Latest KFF Health News Stories
OMB Projects Slower Growth In Medicare, Medicaid Spending, But With A Caveat
Politico Pro reports that the new estimates released by the government agency predict federal spending will not increase as much as had earlier been predicted, but the projection also assumes cuts in Medicare pay to doctors. Those cuts seem unlikely.
Businesses Working Hard To Disgest Health Law Changes
The Austin Business Journal reports that for many businesses — especially those that help others deal with health matters — learning the news rules is tough. And MSNBC looks at one business that is helping physicians improve patient care.
Immigrant Dialysis Patients In Atlanta Again Face Treatment Crisis
Almost two dozen patients face the loss of life-saving treatment.
VA Chief Outlines Computer System To Cut Disability Backlog
Eric Shinseki says the new system will begin operation next year and will help clear hundreds of thousands of cases, The Des Moine Register reports.
State Roundup: Texas Disability Fight; Rights Of Fetus Asserted In Neb.
News outlets report on a variety of state health policy issues.
13 Indicted For Medicare Fraud In Puerto Rico; Federal Officials Use Hotline To Find Medicaid Fraud
Officials in Puerto Rico filed over a dozen indictments for health care fraud. Meanwhile, an innovative tool is being used by federal authorities seeking 170 alleged to have fled the country to avoid charges of Medicaid fraud.
Mississippi Challenge To Health Law Will Move Forward
Elsewhere, the Washington state attorney general gets approval from his state’s supreme court for joining with other AGs to challenge the health law.
Health Care Politics: Perry’s Stem Cell Controversy, Biden Medicare Fact Check
News outlets covered Gov. Perry’s controversial stem cell advocacy and his health care stance as well as Vice President Biden’s assertions on Medicare.
“As the Walter Reed Army Medical Center decamps from its D.C. campus this month and merges with the Bethesda Naval Hospital five miles away,” NPR reports on the legacy of “the center’s Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, housed for the past decade on its own campus in Maryland, just outside Washington, [as] one of the world’s premier research centers for infectious diseases.” The piece, which is part of the news agency’s series on the closure of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, notes, “No other place has done as much to prevent and treat malaria. And certainly, no one has done it so cheaply.”
Options For ‘Super Committee’ Could Include IPAB, Tricare, Nothing At All
Several news outlets examine how the committee, tasked with cutting the federal deficit, might operate.
Feds Hold Off On Decision About Yanking Medicare Funding To Parkland
The 672-bed public hospital in Dallas had submitted a plan of action for fixing problems identified by federal regulators.
In Research World, Walter Reed Fights Malaria While New Facility Seeks To Prevent Medical Errors
Two news outlets profile Washington-area research facilities.
New Study Finds 9/11 Firefighters Have Higher Risks Of Cancer
Research published in the Lancet suggests that the firefighters who were at the World Trade Center are 19 percent more likely to get cancer than those who were not there.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Reuben Brigety, “[t]he top U.S. official for refugee issues, … says that despite intensive efforts, relief agencies have made little progress in reducing child mortality rates at refugee camps along Somalia’s border with Ethiopia,” VOA News reports. Brigety, “comment[ing] as he returned from Dollo Ado, a sprawling camp complex in Ethiopia that houses 120,000 refugees from famine-stricken southern Somalia … tells VOA that humanitarian agencies have made impressive progress in establishing health facilities and registering the backlog of refugees arriving daily from Somalia’s famine zone. But he said children are still dying at an alarming rate of malnutrition and other complications, such as measles,” the news agency writes.
WHO African Region Member States Have Challenges To Meet MDGs, WHO/AFRO Director Says
Speaking at the 61st session of the WHO Regional Office for Africa (AFRO) in Yamoussoukro, Cote d’Ivoire, on Thursday, African Regional Director of WHO Luis Sambo said “that 46 Africa member countries still had remarkable challenges to scale before meeting the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” Nigeria’s The Nation reports.
New Rules Require Insurers To Justify Rate Increases Over 10%
Federal rules mandate that companies explain the hikes and submit them to regulators. Also, HHS announced that association health plans must meet the same rate scrutiny as other types of insurance.
