Latest KFF Health News Stories
Effort Launched To Strengthen African Medical Labs
The U.S., WHO and representatives from 13 African countries on Monday launched an effort to boost the standards for quality medical labs on the continent, VOA News reports.
Health Professionals Experience Difficulty Treating Patients With Dual Mental Health Diagnoses
The Washington Post tells the story of Danny Watt, who drowned in April 2008 after a lifelong struggle with mental health.
RNC Launches Ads Attacking Moderate Dems; PhRMA Considers Huge Campaign
Current ads sponsored by the Republican National Committee prod Democrats, while a very large planned campaign by drug makers could take flight soon.
Doctor and Nurse Shortages Plague U.S.
Evidence of the nation’s struggles with physician and nurse shortages continues to emerge.
Healthy Workers Could Get Bigger Insurance Breaks
A health care reform proposal that would allow employers and insurers to give large discounts to employees who lose weight or lower their cholesterol is facing push back from several groups worried about premium disparities, Kaiser Health News reports.
States Offer Critiques, Advice On Reform
Various states weigh in about health care reform with particular concerns about financial difficulties and models for reform.
Small Businesses, Doctors Oppose Some Health Overhaul Proposals
Small business and medical groups are debating the health care overhaul proposals that could change their business models.
Taxing Fatty Foods Or Health Insurers Gains Traction
Lawmakers are considering two new taxes to help pay for a health care overhaul: a tax on fatty foods and taxing insurers on so-called ‘Cadillac’ plans.
Policymakers Search For Ways To Anchor Ballooning Health Costs
In 1993, when President Clinton attempted to overhaul the health care system, America’s total health spending amounted to $912 billion and left 40 million uninsured. President Obama faces a worsening situation.
Jury Rules For Florida Hospital That Deported Brain-Damaged Immigrant Patient
In a benchmark case, a Florida jury decided Monday that Martin Memorial Medical Center did not act unreasonably when it chartered a plane and repatriated a brain-injured Guatemalan patient against his guardian’s will.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Industry Brings Promises To White House, Lobbyists To Capitol
Beginning in May, major health care industry groups have pledged to cut hundred of billions of dollars from the nation’s health care spending, such as $155 billion deal between the White House and hospitals. But at Capitol Hill, the same industry groups have spent millions on lobbying.
Finance Committee May Omit Public Plan, Employer Mandate
The AP is quoting sources saying that “a bipartisan group in the Senate is edging closer to a health care compromise that omits a government insurance option.” Meanwhile, a CBO analysis says that the government option could coexist with private insurers.
AMA Backs Health Reform Plan, But Not All Doctors Are On Board
Even as Democratic leaders in Congress and President Obama tout the American Medical Association’s support for the House health care overhaul proposal, eleven other medical societies are vocally rejecting the plan.
Reform Could Hinge On The Insured, Who Support Reform But Fear Change
“Although polls have consistently shown that just over half of Americans think the health-care system is in need of reform, a substantial majority say they are satisfied with their own insurance and care,” the Washington Post reports.
Washington, D.C., Church Addresses HIV Stigma, Teaches Safe Sex To Black, Gay Congregation
The Washington Post on Sunday featured Washington D.C.,-based Inner Light Ministries, a 16-year-old black community church with about 100 members, where many go “to share their experience of being black and gay, living and loving in a city where HIV and AIDS lurk in epidemic proportions.
Oakland, Calif., Conference Targets Black Women For HIV/AIDS Awareness, Prevention
The Oakland, Calif., chapter of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women on Saturday held a daylong conference, “Sistahs Getting Real About HIV/AIDS,” that addressed HIV/AIDS among black women, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Report Looks At HIV Prevalence Among Chicago Gay Men
In Chicago, 17.4 percent of gay men are estimated to be HIV-positive, compared with 1.2 percent of the general male population, according to a new report by the Chicago Public Health Department, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
House Passes Spending Bill; Amendment To Block Removal Of Needle Exchange Funding Ban Defeated
The House on Friday passed a $730.5 billion bill (HR 3293) “to fund health, education and labor programs in fiscal 2010 after narrowly defeating an attempt to strip language that would lift the ban on federal needle exchange programs,” in the U.S., CQ Today reports (Wolfe, 7/24).
