Latest KFF Health News Stories
Lobbyists Elbow For Attention As Health Reform Votes Loom
Conservatives and lobbyists doing some work for them are saying President Obama’s revamp of the health care system in America will produce a costly government-run program that limits patient choice, The Associated Press reports.
Hospital Rankings Released By U.S. News And World Report
“This is Year 20 for America’s Best Hospitals, a tool for patients who need medical sophistication that most facilities are unable to provide,” reports US News and World Report.
Obama Administration Proposes Big Changes In Medicare Payment Oversight
Determined to cut Medicare costs, the White House unveiled a plan that would shift much of the power over Medicare payment rates from Congress to the executive branch.
Insurer, Tech Vendor Plan Major ‘Telehealth’ Network
A major health insurer, UnitedHealth, and a computer networking company, Cisco Systems, are teaming up to create “a network of virtual clinics to make medical care available in offices, stores and rural areas around the country,” Bloomberg reports.
Today’s early-morning highlights from major news organizations.
Obama Continues To Press The Importance Of Health Reform
Putting more and more of his own political stake behind the effort, Obama continues to prod Congress to meet the August recess deadline for passing health overhaul legislation.
Senate HELP Commitee Completes Health Bill
The Senate panel approved along party lines this sweeping, $600-billion measure that would expand coverage to nearly all Americans by requiring individuals get insurance and employers to contribute to the cost.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) on Tuesday announced plans to invest $97 million over 10 years “to improve research, development and access to AIDS drugs in Africa,” Reuters reports.
Media Looks At Surgeon General Nominee’s Potential Influence On HIV/AIDS, Other Health Issues
The AP/Lexington Herald-Leader on Tuesday examined the nomination of Alabama physician Regina Benjamin for U.S. Surgeon General by President Obama, the history of the position and how former Surgeon Generals have addressed health issues such as HIV/AIDS.
Newly Nominated Surgeon General Will Need To Talk More Openly About HIV/AIDS, Opinion Piece Says
Newly nominated Surgeon General Regina Benjamin has a “tall order” ahead of her being “[c]hief health educator” of the U.S., “and, if confirmed, she will have to talk to us all in terms we plainly understand,” Lorraine Teel, executive director of the Minnesota AIDS Project, writes in a Minneapolis Star Tribune opinion piece.
Review Of Brazil’s HIV/AIDS Treatment Programs Shows Importance Of Generic Drugs, Researchers Say
“Brazil has been successful in its nearly 20-year effort to treat people living with” HIV/AIDS, and generic medicines have been “a large part of the solution,” according to a recent Health Affairs review, UPI reports.
House Democrats’ Health Bill Would Tax Rich To Finance Insurance Expansion
The measure, which seeks to insure an additional 37 million Americans, would fund a large portion of the expansions with an up to 5.4 percent surtax on the incomes of the wealthiest Americans.
Despite Some Progress, Key Senators Say August Deadline A Longshot
A day after President Obama told lawmakers to hurry, three key Finance Committee senators expressed doubts about meeting the President’s August deadline for passing a reform proposal.
Obama May Settle For Democrat-Only Support To Pass Health Reform
“President Barack Obama may rely only on Democrats to push health-care legislation through the U.S. Congress if Republican resistance doesn’t eventually give way, two of the president’s top advisers said,” Bloomberg reports.
New Hampshire’s Medicaid Program Almost Out Of Money
New Hampshire is just 39 Medicaid enrollees away from putting the program’s budget in the red as rising unemployment strains resources.
Two Major Companies Could Join Wal-Mart In Backing Employer Mandate
Target, the second-biggest U.S. discount retailer, and Kelly Services, a temporary worker agency, may support a mandate for businesses to insure employees as part of health reform.
Economy Squeezing Access To Health Care
As unemployment rises, many Florida women are “turning to federally subsidized mammograms and pap smears, and county health officials are worried they could be overwhelmed.”
How Much Health Care For $1 Trillion?
USA Today asks what the additional $1 trillion cost of a health care overhaul over 10 years will actually buy.
