Latest KFF Health News Stories
Policy Flashpoints Fuel Reform Debate
Among the issues still in play in the reform package are immigrant coverage, abortion and the public option.
GOP And Industry Groups Quick To Decry Senate Health Bill
When Senate Democrats unveiled a bill meant to expand health coverage and restrain spending growth, Republicans didn’t like what they saw.
Olbermann Ties Free Clinics To Health Reform
“A nonprofit group’s campaign to hold free medical clinics for the uninsured in three states is turning into a not-so-subtle jab at moderate Democrats to support their party’s efforts to reform health care,” The Associated Press reports.
‘Botax’ On Cosmetic Surgery Questioned
A proposed tax on cosmetic surgery, a so-called “botax,” in the Senate health care reform bill is drawing criticism from plastic surgeons.
House Moves To Block Doctors’ Medicare Pay Cuts
The House voted largely on party lines Thursday to permanently put an end to annual cuts in doctors’ Medicare payments, which the Congress has temporarily averted from year to year.
Health Policy Research Roundup
Issue briefs and studies include examinations of abortion policy, Medicaid and CHIP and racial disparities in the health care system.
First Edition: November 20, 2009
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations,including analysis of Senate health bill provisions and expections about Saturday’s crucial vote.
House Lawmakers Take Positions In The Health Overhaul Debate
News reports Friday examine some key House lawmakers and their roles in health reform.
Reid Says Senate Will Hold First Health Bill Vote On Saturday
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday that the Senate will vote Saturday on a procedural move to begin debate on the Senate’s health care reform bill.
Senate Health Bill’s Abortion Language Triggers Mixed Reactions
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi prefers abortion language in the Senate health care legislation to the treatment in the House version.
World Summit On Food Security Wraps Up
The U.N. World Summit on Food Security ended Wednesday in Rome with Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) head Jacques Diouf calling for the global community to shift the fight against global hunger from “words to action,” Agence France-Press reports. Diouf said, “We must do this to have a more prosperous world, fairer, more equitable and more peaceful. But above all we must do this fast: the poor and starving can not wait.”
Family Planning Drive Launched During Conference In Uganda
Agence France-Presse examines a new U.S.-backed “12 million dollar family planning drive launched” Wednesday during a three-day conference on family planning in Kampala, Uganda. The project aims to “improve access to contraceptives for women in six African nations [including Uganda, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania and Kenya] as well as Indonesia and Pakistan,” the news service writes (Simon, 11/18).
Eric Goosby, head of PEPFAR, on Wednesday reemphasized the U.S. commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS globally, the Associated Press reports.
UNFPA Report Highlights Relationship Between Family Planning, Women’s Health And Climate Change
“Providing access to contraception for 215 million women, mainly in developing countries, would help to stabilize population growth and significantly reduce the effects of climate change,” according to a report released Wednesday by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Nature News reports (Gilbert, 11/18).
Pfizer, DNDi Partner To Identify NTD Drugs; Sanofi-Aventis, Medicines For Malaria Launch Drug Study
Pfizer and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi) on Wednesday announced plans to team up in an effort to identify new drug candidates for the treatment of three tropical diseases, the Associated Press/Business Week reports. The scientists will test the efficacy of Pfizer drug candidates against sleeping sickness, visceral leishmaniasis, and Chagas disease.
CBO: Senate Health Bill Would Reduce Deficit $130 Billion Over A Decade
The deficit reductions come in part from new Medicare payroll tax and tax on high-value insurance plans.
Reid Advances Dems’ Health Reform Effort With Release Of Senate Bill
The measure would cost an estimated $849 billion over a decade, but would cover 94 percent of Americans and lower the deficit over 10 years by $127 billion.
Daschle Still Making Voice Heard On Health Care
Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle is helping the Obama Administration strategize to win votes on health care reform.
