Health On The Hill Transcript: Medicare Changes Part Of Super Committee Republicans Deal On Tax Revenues
November 9, 2011
KFF Health News Original
Mary Agnes Carey talks about what Medicare changes would be part of the latest proposal from super committee Republicans to strike a deficit reduction deal.
Affluent Seniors Could Take A Hit On Medicare
By Marilyn Werber Serafini Mary Agnes Carey
November 13, 2011
KFF Health News Original
Both Democrats and Republicans are eyeing proposals to require well-off Medicare beneficiaries to pay more for their coverage as the super committee looks for ways to hold down spending.
Tentative ‘Doc Fix’ Deal Would Cut Health Law’s Prevention Fund by $5B
February 15, 2012
Morning Briefing
The proposal would also cut Medicare payments to hospitals, other providers and clinical labs as well as Medicaid payments to hospitals that serve the poor.
Wash. Law Requiring Pharmacies Stock Emergency Contraception Struck Down
February 23, 2012
Morning Briefing
The judge said the law was meant to force religious objectors to dispense the drug Plan B instead of simply give access to those that need it. In other cases, other federal judges blocked a challenge to a Mass. law on abortion buffer zones and said the government can’t deny health benefits to a lesbian couple.
March Issue Of BMJ’s ‘Sexually Transmitted Infections’ Focuses On HIV, Health Systems
February 21, 2012
Morning Briefing
Karen Grepin, assistant professor of global health policy at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, describes the March issue of BMJ’s Sexually Transmitted Infections in this post in her “Global Health Blog.” The issue, edited by Alan Whiteside, Gary Brook, Till B
Some Doctors Refuse To Treat Kids Who Have Not Been Immunized
By Michelle Andrews
September 26, 2011
KFF Health News Original
These pediatricians say they are worried about other patients in the waiting room, some of them too young to be immunized or with health problems that compromise their immune systems.
CNN Examines Nodding Disease Among Children In Northern Uganda
March 20, 2012
Morning Briefing
CNN examines nodding disease, a seizure disorder that has affected at least 3,000 children in Northern Uganda, as well as children in Liberia, Sudan, and Tanzania. Though the disease has no known cause or cure, “there are clues,” the news service notes, writing, “WHO officials say 93 percent of cases are found in areas also with the parasitic worm Onchocerca Volvulus, which causes river blindness and is carried by the Black Fly. And many cases show a deficiency in Vitamin B6. Nutrition also seems to play an important role.”
Blog Posts Report On International Treatment As Prevention Conference In Vancouver
April 26, 2012
Morning Briefing
Two separate posts in the Center for Global Health Policy’s “Science Speaks” blog report on the International Treatment as Prevention conference in Vancouver. The first post recaps an update from Stephen Becker of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Tuesday “about the Foundation’s treatment optimization activities,” writing, “According to Becker, the Foundation acknowledges that treatment will be at the center of HIV prevention efforts, but ‘no amount of treatment will obviate the need for primary prevention modalities'” (Lubinski, 4/24). The second post reports that, “[d]espite its status as one of the poorest countries in Africa and its failed effort to garner a Round 10 grant from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria — Malawi is moving forward to implement ‘Option B+’ for pregnant women,” meaning “pregnant and lactating women are enrolled in antiretroviral therapy (ART) programs for life, regardless of CD4 count” (Lubinski, 4/24).
Officials Looking To Cut Federal Spending Eye Medigap Policies
By Susan Jaffe
November 21, 2011
KFF Health News Original
They argue that if policies were less generous, seniors might reduce their trips to the doctor of find cheaper care, which would save the government money.
Protesting Kenyans Call For Emergency Donor Conference To Raise $2B For Global Fund
January 31, 2012
Morning Briefing
“Hundreds of HIV-positive Kenyans protested outside the European Union’s Nairobi office on Monday, accusing the E.U. of causing unnecessary deaths by cutting funding to” the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, AlertNet reports. Late last year, the Global Fund announced it would not hold a new round of grants until 2014, the news service notes, adding, “The demonstrators called on the Global Fund to hold an emergency donor conference to raise $2 billion so developing countries can apply for grants this year” (Migiro, 1/30). Though no new grants will be awarded before 2014, the Global Fund “has set up what it calls a ‘transitional funding mechanism,’ which covers the continuation of essential services” of existing grants, VOA News writes (Majtenyi, 1/30).
UNICEF Appeals For $1.28B To Provide Humanitarian Assistance For Children In 25 Nations
January 30, 2012
Morning Briefing
UNICEF on Friday “appealed … for $1.28 billion to provide humanitarian assistance to children in over 25 countries this year, with nearly one-third of the total amount earmarked for the crisis in the Horn of Africa,” the U.N. News Centre reports (1/27). The agency also released its annual “Humanitarian Action for Children 2012” report, which “decried the rising levels of starvation and malnutrition among children under the age of five in many of the world’s troubled regions,” GlobalPost writes (1/27). UNICEF “said it was seeking nine percent less than in 2011, linked to lower needs in Pakistan and Haiti, but that its needs for fighting hunger had jumped by nearly 50 percent,” according to Agence France-Presse (1/28). The agency said more than one million children in Africa’s Sahel region are at risk of severe malnutrition, Reuters reports (1/27).
Ohio Law Prohibits Abortion Coverage By Insurers In State Exchanges; Pa. Measure Would Step Up Abortion Clinic Regulation
December 22, 2011
Morning Briefing
Also in the news, a Boston Medical Center study explores teens’ access to the Plan B contraceptive.
A Delay In Signing Up For Medicare Can Lead To Big Penalties
January 23, 2012
Morning Briefing
Reuters reports on how seniors who wait too long to sign up for Medicare Part B could face costly penalties. Meanwhile, CQ HealthBeat reports on the political implications of Medicare’s monthly premiums.
Today’s Headlines – Nov. 17, 2011
By Stephanie Stapleton
November 17, 2011
KFF Health News Original
Good morning! The fallout from the Supreme Court’s decision on a hearing for the health law continues, as observers watch for signs that the super committee will find common ground before their Wednesday deadline. The Washington Post: Supreme Court’s Planned Review Of Health-Care Law Shocks Medicaid Advocates While there was no surprise over the Supreme […]
Today’s Headlines – Oct. 25, 2011
By Stephanie Stapleton
October 25, 2011
KFF Health News Original
Good morning! Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports that a group of Republcian governors communicated their concerns to the super committee. The Washington Post: Republican Governors Submit Recommendations To Debt “Supercommittee’ Four GOP governors sent a letter Monday to the congressional joint committee tasked with drafting a plan to reduce the […]
Today’s Headlines – Nov. 2, 2011
By Stephanie Stapleton
November 2, 2011
KFF Health News Original
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about Tuesday’s super committee hearing and the message communicated by bipartisan budget hawks to the panel — raise revenue and revamp health programs. The Associated Press/Washington Post: Bipartisan Budget Hawks To Debt-Cutting Panel: Raise Revenue, Revamp Health Programs Four prominent deficit-cutters told Congress’ bipartisan […]
As Federal Court Action Looms, Sebelius Says Plan B ‘Not About Politics’
December 13, 2011
Morning Briefing
A federal judge in Brooklyn will hear arguments Tuesday afternoon on the constitutionality of the federal decision regarding the access teenage girls should have to morning-after contraceptive pills. Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the decision about Plan B’s over-the-counter status was not a political one.
Romney’s Plan Would Fundamentally Change Medicare
By Marilyn Werber Serafini Mary Agnes Carey
November 9, 2011
KFF Health News Original
Although the GOP presidential candidate is offering to let beneficiaries stay in the traditional fee-for-service program, critics say his plan could shift more cost to individuals.
Health Care: Super Power For The Super Committee
By David Kendall
October 12, 2011
KFF Health News Original
Health care costs are typically kryptonite in budget talks, but this time they are also the common enemy to both Democrats and Republicans. But both will have to give in order to reach a successful deal.
Improved Access To Family Planning In Africa Will Lead To Economic Development
April 3, 2012
Morning Briefing
Melinda Gates of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation writes in an opinion piece in Nigeria’s Vanguard, “My top priority as a co-chair of the foundation I run with my husband is making sure that all families have access to safe and effective contraception tools that empower them to make a decision about what’s best for them and their family. And that means encouraging aid donors and governments here in Nigeria and across Africa to make family planning a priority.” Improved access to modern methods of contraception and child spacing would save millions of lives, “[b]ut family planning doesn’t just save lives; it also makes life better for families and communities, becoming a key driver of economic development,” Gates continues.
