Latest KFF Health News Stories
Capitol Hill Event Highlights U.S. Advancements In Malaria Science, Technology
This post in Malaria No More’s “Malaria Policy Center” blog reports on a two-part event held on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, April 25, World Malaria Day, titled, “U.S. Advancements in Science and Technology in Malaria: A Showcase of Domestic Research & Development to Save Lives and Keep Americans Safe.” During the event, which featured the “co-chairs of the Senate Working Group on Malaria and Congressional Caucus on Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases as honorary hosts,” “20 universities, private companies, and research institutions highlighted cutting-edge scientific and technological advancements in malaria that could save millions of lives around the world, protect U.S. military service members, and create jobs here in their own states,” the blog writes, noting, “USAID Administrator Raj Shah also spoke about the impressive scientific achievements and the development of new tools that can be used in the fight against malaria” (Waltman, 4/27).
“A new study suggests that at least one surgical procedure, caesarean delivery, is a highly effective way of improving health at a reasonable cost in developing countries,” VOA News reports (Chimes, 4/27). “In 2011, pregnancy-related complications resulted in an estimated 273,500 maternal deaths globally, or close to 775 deaths per day,” according to the study, which notes, “Ninety-nine percent of maternal deaths occur in developing countries” (Alkire et al., 4/25). “One of the most common” causes of maternal deaths “is obstructed labor, where the fetus cannot move down the birth canal,” VOA writes. Harvard Medical School researcher Blake Alkire “notes that deaths from obstructed labor are virtually unknown in wealthier countries,” where women “almost always have the option of a caesarean birth,” according to the news service.
Hospitals Seek To Cut Costs, Compete Smartly
In Colorado, New Hampshire, Florida and Kansas, hospitals are trying to be strategic to beat marketplace challenges.
U.S. Government Is Largest Funder Of Global Health R&D, Report Shows
“The U.S. government is the largest funder of global health research and development [R&D] in the world, spending $12.7 billion over the past 10 years,” according to a report (.pdf) released by the Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC) and Policy Cures on Friday, United Press International reports. The report, titled “Saving Lives and Creating Impact: Why investing in global health research works,” “found each year the U.S. government provided around 45 percent of the total global investment and 70 percent of all government investment worldwide in global health research and development,” the news service writes. “The U.S. funding helped lead to the development of more than half of the 45 new health products — including vaccines, drugs, diagnostics — in the last decade that have been used to save lives around the world, the report said,” according to UPI.
Health Information Technology Gains Momentum, Uses
Media outlets report on various issues related to health information technology.
Feds Approve Wisconsin Medicaid Cuts
Meanwhile, Kansas applies for waiver to shift Medicaid beneficiaries into managed care plans and Medicaid costs in Kentucky weigh on one insurer.
Hospital Collection Co. Says Minn. Attorney General ‘Grossly’ Distorted Its Work
Accretive says it is seeking to address concerns. The Minnesota probe suggested the company may have thwarted state and federal rules to get payments from patients even as they were seeking hospital care.
Report: Nursing Homes And Anti-Psychotic Drugs
A report by the Boston Globe based on government information finds many nursing homes use powerful sedatives on patients who should not be getting them.
Health Care Spending: A Change In Behavior?
This pair of New York Times’ stories examines how a recent “flattening out” trend in health care spending may be the result of a change in behavior by both providers and consumers.
Report Applauds U.S. Government Agencies For Food Security Leadership, Highlights Areas Of Concern
“A new report from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs applauds U.S. government agencies for food security leadership but calls on them to up the game in the face of rising global challenges and shrinking aid budgets,” Connie Veillette, director of the Center for Global Development’s rethinking U.S. foreign assistance initiative, writes in the center’s “Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance Blog,” adding, “While it is a positive assessment, the report highlights some areas of concern that could affect U.S. leadership in future years” (4/27). John Glenn, policy director at the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, notes in the organization’s blog that Chicago Council “co-chairs Catherine Bertini and Dan Glickman called for the progress made to be institutionalized with Congressional authorization. Significant increases in food production, they suggested, will only be visible after a decade, which would require sustaining the commitments of the past three years for another seven years” (4/27).
Editorials and op-eds examine a number of different aspects of the controversies surrounding the health law.
Viewpoints: Entitlement ‘Train Wrecks’ Approaching; Collecting For Health Bills At The Hospital
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care policy from around the country.
State Roundup: Mass. May Vote On Assisted Suicide; Colo. To Try Medical Homes
Health policy news from Masschusetts, California, Iowa, Kansas, Colorado and Connecticut.
Out-Of-State Insurers Show No Interest In Georgia
Also, CalPERS finds wide variation in knee and hip replacement costs, and Allina Health offers grants for wellness programs in Minnesota.
Humana Reports Drop In First Quarter Profits
The insurer attributed the decrease to paying out more in claims, as well as additional investment as it anticipates strong growth in its Medicare Advantage plans.
High-Deductible Plans Become ‘Mainstream’ In The Marketplace
The PBS News Hour story examined how high-deductible health plans work, and possible consumer risks with this form of health coverage.
Some Parts Of Health Law Expected To Take Hold Regardless of Court Decision
Many experts believe state-level health exchanges are here to stay. However, Politico reports that some state officials worry that if the individual mandate is struck down, healthy people could avoid buying policies and premiums for everyone else could skyrocket, putting them in a bind.
Without Sustained Investment In Malaria Fight, World Faces Resurgence Of Disease
“If we needed more evidence that the funding cuts at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria were going to be detrimental to people’s lives, a new study … makes it clear: Providing funding to fight malaria makes malaria go away,” Kolleen Bouchane, director of ACTION, a global partnership of health advocacy organizations, writes in the Huffington Post’s “Impact” blog. “The authors write that as substantial new financial resources have become available to fight malaria since 2000, malaria has decreased considerably in many parts of the world,” she continues, adding, “But in the past, malaria has returned when malaria control programs have been weakened — and they’ve usually been weakened when resources dried up.”
Dutch Government Grants Export License Allowing Publication Of Controversial H5N1 Study
“The Dutch government has agreed to grant an export license to allow Ron Fouchier, a virologist at the Erasmus Medical University in Rotterdam, to publish his work on H5N1 avian influenza in Science,” Nature’s “News Blog” reports (Owens, 4/27). “Fouchier had to get permission first from the Dutch Department of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation — in line with E.U. regulations — because a risk existed that the H5N1 virus, as well as its research, ‘could be used for the wrong purposes,’ the Dutch department said in a statement,” according to Agence France-Presse (4/28).
“Ignoring widespread concern over the safety, efficacy and cost of pentavalent vaccines” — which provide protection against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis B and haemophilus influenza type b (Hib) — “India’s central health ministry has, this month, approved inclusion of the prophylactic cocktail in the universal immunization program in seven of its provinces,” Inter Press Service reports. Pentavalent vaccines have “had a history of causing adverse reactions and deaths in India’s neighboring countries like Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan,” the news service writes, noting that India’s National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) in 2010 “recommended limited introduction of pentavalents in southern Kerala and Tamil Nadu and evaluation of results over a year before extension to other states.” Despite this recommendation and outstanding public interest litigation, the government on April 16 announced the vaccines would be introduced in five additional states, IPS reports.
