Latest KFF Health News Stories
Congress Could Reconsider FSA Restrictions
Minnesota Public Radio reports that some bills in Congress would lift certain limits placed on flexible spending accounts and how they can be applied to certain over-the-counter medicines.
Food Aid System ‘Needs An Overhaul’
The cost of addressing the effects of drought and famine in the Horn of Africa “has soared to $2.5 billion, just to keep malnourished children alive, and the number of people requiring humanitarian aid has doubled” since “November last year, [when] it would have cost $500 million to prevent the situation from deteriorating,” Jo Khinmaung, a food security policy adviser for Tearfund, writes in the Guardian’s “Poverty Matters Blog.”
Medicare Expands Competitive Bidding Program
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says this approach, which is geared toward durable medical equipment, will save billions of dollars and could become a model for other efforts to cut costs.
Economic Pressures Trigger Seniors Concern About Assisted Living Housing
While The Wall Street Journal and Kaiser Health News report on the current dark side of aging in America, The Associated Press offers insights into how baby boomer interest in countering the effects of getting older could lead to billions of dollars in spending.
Humanitarians, Policymakers To Discuss Escalating Water Scarcity And Sanitation Issues In Stockholm
“More than 2,600 humanitarians and policymakers meet in Stockholm this week to hash out ideas about how to tackle escalating problems surrounding water scarcity and access to sanitation, particularly in urban environments,” AlertNet reports.
NPR Interviews Author Of Study On Emerging HIV Epidemic Among MSM In MENA
NPR’s health blog “Shots” interviewed Laith Abu-Raddad of the Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, co-author of a recent study published in PLoS Medicine that showed “[m]ore than five percent of men who have sex with men are infected by HIV in” the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), about “the challenges of researching such a taboo topic.” Abu-Raddad discusses his motivations for pursuing the study, data collection challenges and surprises in the data, the blog notes (Thrasybule, 8/19).
Climate Shifts May Threaten To Increase Spread Of Malaria, Health Experts Say
“Shifts in the world’s climate and responses to those shifts, including construction of more irrigation systems, threaten to increase the spread of malaria, health experts say,” AlertNet reports. “Because malaria is transmitted by mosquitoes, its distribution patterns can be altered by changes in weather conditions, including changes in temperature, humidity, rainfall and the general availability of fresh water, said Suad Sulaiman, a malaria expert and health and environment adviser with the Sudanese National Academy of Sciences,” according to the news agency.
UNICEF Warns Horn Of Africa ‘Crisis Will Get Worse’; China Contributes $16M In Aid Funds To WFP
UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake told reporters on Friday that “[m]ore than 300,000 children in the Horn of Africa are severely malnourished ‘and in imminent risk of dying’ because of drought and famine,” the Associated Press/Washington Post reports.
Research Into TB Medication May Shorten Treatment Regimen
Research of the common tuberculosis (TB) drug pyrazinamide, which is used in combination with other medications to treat the disease in a six-month regimen, “has now revealed that the drug does kill the latent form of the microbe, which does not cause observable symptoms,” VOA News reports.
First Edition: August 22, 2011
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports that seniors are facing difficult times in their retirement — with issues related to assisted living, housing and health benefits driving concern.
News outlets covered various aspects of hospital administration.
Disability Benefits Squeezing Social Security As Politics Dominates Deficit Talk
It’s August, Congress and the president are on vacation. Nonetheless, talk on the Sunday morning programs looked ahead to the future deficit negotiations by the “super committee” and the president’s upcoming economics speech.
States Grow Anxious For Federal Exchange Guidance
Meanwhile, state-level working groups continue planning efforts for the creation of state-run versions of these health insurance marketplaces.
Deficit Panel Has ‘Extraordinary Power’ But Will Face ‘Bumpy’ Start
The LA Times reports on some of the challenges ahead for the “super committee” and explores the panel’s chances for success. Meanwhile, one GOP member of this select group vows that there will be no cuts to entitlement benefits.
PBS NewsHour Examines Polio Eradication Efforts In India’s Uttar Pradesh And Bihar States
PBS NewsHour reports on polio eradication efforts underway in India’s Uttar Pradesh and Bihar states, which “have been the source of all the polio viruses that have crippled children in India,
