Paying people for living kidney donations would increase the supply of the organs and would not result in a disproportionate number of poor donors, a study by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center concludes. The study asked 342 participants whether they would donate a kidney with varying payments of $0, $10,000 and $100,000.
Aetna has named Susan M. Kosman to a new position: chief nursing officer. She will provide support to more than 3,000 nurses who help Aetna customers understand their clinical condition, access care and use benefits available to them. Kosman has been employed at Aetna 14 years and held leadership roles in patient management and national medical management.
Donald Berwick, a pediatrician and Harvard Medical School professor, is President Obama's choice to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. A White House spokesman confirmed the nomination, expected to be official soon. Under the sweeping health overhaul Congress approved, Medicare will be scaled back more than $400 billion over 10 years, while Medicaid will extend health coverage to millions more poor people—its largest expansion ever.
An association representing 300 large corporations urged President Obama and Congress to repeal a provision of the healthcare overhaul that prompted AT&T, Caterpillar, and other companies to announce substantial charges for the current quarter. The American Benefits Council said the provision, which reduces the tax deductions for companies with drug coverage for their retired employees, would deal a significant blow to corporate profits and would discourage companies from hiring more workers, the New York Times reports.
The New York private equity firm that struck a deal to buy Caritas Christi Health Care could build the chain of six Catholic community hospitals into a competitive lower-cost provider of medical services in Massachusetts, analysts told the Boston Globe. Cerberus Capital Management plans to invest $830 million to acquire Caritas Christi and turn the charity into a for-profit venture. The hospitals could emerge as an attractive lower-cost alternative to Boston's big teaching hospitals as healthcare reform moves forward soon in Massachusetts and later across the country, the Globe reports.
St. Louis-based SSM St. Mary's Health Center plans to overhaul its main entranceway as part of $7 million in upgrades planned in 2010. The outside facelift will complement recent interior renovations, including an expanded emergency room with a dedicated chest pain center; the addition of private patient rooms; and new cardiac catheterization, endoscopy and imaging equipment, said St. Mary's President William Jennings in a statement. The hospital also plans to add a larger emergency room reception area and expanded private patient rooms this year.