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'Homework Assignment' Could Mean Success, Failure For Health Reform Legislation
How well health care industry groups follow through on their "homework assignment" from President Obama to submit specific plans by early June on how they intend to reduce health care spending growth by $2 trillion over the next decade could determine whether current attempts to develop health care overhaul legislation are successful, the AP/Contra Costa Times reports (Alonso-Zaldivar, AP/Contra Costa Times, 5/25).In a letter that was sent to Obama on May 10, a coalition of health care industry groups wrote, "We will do our part to achieve your administration"s goal of decreasing by 1.5 percentage points the annual health care spending growth rate. ... This represents more than a 20% reduction in the projected rate of growth." The letter -- which was signed by the American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the Advanced Medical Technology Association, America"s Health Insurance Plans and the Service Employees International Union -- did not elaborate on what specific measures the groups would take to achieve such reductions. The Obama administration requested specifics on the coalition"s cost-cutting plans by June 1 (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 5/18).Each group has been looking into its own ways it can reduce spending growth, the AP/Contra Costa Times reports. Insurers currently are examining strategies to cut the administrative costs of filing claims. AMA President-elect James Rohack said his organization will look at how to implement comparative effectiveness research and ways to prevent harmful and costly drug interactions, which he said "can save money ... by preventing unnecessary readmissions to hospitals," adding, "The most costly site where patients get care is the hospital." In addition, hospitals have begun looking into how to reduce readmissions.If the industry groups are able to convince lawmakers that their plans can significantly reduce spending growth, Obama "could be well on his way to closing a deal with Congress" on universal health coverage, the AP/Contra Costa Times reports. However, if the plans are rejected, the groups risk their reputations and Obama could be "seen as naive for entertaining such promises," according to the AP/Contra Costa Times. Some experts have said that the groups" pledge to cut health care spending is possible "in theory." According to the AP/Contra Costa Times, the challenge will be to persuade medical providers "to change years of ingrained habits that lead to much of the wasteful spending" in the health care system (AP/Contra Costa Times, 5/25). AHIP"s Ignagni Profiled
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MS Society Responds To Debbie Purdy Ruling - Clarification On The Law Of Assisted Suicide, UK
The MS Society has responded to today"s Law Lords ruling concerning the case of Debbie Purdy, who has sought clarification on the law of assisted suicide.
News of the day
Eversheds Comment: NHS Told To Tighten Data Security
Following calls from the information commissioner for the NHS to improve its data security, after breaches involving the loss of thousands of personal medical records, Bill Gilliam, head of the health sector group at international law firm Eversheds comments:
Diagnostics

Drugs Can Eliminate River Blindness, Study Finds

The disease onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness, can be eliminated using drugs, according to a WHO study, BBC reports. The disease, which infects about 37 million people worldwide, is caused by a "nematode worm that can live inside the human body for years" and is transmitted to people through the bite of a black fly, the news service writes. The worms spread through the body and when they eventually die, the human immune system "reacts fiercely," which "destroys living tissue - especially the eye," according to BBC (7/21). The study findings were published Tuesday in the journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. According to a WHO release, the "multi-country study showed that treatment with ivermectin stopped further infections and transmission" in three endemic areas in Mali and Senegal (7/21). For years, scientists have known that drugs can control the disease. "But now they believe it can be eliminated," writes BBC. The study found that "after 17 years of treating the entire community with the drug ivermectin regularly, few infections remained." In addition, follow-up studies did not turn up additional infections. Although, it is "not yet clear whether the same success can be repeated in other endemic areas," researchers "say an important principle has been established. It is possible to wipe out a disease that has a terrible impact on entire communities," according to BBC (7/21). This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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