Latest KFF Health News Stories
Concept Advances For More Accountable Care To Elderly Patients
The Chicago Tribune reports on how the health law – via Medicare – is pushing accountable care organizations, a new model that emphasizes coordination. And, the Minneapolis Star Tribune details some of the hesitancy that seems to surround the health law’s wellness screenings.
Donor Fatigue Harming Efforts To Fight Drought In Horn Of Africa, Aid Agencies Say
As a severe drought affecting Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti and Ethiopia forces more people into refugee camps, donor fatigue is harming aid agencies’ abilities to work in the Horn of Africa, because “these recurrent droughts used to happen every 5-10 years but what we see now is it basically every other year … an indication of climate change conditions,” Michael Klaus, UNICEF spokesperson for east and southern Africa, told Reuters in an interview (Gachenge, 7/2).
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about how Medicare, Medicaid and the health care industry might fare in the ongoing budget negotiations.
WFP Funding Shortfall Forcing Cutbacks In Afghanistan
“The U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) is being forced by a funding shortfall to cut its recovery programmes in nearly half of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, a spokesperson said,” just as the country prepares for expected food shortages over the coming months, IRIN reports.
States Must Make Do Without Stimulus Dollars For Medicaid; Judge Freezes Ariz. Cuts
In other states, Oregon Senate passes bill to change state health plans, and Louisiana’s “coordinated care network” plan draws interest from 12 applicants.
IPS Looks At U.N. Women Funding Levels
Inter Press Service looks at funding for U.N. Women six months after the organization launched. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon “set an initial target of 500 million dollars as the proposed annual budget for the new gender-empowered body. But nearly six months later, the voluntary funding for U.N. Women (UNW) from the 192 member states has remained painfully slow,” IPS writes.
IRIN Reports On Concerns Over Poor Midwife Training In Senegal
IRIN reports on concerns about the low level of training midwives in Senegal undergo, a topic that was discussed at the launch of the U.N. Population Fund’s (UNFPA) State of the World’s Midwives report in Senegal. According to UNFPA, “[p]oorly-regulated, privately-run training schools in Senegal are churning out midwives who do not have a solid grasp of birthing or ante- and post-natal care, causing women and babies to die needlessly,” IRIN writes. There are dozens of midwife training schools in the country, which are supposed to be regulated, but because the government only has two inspectors to monitor the schools, many of them have low standards, said Edwige Adekambi, UNFPA’s joint Senegal director (6/30).
Senate To Keep Working Next Week On Debt Talks
As the two political parties spar over how to reduce the deficit, some health advocacy groups are nervous about cuts in funding.
Minn. Government Shuts Down; New Calif., Iowa and Ill. Budgets Take Effect
Meanwhile, in Connecticut, state legislators send unions a warning about the consequences of rejecting benefit cuts.
We Must Do More To Monitor Aid Spending Abroad
In a Washington Times opinion piece, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) points to recent developments and experiences that have led him to conclude that “vast amounts of U.S. aid money is being spent with little documentation or verification of quantifiable results.”
D.C. Study Probes Disparities In Stroke Treatment
The Washington Post reports on a new study that offers a detailed look at treatment differences between black and white stroke patients.
Al Jazeera Examines How War Has Affected Iraq’s Health System And Physicians
Al Jazeera examines how Iraq’s public health system has been affected by the war and the challenges doctors in the country currently face.
TB Fight Must Break From Status Quo
“As WHO prepares for reform, it is also adjusting to a new financially constrained environment. WHO’s STOP TB department, like others, has to downsize and refocus its activities. With increasing demand for guidance, technical support, and capacity-building in countries, the STOP TB department and partnership will have to do more with less in the future,” a Lancet editorial states.
Research Roundup: Hospital Care In U.S. Territories Lags; Health Spending Unevenly Distributed
This week’s studies come from The Archives of Internal Medicine, The Journal Of General Internal Medicine, The National Institute For Health Care Management, The Kaiser Family Foundation and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Science Should Inform Global AIDS Policy
Thirty years have passed since the first reported case of AIDS, and “we now have an unprecedented opportunity, based on solid scientific data, to control and ultimately end the AIDS pandemic,” after decades of the idea being “a distant aspiration because we lacked sufficient evidence-based tools to convert the hope to reality,” Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, writes in a Science editorial.
Roundup: Mass. Doctors Seek Care-Management Funds; Fla. Groups Fear Scott Will Block Federal Grants
In other state news, state legislatures seek to block local public health and nutrition regulations.
Japan’s Coastal Health Systems Facing Long Rebuilding Process Following Tsunami
The Lancet reports on Japan’s “daunting task of rebuilding hundreds of damaged health facilities” four months after an earthquake and tsunami hit the country. “When the tsunami ripped houses from their foundations and sent cars and other debris miles inland, it also caused widespread damage to the health infrastructure in a region already struggling to fund health services for its large elderly population,” the Lancet writes.
CDC Helping To Detect And Control Disease Outbreaks In Other Countries
“The Atlanta-based CDC is expanding its involvement in cases of illness overseas, from helping track the source of the highly toxic E. coli outbreak in Germany to homing in on the cause of cholera in the aftermath of Haiti’s earthquake,” in an effort “to stop epidemics before they can reach the United States,” Reuters/MSNBC.com reports.
