Latest KFF Health News Stories
States Continue Push To Keep Federal Money From Planned Parenthood
Also in the news, a national abortion rights organization has filed suit in Texas to block the implementation of a new state law requiring women have pre-abortion sonograms.
States Wrestle With Medicaid Funding And Budgets, Contracts, Rule Changes
News outlets report on Medicaid developments in Kentucky, Colorado, Arizona and Hawaii.
State Roundup: Calif. Weighs Bill To Curb Premium Increases
A variety of state health policy issues are in the headlines.
India Must Not Become Complacent Despite AIDS Control Program’s Success, Prime Minister Says
“India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday hailed the country’s success in slashing new HIV/AIDS infections by half in the past decade, but warned against complacency,” Agence France-Presse reports. Speaking at a conference on AIDS in New Delhi, Singh said the country’s HIV prevention program “can justifiably claim a measure of success,” but “there should be no room for complacency,” as an estimated 2.4 million Indians are living with the disease, according to AFP.
Viewpoints: ‘Imaginary’ Mandates, Premium Hikes, Medicare Leadership
A selection of opinions and editorials from around America.
LA Times: Study Urges More Mammogram Guidelines
New research, published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, argues for a more complex approach to determining who should have a mammogram and when.
Wis. School Districts And Insurers Feud Over Federal Dollars
Wis. school districts that have switched insurers are seeking to get health insurance company affiliated with Wis. teachers’ union to release federal funds designed to help cover early retirees, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
AJC: Hospital Execs Pay Raises Eyebrows
In other news, The Boston Globe reports that Quincy Hospital has declared bankruptcy just days after its trustees approved a deal for the facility to be acquired by Steward Health Care System.
Employers Maintain Corporate Fitness Programs, On-Site Medical Clinics
Despite recent hard economic times, large businesses appear to be continuing their investment in corporate fitness programs and, in another effort to curb high health costs, on-site health centers.
Dems To CMS: Hold Firm On Medicaid ‘MOE’ Requirements
Meanwhile, a Government Accountability Office report finds that, although most physicians accept some new Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program patients, a majority of primary care docs say they have difficulty finding specialists to provide care for these young low-income patients.
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.
