Latest KFF Health News Stories
Pelosi Chooses Compromise Approach To Public Option In Reform Bill
The House Democratic health care reform bill will have a government-run public option for health insurance that will negotiate rates with insurers.
Health Bills Present Formidable Challenges To Numbers Crunchers
The next stop for the health reform bills will be at the Congressional Budget Office for a cost estimate, before lawmakers vote. But, the CBO staffers will face large hurdles in coming up with reliable sums.
Health Bills Limit Out-Of-Pocket Costs, But There’s A Catch In The Fine Print
Health care bills pending in Congress could limit the out-of-pocket costs for consumers, but some of the fine print may cause sticker shock.
First Edition: October 29, 2009
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including details about the upcoming unveiling — scheduled for later this morning — of the House Democratic health overhaul bill.
Pelosi Unveils $894 Billion House Health Overhaul Bill; Expands Coverage To 36 Million Americans
The measure includes a compromised version of the public insurance option in which the government will negotiate payment rates with providers.
House Democrats Prepare For Thursday Release Of Health Bill
The measure will include a public insurance option, but its rates will not be tied to Medicare.
CEOs Criticize Public Plan As Lawmakers Finalize Bills
A group of large companies pushed back at Democrats who are advancing a public insurance option as part of health reform.
Today’s Opinions And Editorials
Kaiser Health News presents a collection of America’s opinions and editorials from Wednesday.
WHO Identifies Five Major Causes Of Premature Death
Targeting the five major causes of premature death could increase global life expectancy by almost five years, the WHO said Tuesday, Reuters reports. According to a WHO’s Global Health Risks report, which looked at 24 major health risks, “[p]oor childhood nutrition, unsafe sex, alcohol, bad sanitation and hygiene, and high blood pressure are to blame for around a quarter of the 60 million premature deaths around the world each year,” the news service writes.
Supplies of the H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine are steadily increasing in the U.S. and should soon be more widely accessible in the next two weeks, the CDC said on Tuesday, CQ HealthBeat reports. During a press briefing, CDC Director Thomas Frieden said that 22.4 million vaccine doses are now available for states to order (Norman, 10/27).
CDC: H1N1 Vaccine Supplies On The Rise
Health officials said Tuesday that more than 22 million doses of swine flu vaccine are available now and should be easier for most Americans to obtain their dose.
As part of a “major push to convince the United States to maintain government spending on worldwide health initiatives, despite the financial crisis and a soaring U.S. budget deficit,” the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is urging U.S. policymakers to commit to cutting “the number of child deaths each year, from 9 million to 5 million” by 2025, CNN reports.
States Face Unpopular Cuts In Health Spending
State governments, especially in New York, are facing budget gaps that officials hope to close with cuts to health spending.
Rove, Dean Trade One-Liners On Health Reform, Senators Offer Their Take
Senators are offering their takes on health care reform while Howard Dean and Karl Rove trade barbs on the plan to overhaul America’s health care system.
Newspaper Investigates Dangerous Mix Of Nursing Homes And Psychotropic Drugs
Illinois nursing home patients often receive psychotropic drugs without cause, which poses various health dangers and even the risk of death.
House Leaders Seek To Unify Dems On Public Option, Unveil Bill
House Democratic leaders are planning to unveil their version of the health care overhaul that will include a more tempered public insurance plan requiring the federal government to negotiate prices with doctors and hospitals, though liberals remain in the fight for a more robust plan.
Insurer Stocks Rise After Reid’s ‘Opt-Out’ Announcement
“A day after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid proposed an ‘opt-out’ public option plan, health-care insurers’ stocks climbed Tuesday,” Dow Jones Newswires/The Wall Street Journal reports.
Nevada Case Raises Question Of Pharmacies’ Liability In Drug Abuse Accidents
Nevada officials had warned pharmacies about possible drug abuse by a woman before she was involved in a fatal car accident.
Centrist Democrats Are Cool To Reid’s Plan For Public Option
Plans for passing a health overhaul that includes a public option have been endangered as Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman said he cannot support the bill. Some moderate Democrats are also expressing concerns.
