Latest KFF Health News Stories
World Population Reaches 7 Billion Amid Warnings About Health, Natural Resources
“Countries around the world marked the world’s population reaching seven billion Monday with lavish ceremonies for newborn infants symbolizing the milestone and warnings that there may be too many humans for the planet’s resources,” the Associated Press/MSNBC.com reports (10/31). “With the world’s population more than doubling over the last half century, basics like food and water are under more strain than ever, say experts, and providing for an additional two to three billion people in the next 50 years is a serious worry,” AlertNet/Reuters writes, adding that the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says food production will have to increase by 70 percent to keep pace. “But climate change may be the greatest impediment to meeting this target, say experts,” the news agency notes (Kumar/Bhalla, 10/31).
“Genetically modified mosquitoes could prove effective in tackling dengue fever and other insect-borne diseases,” according to the results of a study by a U.K.-based scientific team published in the journal Nature Biotechnology on Sunday, BBC News reports (Black, 10/30). “In the 2010 trial, conducted on Grand Cayman island, researchers released 3.3 million male mosquitoes that had been genetically altered in such a way that they were born sterile, meaning they can’t have viable offspring,” which “triggered a population collapse,” the Wall Street Journal writes. “‘We saw an 80 percent reduction in the target area’ compared with the mosquito population in a similar zone where genetically tweaked males hadn’t been released, Luke Alphey, co-founder and chief scientist at Oxitec Ltd., the U.K. start-up behind the experiment, said in an interview,” according to the newspaper (Naik, 10/31).
Congress Should Grant PEPFAR Future Security Because Program Is ‘Desperately Needed’
In this CNN opinion piece, Julian Zelizer, an author and professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, reports on how, “[a]s the super-committee deliberates over how to reduce the deficit and other congressional committees struggle to cut spending, the fate of important programs,” such as PEPFAR, “hangs in the balance.”
Industry Becoming More Involved In Ensuring Food Security, Conference Attendees Hear
“Food security concerns as the world’s population surpasses seven billion have prompted global companies to become more actively involved in ensuring future supplies, participants at an agricultural conference said on Monday,” Reuters reports. “The increased role has come at a time government involvement is hampered by the global financial crisis and led to fears a private sector-led expansion may focus on products with profit potential and neglect more effective alternatives,” according to the news agency. “‘We need to produce more food. The figures are debatable but we clearly need at least 50 percent more food in the next two or three decades,’ said Ian Crute, chief scientist at Britain’s Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board,” at the CropWorld 2011 conference (Hunt, 10/31).
Opinion Pieces Address World Population Of 7 Billion
Though demographers do not know exactly when the world’s population will hit seven billion, the U.N. symbolically marked the day on Monday with celebrations and warnings about safety, health and sustainability. The following is a summary of several opinion pieces published in recognition of the day.
Alliances Form Among Super Committee Members
Three Republicans and three Democrats on the panel are joining forces to develop a deal of their own. Meanwhile, the AFL-CIO is launching a campaign to defeat any Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security cuts the panel may ultimately propose. And Social Security appears to be in play as deliberations continue.
Early Retirees’ Health Insurance Fund Running Out
A federal report predicts this $5 billion account created as part of the health law will be drained by 2012. Also drawing criticism are exchange regulations, which advocates say could undermine the law’s goal of expanding health insurance.
State Roundup: Ga., Minn. Move Slowly On Exchanges
Today’s state roundup comes from Massachusetts, Minnesota, Georgia, New Hampshire, Iowa, California, Oregon, Oklahoma and Kansas.
Obama Takes Action To Address Drug Shortages
President Barack Obama issued an executive order Monday directing the Food and Drug Administration to, among other steps, speed up reviews of manufacturers’ applications to begin or alter production of a drug in potentially short supply.
Congress Questions IRS On Oversight Of Nonprofit Hospitals
The New York Times reports that the Internal Revenue Service is not collecting information on the amount of charity care these facilities provide.
Debating ‘RomneyCare’s’ Parenthood
WBUR provides a video of a Republican-Democratic debate exploring whether Massachusetts’ health reforms laid the ground work for the federal health reform law.
NYC Settles Medicaid Suit; Wis. Officials Face Deadline For New Plan For Health Care For Poor
A roundup of state news about health care programs for low-income residents.
Home Health Payments Will Fall 2.3% in 2012
The pay cut for home health agencies was announced in a regulation that was issued Monday. Although this reduction is less than initially proposed and will be phased in over two years, industry voices described it as “severe.”
Hospitals Must Improve Tracking Of Serious Errors, Report Finds
According to USA Today, the Department of Health and Human Services will release a report today pressing hospitals to improve in their efforts to track and report serious errors.
Viewpoints: Super Committee Clock Is Ticking; Replacing CLASS; ‘Personhood’ Amendment In Miss.
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care policy from around the country.
First Edition: November 1, 2011
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including a report that the health law’s early retirees’ health insurance fund may be running out.
Pressure Mounts As Clock Ticks Toward Debt Panel’s Deadline
The LA Times reports on how a deficit-reduction deal has so far eluded Congress while Politico outlines the politics that are at work in the process.
ACO Rule Revisions Get Nod From Medical Industry Group
Also, Modern Healthcare delves into the projections for Medicaid growth under the 2010 health law.
Gates Asks Wealthy Countries To Continue Foreign Aid Efforts In Developing Nations
“Despite [the] economic crisis rippling around the world,” Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, “is pushing countries to continue foreign aid efforts to poor and developing nations, saying that every dollar of aid ‘makes a huge difference,'” ABC News reports. ABC’s “This Week” anchor Christiane Amanpour interviewed Gates last week after he visited Capitol Hill “to make his case to members of Congress.” Gates is expected to “present a plan at the G20 Summit next week in France calling on the wealthiest countries to continue their aid efforts, despite austerity measures being taken around the world,” the news agency writes.
