Today’s Headlines – January 19, 2012
By Stephanie Stapleton
January 19, 2012
KFF Health News Original
Good morning! Here are your morning headlines: The Associated Press/Washington Post: White House Says Health Overhaul On Track In Many States, But Prepares Federal Backstop Anyway President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul is on track in many states, the White House asserted Wednesday. But officials said the administration is preparing a federal backstop anyway for […]
Medicare Data Show Variation In ‘Central Line’ Infection Rates Across States
By Jordan Rau
February 9, 2012
KFF Health News Original
Across the country, one in six hospitals has high rates of one of the most serious kinds of preventable infections — those caused by catheters inserted into large veins, according to new data published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Patients at hospitals in Maryland, Mississippi, Louisiana, Maine and New Hampshire were most […]
A Health Exchange Progress Report, Sort Of …
By Julie Appleby
January 18, 2012
KFF Health News Original
They’re making progress! Well, at least 28 of them and the District of Columbia are. That was the main talking point from the White House this morning during a press briefing revolving around a report stating that 28 states are “on their way” to establishing new marketplaces, called exchanges, where consumers can begin to shop for health insurance […]
Feds Cite Two Insurers For Excessive Premium Increases
April 17, 2012
Morning Briefing
The insurance companies will be able to charge the higher amount, but they will be required to disclose on websites that reviewers found the rates to be unreasonable and explain why they are still imposing them.
HHS Calls Trustmark’s Rate Increases ‘Unreasonable’; Insurer Begs to Differ
By Mary Agnes Carey
January 12, 2012
KFF Health News Original
The Department of Health and Human Services Thursday deemed a health insurer’s proposed premium increases in five states “unreasonable” and called on the company to rescind the rates, issue refunds or justify the increase. Trustmark Life Insurance Company proposed health insurance premium hikes of 13 percent for 10,000 residents in five states: Arizona, Alabama, Pennsylvania, […]
Farzad Mostashari: Man On A Digital Mission
By Russ Mitchell
March 9, 2012
KFF Health News Original
An eBay merchant who sells funny barbecue aprons out of his living room is better equipped to send information electronically than many physicians. Farzad Mostashari is the guy trying to change that.
Md. Launches Health Reform Website For Consumers; Calif. Public Option Lives On
March 23, 2012
Morning Briefing
Maryland is launching a health care reform website to educate residents on how they can use benefits in the health law. In California, health reform already affects most residents while the state gets set to offer a version of its own “public option” to buy health insurance.
Tips For Buying Long-Term Care Insurance
By Caroline E. Mayer
January 23, 2012
KFF Health News Original
Consumer advocates say if you decide to get the coverage, be careful about the details.
Medicare Releases Patient Safety Ratings For Hospitals
By Jordan Rau
October 17, 2011
KFF Health News Original
Publication of the new Medicare data on HHS website is a step in the government’s plan to link payments to quality.
Medicare Offers Extra Enrollment Time For Seniors Who Call Today
By Susan Jaffe
December 7, 2011
KFF Health News Original
Extra time is limited only to seniors who have had trouble signing up and contact one of several organizations that are working to help beneficiaries.
UNAIDS Governing Body Meets In Geneva
June 7, 2012
Morning Briefing
The “UNAIDS governing body, the Programme Coordinating Board (PCB), is holding its 30th Board meeting from 5-7 June in Geneva,” the agency reports on its website. “This year’s thematic segment will take place on the second day of the meeting and will focus on combination prevention or the urgent need to reinvigorate HIV prevention responses globally by scaling up and achieving synergies to halt and begin to reverse the spread of the AIDS epidemic” the agency writes (6/5).
House Appropriations Committee Releases Draft Report On FY13 State, Foreign Operations Spending Bill
May 17, 2012
Morning Briefing
The House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to mark up the FY 2013 State and Foreign Operations appropriations bill on Thursday, The Hill’s “Global Affairs” blog reports (Pecquet, 5/17). On Wednesday, the committee released the State and Foreign Operations Draft Committee Report (.pdf), which provides additional information on funding through the appropriations bill for U.S. global health programs at USAID and the State Department, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Policy Tracker. “This funding comprises a significant portion of the Global Health Initiative budget (total funding for the GHI is not currently available as some funding provided through USAID, HHS, and DoD are not yet available),” the website writes. The House Appropriations State and Foreign Affairs subcommittee released the draft bill on May 8 and approved it on May 9, according to the website.
Today’s Headlines – March 8, 2012
By Stephanie Stapleton
March 8, 2012
KFF Health News Original
Good morning! Grab your coffee, here are your early a.m. headlines to get your day going: The Washington Post: New Front In Birth Control Rule Battle: The Courts Since November, at least eight lawsuits have been filed in federal district courts across the country challenging the constitutionality of the rule, which requires employers, including church-affiliated […]
Report Examines Foreign Affairs Budget Reforms In Light Of Austerity
May 9, 2012
Morning Briefing
“The United States should be more selective about where and how it spends foreign assistance,” according to a new report (.pdf), titled “Engagement Amid Austerity: A Bipartisan Approach to Reorienting the International Affairs Budget,” co-authored by John Norris of the Center for American Progress and Connie Veillette of the Center for Global Development (CGD), the CGD website notes. The report “identifies four flagship reforms that would help U.S. foreign affairs institutions to better reflect national interests and reduce ineffective spending,” including “[a]ccelerat[ing] cost-sharing arrangements with upper middle income recipients of” PEPFAR and “[o]verhaul[ing] U.S. food aid laws and regulations,” according to the website (5/8).
2 States Survey Nursing Home Residents To Assess Care
By Susan Jaffe
November 28, 2011
KFF Health News Original
BOSTON – When choosing the right nursing home, most consumers lack one of the best sources of inside information about the facilities – from the residents themselves. But at the annual meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, researchers from Minnesota and Ohio explained how consumers in those states can find summaries of nursing home […]
Kansas Tobacco Prevention Funds Diverted To Other Uses
By Bryan Thompson, Kansas Public Radio
January 20, 2012
KFF Health News Original
Of the $745 million in tobacco lawsuit-settlement funds and $1.4 billion in tobacco taxes in the past 12 years, less than $11 million has gone specifically for anti-smoking programs.
Minnesota Health Exchange Demonstrations Online For Public Review
By Elizabeth Stawicki, Minnesota Public Radio
December 6, 2011
KFF Health News Original
Until now, an insurance exchange in Minnesota, which will allow consumers to buy health insurance online and is part of the health overhaul, has been just an abstract idea. But now, prototypes for public review are now available online.
Gingrich, Romney Go At It Over Abortion
By Julie Rovner, NPR News
January 12, 2012
KFF Health News Original
This story comes from our partner ‘s Shots blog. The latest abortion battle doesn’t pit people on opposite sides of the issue against each other. Rather, it features two of the leading GOP candidates for president, each charging that the other is less than pure as the race heads to socially conservative South Carolina. Both […]
Lack Of Autopsies After Elderly Die Conceals Health Flaws
By Alicia Cypress, NPR News
December 22, 2011
KFF Health News Original
This story comes from our partner ‘s Shots blog. Abuse in nursing homes and suspicious deaths among seniors often go undetected because postmortem examinations are becoming few and far between. Earlier this year, an NPR News investigation found that many jurisdictions stopped doing autopsies on people who died over the age of 60, unless it […]
Experts Question Medicare’s Effort To Rate Hospitals’ Patient Safety Records
By Jordan Rau
February 13, 2012
KFF Health News Original
The new data identify many major teaching institutions as having high rates of serious complications. But officials say the measures are faulty.
