Obama Announces $3B Food Initiative For Africa
May 21, 2012
Morning Briefing
In a Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security on Friday, President Barack Obama “announced a plan to accelerate investments in developing world agriculture to meet rising food demands and improve nutrition, calling the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition a moral, economic and security imperative,” IIP Digital reports (Porter, 5/18). The new program, unveiled “in conjunction with African leaders from Ethiopia, Ghana and Tanzania, will parlay more than $3 billion in private assistance into a public-private partnership with an ambitious goal: lifting 50 million people from poverty over 10 years,” according to USA Today’s “The Oval” (Wolf, 5/18). The initiative “will constitute the next phase of a groundbreaking program begun during the 2009 G8 summit in L’Aquila, Italy,” Inter Press Service writes (Brion, 5/18). More than 45 companies have pledged to invest in the initiative, Devex notes (Ravelo, 5/10). A fact sheet on the New Alliance is available on the White House website (5/18).
State Roundup: Mass. Health Cost Control Bill Could Save $8B To $34B
May 2, 2012
Morning Briefing
News outlets report on health policy issues in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Oregon.
Today’s Headlines – March 6, 2012
By Stephanie Stapleton
March 6, 2012
KFF Health News Original
Good morning, here are your morning headlines to get your day started: The Washington Post: In Ohio, Santorum Blasts Romney For Ad Spending, Says Voters Don’t Trust Him On health care, Santorum made the claim that Romney — because of his overhaul of Massachusetts’ health-care system while governor, which included an individual mandate to purchase […]
Today’s Headlines – March 19, 2012
By Stephanie Stapleton
March 19, 2012
KFF Health News Original
Good morning! Another week starts and more health policy news for you to read: The New York Times’ The Caucus: Health Care Debate Returns With Intensity This week is the two-year anniversary of Mr. Obama’s health care law, and Republicans in Washington are planning to celebrate with a series of attacks. Next week, the Supreme […]
Abbott Agrees To $1.6B Settlement With States, Feds
May 8, 2012
Morning Briefing
Abbott Laboratories will pay the federal government and 45 states $1.6 billion after admitting to marketing its anti-seizure drug Depakote for off-label uses over 10 years.
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 […]
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.
Mass. Senate Passes Health Care Cost Measure With Eye On Saving $150B
May 18, 2012
Morning Briefing
The Massachusetts Senate passed a health care cost containment bill Thursday that aims to cut costs by $150 billion over 15 years. The bill, which now goes to the Massachusetts House, would eventually align cost growth with gross state product, would move toward paying for health care with global payments and would change the state’s medical malpractice lawsuit system.
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.
The New Jersey Experience: Do Insurance Reforms Unravel Without An Individual Mandate?
By Jonathan Cohn
March 20, 2012
KFF Health News Original
New Jersey attempted reforms without imposing a mandate. The outcome in that state offers reasons why supporters say the individual mandate is necessary if the federal health law is to achieve its goals.
Today’s Headlines – March 27, 2012
By Stephanie Stapleton
March 27, 2012
KFF Health News Original
Good morning! It’s day two of the Supreme Court hearings on the health law. There’s lots to read — The New York Times: Most Oppose At Least Part Of Overhaul, Poll Finds Two-thirds of Americans want the Supreme Court to overturn some or all of the health care law, even though large majorities support a […]
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.”
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.
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 […]
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.
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 […]
