Latest KFF Health News Stories
First Edition: October 21, 2011
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including more details about the Department of Health and Human Services’ revised rule for accountable care organizations.
Health Law: Both Sides Aim For Supreme Court Action In March
The Obama administration even filed its legal briefs early – one outlining its defense of the measure’s constitutionality in response to the 26-state challenge to the health law, the other responding to Liberty University’s lawsuit.
How’s The Super Committee Doing? Some Say Not So Well …
News outlets report that, although enough time still remains to reach a deal, the panel’s seeming lack of progress is raising alarm in some corners of Capitol Hill. Others, however, see signs of life.
“The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria will transfer management of a $28.77 million HIV/AIDS grant from Mali’s national AIDS council, the Haut Conseil de Lutte contre le Sida (the High Council for the Fight Against AIDS, or HCLNS), to a new principal recipient at the end of the year” after mismanagement of funds was discovered in the country, a Global Fund press release reports (10/19). “The Global Fund said in a statement that it will suspend funding all but essential services under the grant until a new structure can be found to manage the money,” the Associated Press writes (Vogl, 10/19).
Treating TB, HIV Co-Infections Early, Aggressively Can Save Lives, Multiple Studies Show
“Treating tuberculosis (TB) and HIV infections at the same time can be a challenge for patients and their doctors, but attacking both diseases early and aggressively isn’t harmful and could save the lives of those who are sickest,” according to a global study led by researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The study found that patients whose immune systems have been most damaged by HIV were 40 percent less likely to die or develop AIDS if they began antiretroviral treatment (ART) “two weeks after starting TB treatment, instead of waiting eight to 12 weeks, as is commonly done now,” the newspaper writes.
Ariz., Wis. Trying To Slow Medicaid Costs; Ala. Goes Electronic
Medicaid news pops up in Arizona, Alabama, Wisconsin and Florida.
State Roundup: Md. Program Poised For Health Reform; Calif. High-Risk Pool
A selection of health care news from Georgia, Wisconsin, California, Louisiana, Colorado, Florida, Oregon and Michigan.
Social Media Moves Into Medicine
The Mayo Clinic’s social media boss explains how the use of these high-tech tools has moved beyond marketing to find a place in medical education and research. Meanwhile, another news report showcases how doctors use email and Skype.
As the company splits into two separate entities, it has indicated that $1.5 billion will be set aside to cover an expected settlement with the federal government over claims that the company went way too far in selling a seizure drug.
Republican Rivals’ Attacks On ‘Romneycare’ Gaining Traction
GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney’s health policies are not only the target of his Republican opponents but are also drawing attention and barbs from Democrats. Also on the trail, Newt Gingrich, another GOP primary candidate, criticized the tenor of the campaign season so far.
Abortion News: Ind. Planned Parenthood Faces State Challenge
Across the country, state officials and lawmakers are weighing in on abortion clinics and practices.
On Tuesday at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., Chelsea Clinton, board member of the William J. Clinton Foundation, and Christy Turlington Burns, founder of Every Mother Counts, helped launch the GW + Phones = Hope campaign, which is “working with the national nonprofit Hope Phones to collect phones to benefit maternal health programs in Democratic Republic of Congo and Nepal,” the “GW Hatchet” blog reports (Ferris, 10/18).
AP: Poor Neighborhoods Take Toll On Health
The federal government conducted a social experiment to explore the difficulties poor neighborhoods pose to public health.
Viewpoints: If Not CLASS, Then What?; House GOP Abortion Bill; MLK’s Legacy In Health Care
A selection of today’s editorials and opinions from around the country.
CMS Provides New Guidance On EHR Payment Program
Modern Healthcare reports on this development, which will set up a “double check” to ensure that hospitals have what is necessary to become “meaningful users” of electronic health records.
States Take Cautious Approach To Health Law’s New Coverage Mandates
Politico Pro reports that states are waiting to “get greater clarity” on the federal benefit package in order to minimize the extra coverage costs for which they might ultimately be responsible.
Medicare Part B Premium Costs Likely To Cut Into Social Security’s Increase
Social Security benefits will increase by 3.6 percent, but many consumers won’t feel more weight in their wallets because of an expected boost in Medicare costs.
Aid Groups, Health Ministry Plan To Administer Oral Cholera Vaccine To 100,000 Haitians
Working in conjunction with the Haitian Ministry of Health and the Haitian aid group GHESKIO, Boston-based Partners In Health (PIH) will begin an immunization campaign in January aimed at providing two doses of the oral cholera vaccine Shanchol “to 100,000 Haitians living in two vulnerable communities: a neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, where potable water and latrines are luxuries, and to an isolated rural village in the lower Artibonite Valley region,” the Miami Herald reports.
