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First Edition: September 27, 2012

Today's headlines include reports about how the health law and Medicare are buzz words in public opinion polls and on the campaign trail.

27 Sep 2012

World working together to end polio

In a post on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog, foundation Co-Chair Bill Gates writes about traveling to New York this week to deliver a speech to the U.N. on polio eradication, one of the top five global health priorities as described by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

27 Sep 2012

U.N. General Assembly focuses on women, children

"Women and children shared the spotlight at the 27th session of the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday," Devex's "Development Newswire" reports.

27 Sep 2012

British Society for Immunology, Springer partner to publish six books per year

Springer and the British Society for Immunology (BSI) have entered into an agreement to publish six books per year, to be included in Springer's long-running book series, Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology.

27 Sep 2012

Challenges to India's role as global pharmaceutical supplier

"India has had a positive global impact through its supply of vast quantities of low-cost, good-quality generic medicines, which have saved or prolonged millions of lives ... but there are also many factors that may hinder the continuation of the country's role as chief supplier of medicines to developing countries," Martin Khor, executive director of the South Centre in Geneva, writes in an Inter Press Service opinion piece.

27 Sep 2012

Study: For children on Medicaid, prescriptions often go unfilled

A large share of medication prescriptions to children on Medicaid may go unfilled, a new study suggests. Researchers found that of nearly 17,000 prescriptions made to kids at two urban clinics, 22 percent were never filled.

27 Sep 2012

President Obama, Mitt Romney address Clinton Global Initiative

"President Obama and his Republican rival, Mitt Romney, appeared within hours of each other Tuesday at the Clinton Global Initiative, a global charitable gathering hosted by former president Bill Clinton, each focusing on how the United States can better promote prosperity and human rights abroad and at home," the Washington Post reports.

27 Sep 2012

IRIN examines reaction to Global Fund's new funding approach

"The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has released initial details on its new funding model, ... but as the fund works to finalize the model before next year, civil society is criticizing the process for being untransparent and rushed," IRIN reports in an article examining the draft model and reaction to it.

27 Sep 2012

AP poll: Most Americans believe health law will be implemented

The poll found that about seven in 10 people think the law will go into effect with adjustments. Some expect major changes, others, minor ones. Meanwhile, a new round of polls in the presidential contest finds President Barack Obama faring well in key states.

27 Sep 2012

Medicaid: Ark. Gov. pushes expansion, Maine hunts for savings

Arkansas's governor is trying to use the health law's Medicaid coverage expansion to prevent a GOP takeover of the state legislature, while Maine hunts for savings in its Medicaid program.

27 Sep 2012

Blog examines need for U.S. review of multilateral, bilateral aid

"Britain's National Audit Office (NAO), akin to the U.S. Government Accountability Office or GAO, is applauding the Department for International Development's Multilateral Aid Review," Sarah Jane Staats, director of the Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance Program at the Center for Global Development (CGD), writes in this post in the center's "Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance Blog."

27 Sep 2012

Examining universal health coverage as post-2015 development goal

In the BMJ Groups blog, Amanda Glassman, director of the global health policy program at the Center for Global Development (CGD), and her colleagues at CGD examine "whether universal health coverage (UHC) as a post-2015 development goal is a good idea."

27 Sep 2012

Can rebate checks really change public perception about the health law?

National Journal reports that although the checks are one of the earliest, tangible benefits for people with insurance, they are unlikely to alter the public view -- in part because they have gone to only about 10 percent of households.

27 Sep 2012

Hospitals respond to feds' warning about electronic records, billing fraud

Hospital industry groups responded Tuesday to the warning issued by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Attorney General Eric Holder, saying that the federal government shares part of the blame, because it hasn't provided hospitals adequate guidance on billing for common services.

27 Sep 2012

Meeting needs of children living with, affected by HIV 'central' to PEPFAR mission

"Meeting the needs of children, including both children living with HIV and those affected by the disease in other ways, is not peripheral to PEPFAR's mission -- it is central," U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby writes in USAID's "DipNote" blog, adding, "It's a responsibility, and an opportunity as part of our push toward an AIDS-free generation."

27 Sep 2012

Hatch seeks more details from the Obama administration about federal exchanges

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R- Utah, charged that states can't make decisions about whether to pursue their own health insurance exchanges or to rely on the federal fallback version unless they have more information.

27 Sep 2012

Commitment to good investments, ability to say 'no' at heart of foreign aid reform

"During these tough budget times, citizens across the world rightfully question the effectiveness of government spending, including funds spent on foreign assistance," Daniel Yohannes, chief executive officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), writes in this Foreign Policy opinion piece.

27 Sep 2012

Viewpoints: 'Redistribution' debate; Reducing delayed, missed and incorrect diagnoses

The Affordable Care Act, which levies new taxes on the wealthy to expand access to health care for the near poor, seems on track to become the biggest increase in government redistribution since the Johnson administration.

27 Sep 2012

WHO urges health workers to be alert for patients exhibiting symptoms of new SARS-like virus

"The World Health Organization on Wednesday urged health workers around the world to report any patient with acute respiratory infection who may have traveled to Saudi Arabia or Qatar and been exposed to a new SARS-like virus confirmed in two people so far," Reuters reports.

27 Sep 2012

Weekly campaign highlights: News from Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio and North Carolina

As election day approaches, Kaiser Health News' Sarah Barr samples news coverage each week from swing states around the country – how health policy developments, and other political issues, are playing in this year's vote.

27 Sep 2012