Early versions of the Senate's healthcare bill said that small businesses with fewer than 50 workers would not be penalized if they failed to provide insurance. But labor unions in the construction industry persuaded Senate leaders to insert five paragraphs that singles out the construction industry for special treatment, in a way that benefits union members and contractors who use union labor, the New York Times reports. The provision was one of many added to the bill as senators rushed to finish the legislation, and it illustrates the difficulty of establishing uniform national requirements in a country where employers have devised myriad different arrangements for providing health insurance to employees, the Times reports.
Duke Raleigh (NC) Hospital is preparing a long-range expansion plan that will continue transforming the hospital into a specialty medical campus. Initial plans, which the Duke health system board is expected to approve in January, call for expanding the Raleigh hospital's emergency department and operating rooms. Since the Duke University Health System bought the former Raleigh Community Hospital in 1998, it has pumped nearly $120 million into renovations and improvements at the facility, the Raleigh News & Observer reports.
The new hospital in Maple Grove, MN, opens Dec. 30 and several hospital executives and local elected officials will be on hand to greet the first patients. The hospital opens with 30 private patient rooms, but that could expand to 90 as demand increases. The hospital also opens with a staff of 200 but expects to double that by the end of 2010.
Oak Lawn, IL-based Advocate Christ Medical Center has added a new kidney transplant program after recently receiving approval from the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board. Advocate Christ Medical Center is partnering with Loyola University Medical Center on the new program so the two can share expertise and donor kidneys if one has a patient awaiting transplant and the other a compatible kidney. Hospital officials said the transplant program will bring an important service to patients and improve their quality of life by consolidating medical care locally.
A review of disease surveillance records by Massachusetts health authorities has found asthma is the one chronic condition that is far more common than any other among patients hospitalized with H1N1 infections. Asthma was present in 31% of swine flu patients who entered Massachusetts hospitals already suffering from longstanding health problems. By comparison, 6% of those swine flu patients had heart problems, and 6% had kidney disease. The findings led specialists to reinforce their admonition that patients with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and other respiratory conditions should be vaccinated against H1N1 as well as the seasonal strain, the Boston Globe reports.
Heart specialists have filed suit against Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius in an effort to stave off steep Medicare fee cuts for routine office-based procedures. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, charges that the government's planned cutbacks will deal a major blow to medical care and force thousands of cardiologists to shutter their offices, sell diagnostic equipment and work for hospitals, which charge more for the same procedures.