Latest KFF Health News Stories
Historical Context: The Intersection Of Politics And Medicare Policy
California Healthline explores how politics has always had a role in Medicare policies.
Viewpoints: Wyden And Ryan On Their Medicare Plan; Frist On The Need For International Health Aid
A selection of editorials and opinions on health policy issues from around the country.
Young Adults Make Insurance Coverage Gains Under Health Law
Data from the Department of Health and Human Services estimate that 2.5 million young adults have remained on their parents’ health insurance plans as a result of the 2010 health law.
Health Law Implementation Efforts Drawing Praise From Some Critics
The LA Times reports that the Obama administration is taking steps to ease some of the requirements of the health law in an effort to “prevent further backlash.” Also in the news, the latest on the essential benefits rule and more on the early retiree program.
Global Health Aid Continues To Grow Despite Recession, Report Indicates
“Spending to improve health in developing countries has continued to grow during the three-year economic downturn, although at only half the blistering pace it did a decade ago,” according to a report (.pdf) by researchers at the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), the Washington Post reports (Brown, 12/14). “The report details the trends in development assistance for health between 1990 and 2009 from aid agencies and governments in 23 developed countries, multilateral institutions such as the [WHO], and hundreds of non-profit groups and charities with preliminary estimates for 2010 and 2011,” an IHME press release states (12/14). “Overall, spending on malaria and child health problems has grown more rapidly in the past few years than spending on AIDS and tuberculosis,” according to the report, the Washington Post notes (12/14).
Family Planning Efforts In Pakistan Lag Despite Rising Population, Washington Post Reports
The Washington Post examines how “Pakistan’s family planning efforts have lagged far behind those of other large Muslim-majority nations,” despite rising population numbers. “In fits and starts, public and private agencies in Pakistan are advocating contraception to curb the country’s surging population, prevent deaths during childbirth and help provide better lives for those who are born. But in this deeply conservative society, women themselves are often the least able to decide, and the people who can — husbands, mullahs, mothers-in-law — still prize many children, particularly boys,” the newspaper writes. “The sixth most populous country …, Pakistan has South Asia’s highest fertility rate, at about four children per woman,” but “[t]oday, just one in five Pakistani women ages 15 to 49 uses modern birth control,” the newspaper notes (Brulliard, 12/14).
“In Pakistan, where the powerful military consumes a large chunk of the budget and development spending has stagnated, family-planning efforts have consistently fallen victim to tumultuous and weak governance,” the newspaper notes, adding, “The bigger cultural hurdles, the workers say, are husbands and mothers-in-law, as well as the inability of many women to make decisions for themselves.” It concludes, “Amid massive electricity shortfalls, failing schools, high unemployment and rising Islamist militancy, many here say the booming population is a ticking time bomb” (Brulliard, 12/14).
Antimalarial Drugs Administered During Pregnancy Safer Than Contracting Malaria, Study Suggests
“Antimalarial drugs are safer for pregnant women than contracting the disease,” according to a study from the University of Oxford published in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases on Tuesday that “assess[ed] the effects of malaria and its treatment in the first trimester of pregnancy,” HealthCanal.com reports. The researchers examined the medical records of women who attended an antenatal clinic at the Shoklo Malaria Research Unit in Thailand over a 25-year period and “found that malaria increased the risks of miscarriage from one in five pregnancies (in women without malaria) to one in two pregnancies,” the news service adds (12/12).
AP Examines WHO Target Of Reducing Malaria Deaths To Near Zero By 2015
The Associated Press/San Francisco Chronicle examines what it will take for the WHO to reach its new target of reducing malaria deaths to near zero by the end of 2015 and how “[s]ome experts questioned if WHO should be setting such lofty goals, especially at a time of declining funding.”
Role Of Local Advocates, NGOs Important In Malawi’s Health System
In this post in the Health Affairs blog, Martha Kwataine, executive director for the Malawi Health Equity Network (MHEN) and head of the Access to Medicines Campaign in Malawi, examines the role of local advocates and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the country’s health system. She writes, “Amidst [Malawi’s health] challenges, the role of civil society, especially advocates, cannot be overemphasized. Civil society organizations are the ‘watchdogs’ of government. Historically, they have played a critical role, not just by influencing policy formulation, but also by providing checks and balances to government power.”
AlertNet Examines Effects Of Nepalese Water Shortages On Local Women’s Hygiene
AlertNet examines how water shortages in Nepal are impeding women’s hygiene in the country. The news service profiles the village of Paudiyalthok in the country’s Panchkhal Valley, about 25 miles east of the capital Kathmandu, where “a lack of reliable water sources is affecting many aspects of [residents’] lives, and women are bearing the brunt of changing weather patterns.”
U.S., N. Korean Officials Meet To Discuss Resuming Food Aid
“U.S. officials have arrived in Beijing to meet with North Korean leaders about whether and how to resume food aid to the isolated and impoverished country, according to State Department officials,” the Washington Post reports (Wan, 12/14). “U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues Robert King and senior U.S. aid official Jon Brause met Thursday with North Korea’s director-general for American affairs, Ri Gun,” and “are to focus on strict monitoring mechanisms should the U.S. decide to give aid,” the Associated Press writes (Bodeen, 12/15).
HIV Testing Remains Important Amid Push For Expanded Treatment In Africa
“With a needle puncture on your finger and a drop of blood, the magic of modern science can give you a rapid HIV test in seconds, and so, knowing your status, you are better able to negotiate the rocky road of surviving HIV where timely detection is key,” Farai Sevenzo, a columnist and filmmaker, writes in this BBC News opinion piece, part of a series from African journalists. “But human nature is not so straightforward and despite hundreds of rapid HIV test centers in many capitals, the knee-jerk response is not to want to know,” he continues, adding, “It is this attitude which may account for the continuing high rates of infection.”
First Edition: December 15, 2011
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about a new approach being advanced by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to overhauling Medicare.
Ryan, Wyden To Announce New Medicare Proposal
Republican Rep. Ryan – the author of the plan that would replace fee-for-service Medicare with a premium-support system – has a new plan in mind.
House OKs Payroll Tax Cut Extension Bill
The House measure was approved on a largely party-line vote and was met with immediate promises of opposition from Senate Democrats and the White House. Caught in the crossfire is the Medicare “doc fix” and, possibly, a separate omnibus spending bill to provide government funding through next September.
Much In Play For Health Interests As Congress Works On Payroll Tax Cut
A two-year fix to the formula that sets Medicare payments for physicians was included in yesterday’s House-passed version of this bill. Still, the fix’s future is not certain. Meanwhile, other health interests are trying to protect their own funding, which has so far been targeted as a way to pay for the payroll tax holiday extension.
Malaria Mortality Rates Down, But Progress Threatened By Funding Shortfall, WHO Report Says
“Malaria mortality rates have fallen by more than 25 percent globally since 2000, and by 33 percent in the WHO African Region, according to the World Malaria Report 2011, issued [Tuesday] by [the] WHO,” the organization reports in a press release. “This is the result of a significant scaling-up of malaria prevention and control measures in the last decade,” the press release adds. However, the press release notes, “WHO warns that a projected shortfall in funding threatens the fragile gains and that the double challenge of emerging drug and insecticide resistance needs to be proactively addressed” (12/13).
