Today’s Headlines – December 9, 2011
By Lexie Verdon
December 9, 2011
KFF Health News Original
Happy Friday! Here are your morning headlines: The Los Angeles Times: Boehner Defies Obama Veto Threat With New Payroll Tax Plan The package Boehner has been compiling for more than a week was not made publicly available, but it includes the payroll tax holiday as well as an extension of long-term unemployment benefits, which also […]
Bishops Will Sue Feds Over Contraception Rule
By Shefali S. Kulkarni Mary Agnes Carey
January 20, 2012
KFF Health News Original
The federal rules, which the Obama administration reaffirmed Friday, require health insurers to provide women with a range of preventive health services, including birth control, without charging a co-payment, co-insurance or deductible.
House Approves $310B In Cuts; Medicaid And Children’s Health Care Targeted
May 11, 2012
Morning Briefing
These trims, proposed by House GOP budgeteers, are designed to shield the Pentagon from automatic cuts that were laid out in last year’s debt accord. The measure has little chance of being passed by the Senate, but uncerscores that politics behind the budget debate.
Global Fund Announces $1.6B In Additional Funding For 2012-2014
May 10, 2012
Morning Briefing
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria “expects to have an additional $1.6 billion to fund projects in 2012-2014, [the fund’s General Manager Gabriel Jaramillo] said on Wednesday, a turnaround from a funding freeze last year,” Reuters reports (Miles, 5/9). “The new funds are a result of ‘strategic decisions made by the Board, freeing up funds that can be invested in countries where there is the most pressing demand,’ a statement by the fund said,” according to PlusNews (5/10). “The money includes funds from new donors, from traditional donors who are advancing their payments or increasing contributions and from some donors, such as China, that have offered to support projects in their own country to free up cash for more pressing needs elsewhere, Jaramillo said,” Reuters notes (5/9). “This forecast is better than expected, and it comes from the fantastic response we are getting to our transformation,” Jaramillo said, adding, “But we need more to get the job done. Countries that implement our grants are saving more and more people, but demand for services is still enormous,” according to the statement (5/9).
Today’s Headlines – March 28, 2012
By Stephanie Stapleton
March 28, 2012
KFF Health News Original
Good morning! Last day of oral arguments on the health law at the Supreme Court. Here’s a rundown of what happened yesterday: The Washington Post: On Last Day Of Health Care Hearing, Supreme Court Considers Severability, Medicaid Expansion The Supreme Court will complete its review of President Obama’s health care law Wednesday by considering whether […]
International Summit To Be Held In London Aims To Provide 120M Women With Family Planning Services
June 11, 2012
Morning Briefing
The Guardian reports on a “major summit” to be held in London on July 11, which “aims to provide access to family planning to 120 million women at an estimated cost of $4 billion.” According to the newspaper, the summit “is being organized by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the British government’s department for international development (DFID),” and “[b]etween 20 and 25 countries are scheduled to attend, including the U.S., India, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Tanzania.”
Seniors Get a Break On Medicare Part B Premiums
By Mary Agnes Carey
October 27, 2011
KFF Health News Original
KHN staff writer Mary Agnes Carey reports that most beneficiaries face only a small boost in their monthly premiums next year, and some will enjoy decreases, Obama administration officials announced.
Ore. Gets $1.9B To Launch Medicaid Coordinated Care Organizations
May 4, 2012
Morning Briefing
The federal support will help Oregon’s Medicaid Coordinated Care Organizations as they try to cut health costs by 2 percent over two years using preventive care to keep patients healthy.
SCOTUS Preview Part 2: Analyzing The Likely High Court Arguments On The Health Law
February 16, 2012
KFF Health News Original
In part two of analysis of the Supreme Court’s upcoming decision on the health law, Stuart Taylor talks with Jackie Judd about the arguments each side is likely to make defending or against the individual mandate and the Medicaid expansion.
Explaining Medicare’s ‘Premium Support’
By Jessica Marcy
January 20, 2012
KFF Health News Original
Every week, Kaiser Health News reporter Jessica Marcy selects interesting reading from around the Web. Washington Monthly: The Yaz Men: Members Of FDA Panel Reviewing The Risks Of Popular Bayer Contraceptive Had Industry Ties Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration convened a committee of medical experts to weigh new evidence concerning the potential […]
Considering Cost: Bloggers Reveal ‘Parsimonious’ Ponderings
By Andrew Villegas
January 13, 2012
KFF Health News Original
Should doctors think about cost when they’re helping you make your health care decisions? Yesterday on the main KHN site we had a round robin of experts talking about the American College of Physicians’ latest update of its ethics manual. The manual encourages doctors to be “parsimonious” in doling out health care — that is, if you […]
Aid Groups Warn Yemen Needs Immediate Assistance To Prevent Food Security ‘Crisis’; Donors Pledge $4B For Development
May 24, 2012
Morning Briefing
“Seven aid groups on Wednesday warned Western diplomats that Yemen was on the brink of a ‘catastrophic food crisis’ and urged them to bolster efforts to salvage the situation as they meet in Riyadh for an international conference to help the nation,” Agence France-Presse reports (5/23). The meeting of the so-called “Friends of Yemen” is expected to focus on political transition and improving security, but “[i]n their warning, the aid agencies — CARE, International Medical Corps, Islamic Relief, Merlin, Mercy Corps, Oxfam, and Save the Children — say this focus is preventing action to alleviate poverty and hunger,” BBC News writes (5/22). Reuters notes that the “United States, European Union, France, Egypt, and Russia were attending the Riyadh summit on Wednesday, as were Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman” (Kane, 5/23). The donors have promised $4 billion to support development projects and stabilization efforts in Yemen, with Saudi Arabia pledging $3.25 billion of the total, Devex reports (Mungcal, 5/24).
State Highlights: Ill. Gov. Proposes $1.35B Cuts To Medicaid
April 20, 2012
Morning Briefing
News outlets report on health care policy issues in California, D.C., Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Massachusetts and South Carolina,
Interactive: Readmission Rates And Poverty Levels For Individual Hospitals
December 19, 2011
KFF Health News Original
This interactive chart compares the heart failure readmission rates and patient population poverty levels for more than 3,000 hospitals.
Today’s Headlines – December 8, 2011
By Andrew Villegas
December 8, 2011
KFF Health News Original
Good morning! Here are your headlines: The Associated Press/Washington Post: House Leaders Hope GOP Lawmakers Ready To Back Bill Renewing Payroll Tax Cut, Jobless Benefits Top House Republicans hope to win rank-and-file GOP support for a measure renewing this year’s Social Security payroll tax cut and extending benefits for the long-term unemployed. House GOP lawmakers […]
Today’s Headlines – February 8, 2012
By Stephanie Stapleton
February 8, 2012
KFF Health News Original
Good morning! Here are your morning headlines: The New York Times: Talks Stall On How To Pay For Extending Payroll Tax Cut Any hope for a fast and quiet resolution to the Congressional battle over a payroll tax cut seemed to dim Tuesday as members of a bipartisan negotiating committee clashed over how to pay […]
Targeting Wealthy Medicare Beneficiaries
November 13, 2011
KFF Health News Original
More than half of 15 major deficit reduction proposals put forth in 2010 and 2011 call for higher-income Medicare beneficiaries to pay more for their coverage.
