Latest KFF Health News Stories
Phill Wilson, CEO of the Black AIDS Institute (BAI), last week addressed the annual convention of the National Newspapers Publishers Association where he discussed the reasons blacks “were so slow to grasp the severity of the threat” of HIV.
Lancet Examines Obama Administration’s Progress On HIV/AIDS-Related Campaign Pledges
The July issue of the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases examines whether President Obama is fulfilling his campaign promises to tackle HIV/AIDS abroad and domestically.
HELP Democrats Draft New Bill With Public Plan And Employer Mandate That They Say Is Cheaper
Democrats on a key Senate committee are readying a plan that has a government-run insurance option and a $750-per-worker fee on larger companies that do not offer coverage to its employees, The Associated Press reports.
White House Reform Chief Was On Boards of Health Companies With Suspect Practices
Before taking her job as the White House health reform director, Nancy-Ann DeParle earned more than $6 million serving on the boards of major health care corporations, some of which were accused of fraud, mismanagement and regulatory violations during her tenure.
WHO, Wyeth Launch Trial In Africa To Test New River Blindness Drug
The WHO on Wednesday announced plans for a clinical trial to test a new drug that “could halve the treatment period for river blindness [or onchocerciasis], a disease that threatens 100 million people mostly in Africa,” AFP/CNN Money reports.
UNAIDS Director Calls For G8 To Come Through On HIV/AIDS Funding Pledges
Michel Sidibe, the executive director of UNAIDS, voiced concerns that wealthy nations who previously pledged to help Africa stop the spread of HIV/AIDS during the G8 summit four years ago, might instead use funds to bolster their own ailing economies, Reuters reports.
Rockefeller Foundation Launches $100M 5-Year Initiative To Improve Health Systems In Africa, Asia
The Rockefeller Foundation launched a $100 million, five-year initiative aimed at improving health systems in Asia and Africa, Judith Rodin, the foundation’s president, said in a speech on Wednesday in Nairobi, Kenya, Xinhua reports.
Obama Presses Case For Health Reform
President Barack Obama pitched his health reform proposal Wednesday at a town hall meeting in Annandale, Virginia, asking the public and Congress to deliver on health care reform.
Schumer Preparing Strong Public Plan Option
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., a member of the key Senate Finance Committee and advocate for a government-run health insurance plan, said yesterday he would abandon all other possible compromises in favor of immediately creating a public plan that “would operate on ‘a level playing field’ with private insurers,” CongressDaily reports.
FDA Adds Strong Warnings To Anti-Smoking Drug Labels
“The Food and Drug Administration announced that it is requiring the smoking-cessation drugs Chantix and Zyban to carry the strongest type of safety warning possible to alert patients that the medications can cause serious mental health problems, including depression and suicide,” the Washington Post reports.
Stimulus Incentives Ease E-Health Adoption
Electronic health records
Developing World Health Care Solutions Help Some U.S. Programs
The Wall Street Journal examines how some U.S. health care programs are improving their treatment capabilities by learning from strategies used in developing countries.
President Calls For Medicare Payment Rate Revisions
President Obama reiterated his call to realign Medicare reimbursement rates as a part of his broad push for health reform in a meeting with nine reporters, including writers from local newspapers, Wednesday.
Study Examines Cost, Benefits Of Extending Medicare Drug Use
A new large-scale study of medical records found that the extra cost of extending prescription coverage to Medicare beneficiaries was substantially offset by lower spending on other medical care for people who previously had limited or no prescription-drug coverage.
Private Health Insurance Coverage At 50-Year-Low, According to CDC
The percentage of Americans with private health insurance is at its lowest level in 50 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday, according to The Associated Press.
Health Care Reform: What Small Business Wants
“As Congress prepares to do battle over health reform, a parallel dispute is shaping up among small-business groups that are staking out opposing positions on a key element of reform proposals: whether Uncle Sam will take on a bigger role in offering insurance coverage or leave the field to the private market,” CNN Money reports.
AMA President Calls For Congress’ Insurance Plan For All Uninsured Americans
While CNN reports that the American Medical Association’s new president, J. James Rohack, is open to a government-funded health insurance option, others report that the system the AMA now endorses is not a public plan, but a heavily managed private plan that federal employees participate in.
State Medicaid Coverage, Costs Grow In Maryland, Mississippi
“A year into a new effort to expand health coverage, recession-weary Marylanders are flocking to the state’s Medicaid program in numbers far greater than expected, costing the state $50 million more in the process,” The Baltimore Sun reports.
