Latest KFF Health News Stories
Washington Post Interviews Atul Gawande
Washington Post’s Ezra Klein interviewed surgeon and writer Atul Gawande.
California Medicaid Providers Win Legal Challenge
Medicaid providers in California win a legal challenge over program cuts in the case “Maxwell-Jolly v. Independent Living Center of Southern California.”
Massive Medicare Fraud Case Highlights Miami’s Increased Enforcement
Eight defendants were indicted in a massive Florida Medicare fraud case.
Obama, Health Insurers Clash On Public Plan
“President Obama made a detailed case on Tuesday for a new government-administered health insurance plan, but he did not rule out signing a bill that lacks such an option if he cannot win enough support from Democrats in Congress,” The New York Times reports.
Counting Of Uninsured Americans A Difficult Task
Estimates of the total number of uninsured Americans may be based on “faulty assumptions” that are “inflating the projections,” The Wall Street Journal reports.
A Selection Of Editorials And Opinions
Opinion writers lash out at health care CEO pay, question Medicare reimbursement policy, and observe similarities to the early 90s health reform failure.
Colorado Rural Co-ops Provide Example For Health Care System Proposal
Rural utility co-ops in Colorado could provide an example of how a co-op would work nationally for health care, The Denver Post reports.
House Approves Bill To End Delay In Veteran Care
The House approved a bill Tuesday that seeks to end waits for funding veterans’ health care, The New York Times reports.
Poll: Most Want Health Reform But Fear Its Side Effects
“A majority of Americans see government action as critical to controlling runaway health-care costs, but there is broad public anxiety about the potential impact of reform legislation and conflicting views about the types of fixes being proposed on Capitol Hill, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll,” The Washington Post reports.
Sources: Hospitals May Strike Deal To Save $200 Billion
Hospitals could sign on to an agreement to help save up to $200 billion as part of the reform plan, sources tell Roll Call.
Requirements For Using E-health Begin To Emerge; Public Input Needed, Experts Say
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act set aside billions of dollars for hospitals to acquire electronic medical record systems, but one requirement for hospitals hoping to receive the money will be to share patient records with other facilities.
Transcript: President Obama’s Remarks On Health Care During Press Conference
The White House released a transcript of President Barack Obama’s press conference today.
Obama ‘Very Optimistic’ About Health Care Overhaul, Public Plan ‘Makes Sense’
President Barack Obama at a June 23 news conference said a public plan is “an important tool to discipline insurance companies,” but he didn’t answer a question on whether he would veto a bill that did not include a public plan option.
Insurance Industry Groups Lay Down Reform Marker
America’s Health Insurance Plans and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, the two largest insurance industry groups, on Tuesday released a letter, which “laid down a marker on health care, warning in stark terms that a proposed government insurance plan would dismantle the employer coverage Americans have relied on for a half century and overtake the system.
Child Deaths Drop Worldwide, Slow Progress on Maternal Mortality, Newborn Death MDGs, Report Says
The number of worldwide deaths among children younger than age five has fallen by 27% since 1990, but there has been little progress in reducing maternal mortality and newborn deaths, according to the World Health Statistics 2009 report, which was released on Thursday, Reuters reports.
The UNEP and the WHO announced a plan that aims reduce the use of the pesticide DDT by 30% by 2014 and completely eliminate its use worldwide by around 2020, Reuters reports.
Mexican Swine Flu Cases, Deaths Stabilize; WHO Says No Evidence That Outbreak is Over
While Mexico’s top health official on Thursday said the number of new H1N1 (swine flu) cases and deaths caused by the virus have slowed, the WHO “cautioned there is no evidence the worst of the global outbreak is over,” the AP/Washington Post reports.
WHO Raises Swine Flu Alert Level; UN Secretary-General Calls for ‘Global Solidarity’
WHO’s emergency committee on Monday voted to raise its global pandemic influenza alert level and recommended that borders remain open and that governments refrain from enacting travel bans, the New York Times reports.
Concerns Remain Over WHO’s Flu Pandemic Definition
As the numbers of populations around the world infected with the H1N1 (swine) flu virus grows, there is growing confusion over just what might tip the WHO to declare the flu to be a pandemic, NPR reports.
