Latest KFF Health News Stories
Multi-Prong Approach Needed To Fight Famine In Somalia
“The Obama administration deserves credit for acting in advance to ameliorate the effects” of drought in East Africa, a New York Times editorial states, noting that USAID has been working since last summer, when the crisis was predicted, to “plac[e] food and other supplies in Kenya, Djibouti and South Africa” and “working on programs to help Somalia and other countries improve food production to avert future crises.”
State Highlights: Appeals Court Upholds Ariz. Abortion Law
News outlets report on a variety of state health policy issues.
International Community, Especially China, Must Invest More In African Agriculture And Health
A drought and “security crisis as a result of political conflicts, civil war and anarchy” in Somalia are to blame for the famine recently declared by the U.N., but “[t]he international community is also to blame for responding too slowly and neglecting its responsibilities in this preventable disaster,” a Lancet editorial says. “The USA, Europe, and other wealthy donors waited until pictures of starving children and desperate women made the evening news to hand over funds. China, Africa’s second largest trading partner after the USA, merely said it would pay ‘close attention’ to the disaster, and only pledged a modest $14 million of food aid on August 5, after U.S. House minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, urged the country to do more,” the editorial states.
GOP Presidential Hopefuls Spar Over Health Policy Issues
Former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney defended parts of the state’s health overhaul he signed into law as the chief executive, while Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., and former Minn. Gov. Tim Pawlenty also exchanged health policy barbs.
Climate Change To Affect Spread Of Malaria In India, Study Says
Over the next 20 years, “[c]limate change is likely to spread malaria to new areas in the Indian Himalayas, and lengthen the periods in which the infection is spread in a number of districts, according to projections [.pdf] from” researchers at the National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR), Delhi, and published in a special issue of Current Science on Wednesday, SciDev.Net reports.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced in a speech at the International Food Policy Research Institute on Thursday that the U.S. has pledged an additional $17 million in emergency food aid to the Horn of Africa, with $12 million going to humanitarian operations in Somalia, Voice of America writes (Baragona, 8/11). “Clinton said
GOP Lawmaker Wants Health IT Study To Focus On Errors
Rep. Renee Ellmers, R-N.C., wrote a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius requesting that the nation’s push for electronic medical records include a study of the medical error rates associated with this technology.
States Slashing At Least $4.7 Billion From Medicaid Plans
Reuters reports on a study of state cuts by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Also, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is looking to expand its Medicaid business and a California study explores the high number of young people without insurance.
Research Roundup: N.C. Health Centers Save Money
This week’s studies come from the Archives Of Internal Medicine, George Washington University School Of Public Health And Health Services, the National Bureau Of Economic Research, the Journal Of Nursing Care Quality and the Clinical Orthopedics And Related Research.
Sebelius Talks Health Insurance Exchanges
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius took questions from PBS Newshour viewers about these new health insurance marketplaces that were envisioned in the health law. Also in the news, analysis of the recess appointment of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Director Donald Berwick and more about what implementation activities are happening at the state level.
Viewpoints: Brownback’s ‘Snub’; The ‘Risks’ Of Medicaid Cuts; Congressional Alums On Debt Talks
A selection of opinions and editorials from news sources around the country.
Boston Health Organizations Plan Merger
Partners HealthCare and Neighborhood Health Plan sign letter of intent for merger. In other hospital issues, Parkland Hospital In Dallas is in danger of losing Medicare accreditation and Conn. regulators are criticized.
First Edition: August 12, 2011
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about the full roster of the ‘super committee’ and how the GOP field of presidential hopefuls is faring in Iowa.
Experts Troubled By Global Rise In C-Section Rates
Almost one-third of infants in the U.S. are delivered by caesarean section (c-section), a trend that is now growing globally, PRI’s The World/PBS NewsHour reports. “The c-section rate in Thailand has reached 34 percent, in Vietnam, it is 36 percent, and in China, nearly half of all births are by c-section,” the article states.
ICRC Campaign Addresses Humanitarian Issue Of Health Care Security In Conflict Situations
“This week the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) launches a global campaign
Rise of NCDs Is ‘Growing But Under-Addressed Challenge’ In Developed And Developing Countries
“The rise of non-communicable diseases (NCDs)” is “a growing but under-addressed challenge in both the developed and developing world,” Jean-Luc Butel, executive vice president and group president for Medtronic’s international operations, writes in a Muskegon Chronicle opinion piece. “[S]hifting demographics, lifestyles and environmental factors in places like China and India have led to a dramatic increase in NCDs,” he writes, adding that “[e]stimates suggest NCDs will account for three out of every four deaths globally by 2030.”
GOP Deficit Panel Roster Set: What Are The Chances For A Deal?
Top Republicans have named their choices from the House and Senate to serve on the ‘super committee.’ These six lawmakers now join three Senate Democrats on the list – leaving only House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s picks unknown.
What Will The Panelists Bring To The ‘Super Committee’ Negotiations?
News outlets report on the personalities and records of the people who have been named to the deficit panel, and attempt to handicap how their politics could play into the deficit-reduction dynamics.
Spread Of Polio In Pakistan Threatening Goal Of Eradication
With 63 cases of polio diagnosed in Pakistan this year, nearly double the number recorded in the same time period 2010, the U.N. “says that these findings suggest Pakistan could be the ‘last polio reservoir worldwide’
