U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) welcomed the announcement of $3.59 million in federal funding for New Hampshire community health centers. These awards will allow centers to hire more health providers, improve facilities, and enroll more Ohioans in health care coverage, he said. That money will go toward purchasing equipment and hiring an ophthalmologist, a medical assistant and a van driver, she said. The funding was part of $350 million to be awarded to 1,184 health centers around the country. Patients pay fees that vary according to income.
Legislators of both parties are expressing outrage and concern over Gov. Dannel Malloy's decision Friday to rescind $63.3 million in state funds to 29 state hospitals. According to the state Office of Policy and Management, including federal matching funds, the impact to the hospitals is actually about $192 million. Bristol Hospital will see cuts of $5.8 million and the New Britain-based Hospital of Central Connecticut will see $9.6 million rescinded. The governor has the ability to make rescissions without legislative approval. OPM said in a statement that Malloy made the cuts so the budget can remain balanced.
It looks like Massachusetts will miss a self-imposed health care spending target again this year. This warning from Attorney General Maura Healey comes just a few weeks after a state agency announced that Massachusetts failed to keep spending below 3.6 percent last year, as recommended in a 2012 law. The forecast for this year is in a report produced by Healey's office. It finds little change in problems that have been building for years: some hospitals are paid a lot more than others, patients frequent the expensive hospitals and efforts to shift the way we pay for health care aren't closing the price gaps.
Concerned that food stamp users lacked the opportunity to buy fresh vegetables, the anti-hunger group Just Harvest decided two years ago to take credit card machines to local farmers markets that were operating on a cash basis. Besides credit and debit cards, the machines accept the state-issued Electronic Benefit Transfer cards holding food stamps. "As people find out about it, it's becoming more and more popular," said Just Harvest executive director Ken Regal, noting EBT card purchases are up 40 percent from last year. In ways big and small, technology is being deployed to reduce health disparities — some groups' lack of access to health care or healthy lifestyle options or their overrepresentation in disease or death rates.
For months, nearby hospitals have been plugged into the planning of this major event, which is nearly on par with the Super Bowl. "These type of events require planning, coordination, attention to detail," said Kerry McKean Kelly, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Hospital Association. She said the the biggest anticipated problem is the traffic and the potential gridlock resulting from it. In response, some hospitals are stocking up on supplies in advance, boosting staff levels and taking measures to ensure employees will be present for their shifts. "They are almost approaching this like they would an impending snowstorm," she said. "The staff might be spending some added days at the hospital, just in case traffic and access does become a big issue."
Unlike last year, this year's flu vaccine seems to be tracking pretty well with the influenza viruses that are currently circulating, CDC director Tom Frieden, MD, MPH, said Thursday.