Report Examines Medicaid Coverage For Family Planning Services; NEJM Perspectives Examine Physician-Industry Relationship, Health Care Costs

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Also Included In: Sexual Health / STDs;  Primary Care / General Practice;  Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 02 Nov 2007 - 12:00 PDT

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"Medicaid's Role in Family Planning," Guttmacher Institute, Kaiser Family Foundation: The issue brief examines coverage provided by Medicaid for women of reproductive age at the national and state levels; the range of services covered as part of family planning; state-initiated family planning expansions and their impact in reducing abortions, and unintended pregnancies and births; and recent changes in Medicaid policy, including the federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. According to the brief, Medicaid is the largest source of public funding for family planning services in the U.S., providing coverage of contraceptive services for millions of low-income women (Kaiser Family Foundation release, 10/29).

"Doctors and Drug Companies -- Scrutinizing Influential Relationships," New England Journal of Medicine: In the NEJM perspective, Eric Campbell, an associate professor at the Institute for Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, examines the potential risks of physician-health care industry relationships and discusses legislation and policy changes that aim to limit financial ties between physicians and drug and medical device manufacturers (Campbell, NEJM, 11/1).

"The Challenge of Rising Health Care Costs -- A View From the Congressional Budget Office," NEJM: The growth rate of per capita health costs largely will determine the fiscal health of the U.S., and putting the country "on a sound fiscal footing" necessitates a more comprehensive understanding of the role that health care costs play in the long-term budgetary outlook, according to a NEJM perspective by CBO Director Peter Orszag and Philip Ellis, a CBO senior analyst. Orszag and Ellis discuss factors that have led to increasing health care costs and provide estimates for federal and private health care spending over the next 10 years (Orszag/Ellis, NEJM, 11/1).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.