Latest KFF Health News Stories
Advocates Worried About Health Insurance Affordability Push For More Subsidies
The Boston Globe reports on concerns that some Americans will find insurance unaffordable under a health care overhaul.
Some Progress On Health Bill, Senators Prepare For Long December
A long December awaits Senators after working all weekend and “vowing they have no objection” to possibly working through Christmas to debate health reform, The Hill reports.
Obama Urges Senators To Seize ‘Historic Opportunity’
In a meeting with Senate Democrats on Sunday, President Obama appealed to lawmakers’ historic view of themselves, eschewing any policy particulars such as abortion or the public option.
Deals On Health Reform In Jeopardy As Support From Drugmakers, Senior Groups Is Tested
Senate Democrats trying to squeeze more cost savings into a health care reform bill to help pay for the overhaul are risking the support of drugmakers and senior groups.
Snowe Becomes Less Prominent In Health Debate, McCain More Partisan
News outlets report on some of the key players in the health care debate, including Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., both Colorado senators and Rep. Lois Capps, D-Calif.
Investigation: Temp Firms Often Employ Incompetent Nurses
Agencies that provide temporary nurses can be a bastion for incompetent caregivers, a new investigation shows.
Medicare Fraud ‘Rampant’ In Miami, Spreads Among Different Ethnic Communities Nationally
Medicare fraud runs rampant in Miami-Dade while federal experts examine how the crime spreads among different ethnic communities in different cities.
‘Never Events’ – Medical Errors – Still Continue 10 Years After Landmark Report
Advocates and experts examine progress made since the Institute of Medicine released its landmark report that called for the elimination of medical errors, or “never events,” ten years ago.
First Edition: December 7, 2009
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about President Obama’s Sunday trip to the Senate and ongoing health reform negotiations.
Democrats Negotiating Public Option Compromise, Obama Optimistic Health Bill Will ‘Get Done’
After meeting with Senate Democrats, President Obama expressed confidence they would resolve party differences on health reform issues. Meanwhile, a group of 10 senators met behind closed doors to try to compromise on the public option.
Deal Time? Key Senate Dems Meet On Public Option In Health Bill
Democrats may be close to agreement on including a federal employee-style health plan in the health reform bill. President Obama will travel to the Senate Sunday to push Democrats to resolve their differences
Democrats Meet Behind Closed Doors To Devise Public Option Compromise In Senate Health Bill
Democrats may be close to agreement on including a federal-employee-style health plan in the health reform bill. President Obama will travel to the Senate Sunday to push Democrats to resolve their differences.
Obama To Visit Senate To Push For Health Bill As Combative Debate Continues
In a rare Saturday session, edgy Senators are debating the health bill. The President will go to Capitol Hill tomorrow to help Democrats find common ground.
Health Bill: Centrists Offer A Set Of Amendments; Weekend Votes Planned
Three moderate senators unveiled a package of amendments Friday that could bring them closer to supporting the health reform bill.
Measles Deaths Decline Worldwide By 78%, Experts Warn Against Complacency
Measles deaths fell from 733,000 in 2000 to 164,000 in 2008
New York Times Examines HIV Testing Program In China
The New York Times examines an HIV prevention program in China aimed at promoting blood screening that has led “more than 110,000 people” being test so far: “On any given night, in 14 cities around the country, hundreds of people flock to makeshift blood collection centers in bars, bathhouses and apartments where workers test for syphilis and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.”
Number Of New Active TB Cases Increases From 2007 To 2008, WHO Says
The WHO’s Stop TB Department released data on Thursday at the 40th Union World Conference on Lung Health indicating that the number of new active TB cases worldwide rose from 9.27 million in 2007 to 9.4 million in 2008, Reuters reports. Experts gathered for the conference in Cancun, Mexico “called for more research funding to develop better diagnostic tests, vaccines and drugs for tuberculosis, which killed 1.8 million people around the world last year,” according to the news service.
By doubling investments in family planning and birth control, developing countries could nearly halve newborn deaths and reduce maternal deaths by 70 percent, a new report said Thursday, Reuters reports.
Foreign Policy Examines ‘Philanthrocapitalism’ Trend
Foreign Policy examines “a revolutionary idea for how to remake charity in the 21st century [that] is taking off: philanthrocapitalism.” The magazine writes: “Unlike their colleagues in government bureaucracies and tried-and-true NGOs, the philanthrocapitalists are a nimble, business-minded stock.”
