Health Care Votes Haunt Anti-Abortion Dems; Republicans Confront Challenges With ‘Pledge’
October 6, 2010
Morning Briefing
Politico reports that anti-abortion Democrats are facing stiff opposition in their bids for re-election. Organizations like the Susan B. Anthony List and other anti-abortion groups are now attacking former allies who once sided with them on abortion.
Dengue Fever Spreads In Asia, WHO Warns 2.5B People At Risk
October 7, 2010
Morning Briefing
The World Health Organization (WHO) “has warned that 2.5 billion people are at risk” of dengue fever, “which has ‘grown dramatically in recent decades,” Agence France-Presse reports. WHO officials cite higher temperatures, growing populations and international travel for the “rapid rise in urban mosquito populations” and rise in dengue. Seventy percent of the at-risk population is in Asia, the WHO said.
Donors Pledge Nearly $12B For Global Fund, Missing Lowest Funding Target
October 6, 2010
Morning Briefing
Donors at a replenishment meeting in New York on Tuesday pledged $11.7 billion over three years for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, “higher than past support but below the lowest target set by the agency in its efforts to combat disease in the developing world,” the Financial Times reports (Jack, 10/5).
Over $6B Pledged As CGI Annual Meeting Wraps Up
September 24, 2010
Morning Briefing
Donors made 291 commitments worth more than $6 billion at this year’s Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) annual meeting, which wrapped up on Thursday, Reuters reports. “The value of [CGI] pledges for economic empowerment, education, environment, energy and health was $3 billion less than 2009, but the organization said that in previous years one or two big commitments represented a disproportionate share of the whole,” the news service writes. “Since 2005, nearly 2,000 commitments have been made valued at $63 billion” (Nichols, 9/23).
Federal Medicaid Aid Boost Becomes Issue In Kansas Governor’s Race
By Mike Shields, KHI News Service
June 14, 2010
KFF Health News Original
A bill before Congress that would extend richer federal Medicaid assistance to states has now become an issue in the Kansas governor’s race.
Despite Federal Help, States Struggle To Move People Out Of Nursing Homes
By Phil Galewitz
April 22, 2010
KFF Health News Original
A program, known as “Money Follows the Person,” aims to help elderly and disabled people in nursing homes live on their own and save tens of millions of dollars for Medicaid. But many states are having trouble finding affordable housing, and fewer than 6,000 people have moved. The goal is 37,000 by 2013.
Hunger Costs Developing Nations $450B Per Year, Report Says
September 14, 2010
Morning Briefing
“Reduced worker productivity, poor health and lost education caused by malnourishment” is costing poor nations $450 billion a year, according to a report by the aid agency ActionAid, Agence France-Presse reports (9/13).
Week In Review: Berwick Nomination Still Drawing Fire; Regulations For Health IT And Preventive Care; A New AIDS Policy; New PhRMA Chief
July 16, 2010
KFF Health News Original
This week, news outlets covered the Obama administration as it began implementing parts of the new health law and also unveiled a national HIV/AIDS strategy. And, Capitol Hill is still reacting to the president’s recess appointment of Dr. Donald Berwick to head the agency overseeing Medicare and Medicaid.
HHS Unveils $1.9B Strategy To Better Prepare For Biological Threats
August 20, 2010
Morning Briefing
“Acknowledging that the development of medical countermeasures against bioterrorism threats and pandemic flu is lagging, [U.S.] federal authorities Thursday announced a $1.9 billion makeover of the system for identifying and manufacturing drugs and vaccines for public-health emergencies,” Tribune Company/Seattle Times reports. “The overhaul includes manufacturing refinements aimed at shaving weeks off the time it takes to produce pandemic flu vaccine and a series of steps aimed at more quickly detecting promising scientific discoveries and getting them to market,” the news service writes (Zajac, 8/19).
Sen. Appropriations Committee Approves $54.1B FY2011 Foreign Ops Spending Bill, Including $8.2B For Global Health Programs
July 30, 2010
Morning Briefing
The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved a $54.1 billion FY 2011 spending bill for the State Department and related agencies “that includes potentially controversial abortion language,” CQ reports.
Interim Haiti Recovery Commission Approves 29 Rehabilitation Projects For Haiti Worth $1.6B
August 20, 2010
Morning Briefing
The Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC), led by Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive and former President Bill Clinton, recently announced more than $1.6 billion in projects to rebuild Haiti, “including a $200 million plan to create 50,000 new jobs in agriculture,” Reuters reports.
House Rules Committee’s Analysis Of The Health Bill
March 18, 2010
KFF Health News Original
The House Rules Committee released this “section-by-section analysis” of the Democrats’ health bill, The Health Care & Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010.
New Health Law Brings Better Coverage For Women
By Joanne Silberner, NPR News
April 26, 2010
KFF Health News Original
Among the many goals of the new health law is one that hasn’t received much attention: to improve women’s experiences in the health insurance world.
BMJ News Reports On Russia’s $15.1B Health Care Overhaul
July 27, 2010
Morning Briefing
Russia will undergo a $15.1 billion overhaul of its health care sector, including changes to its medical insurance system as well as health care delivery across the country, according to BMJ News.
Researchers Map Malaria Parasite P Vivax; Nearly 3B People At Risk Of Infection In 2009
August 4, 2010
Morning Briefing
A new evidence-based map estimates that in 2009 2.85 billion people lived “at risk of infection” with the malaria parasite Plasmodium vivax, reports BMJ News. A new study, published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, shows P vivax “is more widespread and potentially represents a greater burden on human health in some parts of the world than P falciparum, the species usually associated with the greatest mortality and morbidity,” BMJ News writes (Moszynski, 8/3).
Text: The Obama Administration’s New ‘Patient’s Bill Of Rights’
June 22, 2010
KFF Health News Original
The White House today released a “Fact Sheet: The Affordable Care Act’s New Patient’s Bill of Rights,” the Obama administration’s summary of new regulations issued by the Department of Health and Human Services.
House Passes Nearly $60B FY10 Supplemental
July 2, 2010
Morning Briefing
The House of Representatives passed an nearly “$60 billion bill Thursday to pay for wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and fund a variety of other programs,” including relief and rebuilding initiatives in Haiti following the January earthquake, Fox News’ “The Speaker’s Lobby” blog reports (Pergram, 7/1).
Summary Of A 1993 Republican Health Reform Plan
February 23, 2010
KFF Health News Original
In November, 1993, Sen. John Chafee, R-R.I., introduced what was considered to be one of the main Republican health overhaul proposals: “A bill to provide comprehensive reform of the health care system of the United States.” Titled the “Health Equity and Access Reform Today Act of 1993,” it had 21 co-sponsors, including two Democrats (Sens. Boren and Kerrey). The […]
Post-Summit Health Reform: What A Mess
By Robert Laszewski
February 26, 2010
KFF Health News Original
The White House health summit looks to this observer as a draw. Neither side scored any knockout blows.
Report Says G8 Countries Short $10B On $50B Commitment, Reveals Mixed Progress On Health Goals
June 21, 2010
Morning Briefing
An accountability report, prepared by officials in G8 member countries’ foreign affairs departments, acknowledges that G8 “countries are $10 billion behind the five-year, $50-billion commitment they made at their 2005 summit in Scotland,” the Canadian Press/CTV News reports (6/20).
