Latest KFF Health News Stories
Medicaid Cuts Raise Physician Ire In Puerto Rico
Also in Medicaid news: In Alabama, an examination of pharmacy receipts leads to reduced costs. But in Texas, some hospital systems are bracing for the impact of Medicaid cuts currently under discussion in the debt-ceiling talks.
Exchanges: Critical Piece Of Health Law Implementation
News outlets also are reporting on physician interest in care coordination and a GOP proposal to change the Medicaid eligibility calculations to prevent a reported 3 million early retirees from becoming eligible in 2014.
Bill Would Boost IT Funding For Multi-Campus Hospital Systems
In other news, The Boston Globe reports on one of the perks enjoyed by doctors who use electronic health records, and Bloomberg details the British Medical Association’s advice to members to avoid patients on Facebook.
The Focus On Bringing Down IPAB
On Capitol Hill this week, the health law’s independent payment advisory panel drew criticism from both Democrats and Republicans. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was on hand to absorb some of the attacks and answer some of the questions.
Longer Looks: Penalties For Doctors Who Keep Patients Waiting
This week’s selections include MedPage Today, The Economist, Governing, the Nation, Slate, American Medical News and Modern Healthcare.
FDA Needs More Oversight Power To Protect Increasingly Globalized Drug Supply, Pew Report Says
“The Food and Drug Administration needs much more power to protect the U.S. supply of drugs as more and more are made in other countries,” according to a report released Tuesday by the Pew Health Group, National Journal reports. The FDA estimates about 80 percent of the active ingredients in medications and up to 40 percent of finished pharmaceuticals are manufactured abroad, often in developing countries with little to no regulatory oversight, the news service adds.
Vaccine And Aid Workers Express Anger Over CIA Plot To Collect DNA Through Vaccine Program
“Vaccine program workers, who sometimes struggle to gain public trust and governmental cooperation in the first place, are furious about the deception” of the CIA in establishing a vaccination program in Pakistan in an attempt to gather DNA from Osama bin Laden’s family, ScienceInsider reports. “Aid workers also say that news of the vaccination plot may undermine their ability to work with the public and with developing world governments,” the news service writes (Reardon, 7/13).
CDC Investigators Working To Understand Nodding Syndrome Among East African Children
Nature News examines the work of a CDC team working in South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda to investigate nodding syndrome, “a poorly understood and seemingly growing problem in eastern Africa.”
Horn Of Africa Nations Risk ‘Massive Famine,’ Shah Says
The nations in the drought-stricken Horn of Africa “are at risk of ‘massive famine,’ Rajiv Shah, the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), told the Huffington Post Wednesday.” “It’s very severe,” Shah said. “We know from the data that we’ve been collecting that this is the worst drought in 60 years and it’s going to have severe consequences. Eleven and a half million people are at real risk of malnutrition and famine already,” the Huffington Post reports (Hersh, 7/13).
Today’s early morning highligths from the major news organizations, including reports about how tempers are flaring in the midst of debt-ceiling negotiations.
Global Health Community Reacts To CIA’s Faux Vaccine Operation In Pakistan
After the Guardian broke the story that the CIA organized a fake vaccination program in Pakistan in an effort to confirm the location of Osama bin Laden and obtain DNA from his family members, several writers and health experts reacted to the situation, noting the possible implications for future health efforts.
Malaria Prevention Project Using Dirty Sock Odor Awarded Grand Challenges Grant
The odor of dirty socks can be used to attract mosquitoes and kill them before they’re able to spread malaria, Fredros Okumu of the Ifakara Health Institute in Tanzania said on Wednesday, Agence France-Presse reports (7/13).
As President Barack Obama issued dire warnings about what will happen if lawmakers fail to raise the debt ceiling, one GOP leader advanced a “last-choice option” to avoid the consequences of failing to come to terms on a deficit-reduction package.
Health Interests Dislike Proposed Medicare And Medicaid Cuts
While lawmakers continue efforts to come to terms in the debt-ceiling negotiations, health interests ranging from public and teaching hospitals to the drug industry are making their positions known.
The World Has A Food Price Problem, Not A Food Price Volatility Problem
“Food price levels are at historic highs, but food price volatility, although high these past few years, is not out of line with historical experience and is generally lower than it was in the 1970s. This means that the world does not necessarily face a price volatility problem. It faces a high food price problem,” Christopher Barrett, a professor at Cornell University, and Marc Bellemare, a professor at Duke University, write in a Foreign Affairs opinion piece.
Foreign Policy Examines HIV Epidemic In Swaziland
Foreign Policy examines the HIV epidemic in Swaziland, where nearly one-fifth of residents are infected. Because of the country’s high per capita infection rate, “[o]ne might expect HIV to slap you in the face. But there are no buildings collapsed by an HIV earthquake, no towns flooded by an HIV tsunami. No zombie-sick people dripping HIV from their eyeballs. You don’t see obvious signs of it outside of the clinics and hospitals or the privacy of homesteads,” the article states. While “Swaziland’s HIV orphans present a frightening problem for the country’s future,” the piece describes one program, called Pasture Valley, that is helping a couple dozen orphans gain an education and health care (Raviv, 7/12).
Device That Collects Water Quality Data Introduced At TEDGlobal Conference
Researchers at the TEDGlobal conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, this week described a device that collects water quality data to “chec[k] supplies in real-time, alerting users to possible infections,” and “upload[s] the data, allowing scientists to monitor the location and movement of outbreaks,” BBC News reports. The researchers said the device, called the Water Canary, “could prove invaluable for governments around the world keen to contain disease and environmental disasters,” according to the news service (Wakefield, 7/13).
Gates Foundation Grand Challenges Explorations Grant Recipients Look To Fight Malaria, HIV
The Associated Press/Atlanta Journal-Constitution examines two research proposals
