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Political cartoon: 'Auction Block?'

Kaiser Health News provides a fresh take on health policy developments with "Auction Block?" by Jeff Danziger.

21 Sep 2012

Bipartisan report details health care cost drivers

The Bipartisan Policy Center issued a report yesterday detailing the reasons behind the nation's spiralling health care costs.

21 Sep 2012

State roundup: Big changes ahead for Mich. Blue Cross; End-of-life planning programs spreading; Texas mental health treatment shortage

The Michigan Legislature took its first steps Wednesday toward tackling a proposed overhaul of the state's largest health insurer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. Senate Insurance Committee Chairman Joe Hune introduced bills that would end the nonprofit health insurer's tax-exempt status and align it with competitors.

21 Sep 2012

USA Today/Gallup Poll shows Obama more trusted on Medicare

Other polls indicate President Barack Obama is faring well in some swing states. GOP nominee Mitt Romney's campaign hopes to shift the focus to federal spending and Medicare issues as Obama and GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan speak today to the AARP.

21 Sep 2012

Administration: Health law led Medicare beneficiaries to save $4.5 billion on prescriptions

USA Today reports the Obama administration is annoucing that, because of provisions in the health law Medicare's prescription drug doughnut hole, Medicare beneficiaries experienced considerable savings.

21 Sep 2012

First Edition: September 21, 2012

Today's headlines include reports about recent polling results indicating that, despite GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's efforts to frame the Medicare debate, President Barack Obama still has the advantage on this issue.

21 Sep 2012

Death rates after surgery found to be too optimistic

National estimates of death following general surgery have been too optimistic, suggests the first large-scale study to explore surgical outcomes across Europe published in the first Article in a special Lancet theme issue on surgery.

21 Sep 2012

USAID releases new issue of 'FrontLines'

The September/October issue of USAID's "FrontLines" focuses on the agency's efforts to "engag[e] youth around the world and how it is embracing mobile technology," according to an overview of the issue in USAID's "IMPACTblog."

21 Sep 2012

Romney touts his health care credentials

During a forum hosted by Univision, the GOP presidential nominee embraced his role as the "grandfather of Obamacare." Elsewhere on the camapign trail, the Service Employees International Union launches a Medicare attack ad against the Romney-Ryan campaign and other Republicans.

21 Sep 2012

IRIN examines child nutrition, stunting in Asia

"Stunting is a key factor holding back progress on children's well-being, and Asia faces a significant challenge with millions of children under five stunted," according to Save the Children's 2012 Child Development Index (CDI), IRIN reports.

21 Sep 2012

NCDs should be considered a 'human rights concern'

Noting that "non-communicable diseases (NCDs) kill four times the number of people in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) that they do in high-income countries," Benn Grover, a health communications specialist who manages policy for the National Forum for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, and Felicia Knaul, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and director of the Harvard Global Equity Initiative, write in the Huffington Post Blog.

21 Sep 2012

Presidential campaigns vie for specific voting blocs

The New York Times reports that young adults are up for grabs in several key states. Meanwhile, both candidates are courting Hispanics. The Washington Post reports that President Barack Obama is hoping women voters give him the edge in Virginia.

21 Sep 2012

CMS eyes improper Medicare payments for power wheelchairs

A Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services official testified on Capitol Hill Wednesday that 80 percent of this type of fee-for-service Medicare claim should not have been paid.

21 Sep 2012

CBO: More people than expected will face health law's penalty

The Congressional Budget Office now estimates that nearly six million people will face penalties for not getting health insurance as a result of the 2010 health law's individual mandate.

21 Sep 2012

Blogs examine progress on NCDs one year after U.N. summit

On the one-year anniversary of the U.N. High-Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), two blogs examine what has happened since. In the Center for Global Development's (CGD) "Global Health Policy" blog, Victoria Fan, a research fellow at the center, and Laura Khan of Princeton University ask, "[W]here has the attention and commitment to NCDs gone?" They say "subsequent attention and action after the NCD Summit last year has been paltry," and they explore some reasons why this might be the case.

21 Sep 2012

Indiana braces for the costs of health law's expanded coverage

In addition to questions about costs from the health law's Medicaid expansion, states are also wrestling with issues related to the creation of health exchanges and questions regarding essential benefits.

21 Sep 2012

New census data show insurance coverage expands in 20 states

Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont saw the biggest expansions, while Missouri and Montana saw declines in coverage. The biggest increases occurred among young adults between the ages of 19 and 25.

21 Sep 2012

Nurses can play a key role in feeding people and restoring their humanity in times of crisis

Nurses can play a key role in feeding people and restoring their humanity in times of great crisis and this was very evident during their little-known involvement in the liberation of Bergen-Belsen at the end of World War Two.

21 Sep 2012

Administration touts thriving Medicare Advantage under health law

Enrollment in the private plans is projected to increase 11 percent next year, while premiums hold steady, officials say, disproving predictions made by critics of the health care law.

21 Sep 2012

Ciprofloxacin use is major contributor to MRSA spread in hospitals

The use of a commonly prescribed antibiotic is a major contributor to the spread of infection in hospitals by the 'superbug' MRSA, according to new research. The study also found that increasing measures to prevent infection - such as improved hygiene and hand washing - appeared to have only a small effect on reducing MRSA infection rates during the period studied.

21 Sep 2012