Will Highlight Outlook For RTS,S Experimental Malaria Vaccine
The 5th Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM) Pan-African Conference “kicked off in Nairobi late Sunday with a call for substantial and sustained support for research to guide evidence-based policies and the development of new malaria tools, which together could save countless lives,” Xinhua reports (11/2).
Senate, House Split Over Taxes To Pay For Health Overhaul
A health care overhaul that would expand health insurance coverage to millions isn’t free, and in addition to proposed cuts, bills would raise revenue with taxes and fees.
With State Budgets Tight, Services Are Cut; Kansas Looks To Avoid Mandates
Cut or frozen budgets are impacting services for the poor in California and Wyoming while Kansas lawmakers consider state measures to allow that state to opt out of congressionally mandated health insurance coverage.
Deaths From H1N1 Rise By 700 In One Week, WHO Reports
The number of deaths from H1N1 (swine flu) rose by 700 in a week, to top 5,700 since the virus was first identified in April, the WHO reported Friday, Agence France-Presse reports (10/30). “The biggest rise in the past week was recorded in the Americas, w[h]ere 636 more people were reported killed by swine flu, bringing the region’s death toll to 4,175, the UN agency said, AFP reports in a second story. “Fatal cases in Europe also climbed to at least 281, while those in Asia-Pacific rose to 1,070” (10/31).
A Return To The Doctor’s House Call May Aid Health Care Reform
Dr. Peter Boling provides house calls for some of Richmond’s oldest and sickest patients as a geriatrician and head of general medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. He is trying to convince Congress that the old-fashioned house call could be a fresh answer to the modern-day health care reform dilemma.
McCain’s Health Care Adviser Is Losing His Own Coverage
Doug Holtz-Eakin, a Republican adviser and former John McCain strategist, provides a face to a health care dilemma as he prepares to lose his COBRA health insurance.
Heart, Cancer Doctors Get Break On Scheduled Medicare Pay Cuts
“Heart and cancer doctors will get a smaller fee cut next year from Medicare, the U.S. government program for the elderly, than the Obama administration first sought in a move to shift money to family physicians,” Bloomberg reports.
House Democratic Leaders Pushing For Vote On Health Reform
There could be a vote on the House Democrats’ health care reform legislation – with little room for amendments – as soon as Thursday.
Swine Flu Vaccine Supply Expected To Increase ‘In Short Order’
David Axelrod, senior adviser to President Barack Obama, says the government “overpromised” on the availability of swine flu vaccine based on manufacturers’ claims. But he said the vaccine supply would catch up with the demand shortly.
States Will Implement Many Health Reform Initiatives
The shape of any new health-care system is likely, in large part, to be shaped by the states. “Helath-care legislation being drafted on Capitol Hill would delegate to state officials multitude of momentous decisions,” The Washington Post reports.
Obama’s Health Reform Political Maneuvers May Prove Successful
President Obama’s strategy of shepherding health reform legislation from a distance seems to be paying off.
CBO: Few Americans Would Sign Up For Public Health Insurance Plan
The CBO says only 2 percent of Americans would likely sign up for a government-run public option in health insurance, and that the plan would likely have higher premiums than many private insurance plans.
