Latest KFF Health News Stories
Plans To Control Doctors’ Pay Big Issue In Massachusetts
Massachusetts officials are proud of their low rate of uninsured people, but the state also hosts the highest health care costs in the country, a problem that jeopardizes their achievement in expanding coverage.
In Health Care Debate, Small Businesses Are Key
“As they work to overhaul the nation’s healthcare system, President Obama and his congressional allies have pledged to help small-business owners such as Rhonda Ealy and Kelli Glasser,” The Los Angeles Times reports.
Today’s Selection Of Opinions And Editorials
Today’s Selection Of Opinions And Editorials
Medicare Proposes Cap On Home Health Care Agency Payments
Medicare officials are proposing a nationwide cut in payments to home healthcare agencies in the midst of rampant fraud, especially in South Florida.
Health Bills Create Tension Over Abortion Coverage
A government insurance plan would cover abortions in health care reform, a provision that makes many Catholics uneasy.
Seniors Defend Medicare Advantage Plans
Medicare Advantage, which allows seniors to buy Medicare coverage through private insurance companies, could provide one of the largest spending cuts for Congress to pay for an overhaul of the health care system.
Bike Paths, Other ‘Healthy’ Infrastructure Projects Proving Controversial
Attempts to set billions aside for infrastructure projects like bike paths face an uphill battle on Capitol Hill. GOP legislators see no health savings in parks and similar projects, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
White House Officials Make Case For Health Overhaul
President Obama’s top advisers and leading health care officials are weighing in on the overhaul effort as the August recess begins.
Health Care CEOs See Decline In Compensation
“For the first time in its seven years, Modern Healthcare’s annual survey of corporate CEO pay has failed to turn up a healthcare CEO who raked in more than $15 million in compensation last year.”
President Obama To Senate Democrats: Let’s Do Lunch
With the Senate quickly approaching its August recess, the Senate Democratic Caucus was invited to a working lunch at the White House.
Shreveport, La., Center Continues To Provide HIV/AIDS Services After 20 Years
The Shreveport Times profiled the 20-year-old Shreveport, La.-based Philadelphia Center, an agency that provides HIV/AIDS services to “an average of nearly 600 people each year in northwest Louisiana” and provides “about 1,400 free HIV tests each year.”
Boston Launches Safer-Sex Campaign Targeting Teenagers Using Social Networking Sites, Other Outlets
The Boston Public Health Commission has allocated $100,000 to a new campaign that uses social networking sites and other media outlets to raise sexual health awareness among teenagers, the Boston Globe reports.
Only Drop-In Needle Exchange Center In Minnesota Closes Due To Lack Of Funding
Minnesota’s only storefront needle exchange drop-in center, called Access Works!, “fell victim to economic hard times and federal anti-drug policies” and ended its program last week after 13 years, the Minnesota Independent reports.
East Texas Health Organization Sees Increase In HIV Cases
Officials at an East Texas health care organization, Health Horizons, which provides HIV testing and other services to people in 12 Texas counties, “has seen more East Texans test positive for [HIV] so far this year than it did for all of 2008,” the Lufkin Daily News reports.
CQ Examines House Foreign Affairs Committee Outline To Overhaul U.S. Foreign Aid
Congressional Quarterly examines a “three-page concept paper” issued by the House Foreign Affairs Committee that lays out a plan to overhaul U.S. foreign aid.
Clinton Heads To Kenya As Africa Visit Begins
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton kicked off a seven country 11-day trip – “her longest overseas journey to date as the top U.S. diplomat – by flying Monday night to Kenya where she will address an African trade and development forum, meet top Kenyan officials and see the beleaguered president of lawless Somalia’s interim government,” the Associated Press reports.
Study Finds Evidence Of Malaria Origins, Could Lead To Vaccine Development
“Malaria may have jumped to humans from chimpanzees much as AIDS did, U.S. researchers reported on Monday in a [Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences] study they hope could help in developing a vaccine against the infection,” Reuters reports.
Guardian Examines U.K. Offer To Help Provide Free Healthcare In ‘World’s Poorest Countries’
The Guardian examines British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s offer “to help some of the world’s poorest countries to make healthcare free
