Most Americans don't expect healthcare overhaul to affect their lives directly, but those who worry about the fallout outnumber those expecting to come out ahead, according to a recent poll by the nonpartisan Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The poll found that Americans are tuning in to the debate in Washington, with 60% saying they're following it very closely or fairly closely. Most see a change ahead for the nation, and they're divided on whether that will be for good or ill. But when it comes to their own personal lives, Americans say they don't expect much of an impact.
A new statewide survey by the Ohio Hospital Association found 18% of responding hospitals plan to lay off additional employees. The survey also found that about half of respondents plan to leave future vacancies unfilled, 39% plan to reduce or eliminate services, 49% plan to cancel or delay expansion or renovation projects, and 64% will take more cost-cutting steps.
Essent Healthcare said that it is consolidating acute care services offered by its Paris Regional Medical Center in Paris, Texas, at one campus. Under the transition to be completed by next fall, the North campus will become home to an emergency department, women's services, the Heart Hospital at Paris Regional, pediatrics, and labor and delivery among other operations.
Moderate Senate Democrats threatened to scuttle healthcare legislation if their demands aren't met, while more liberal members warned their party leaders not to bend. The dispute among Democrats foretells of a rowdy floor debate next month on legislation that would extend healthcare coverage to roughly 31 million Americans. Republicans have already made clear they aren't supporting the bill. One major sticking point is a provision that would allow Americans to buy a federal-run insurance plan if their state allows it. Moderates say they worry the so-called public option will become a huge and costly entitlement program and that other requirements in the bill could cripple businesses.
Democratic leaders finally moved their sweeping health bill to the Senate floor, where wheeling and dealing over major unresolved and divisive issues likely will shape the legislation before its next big test. A handful of Democrat centrists say they can't support the government-sponsored health-insurance plan—known as the public option—that is included in the bill. And Democrats are divided over abortion, an issue that nearly derailed the House earlier this month when it narrowly passed a health bill that blocked abortion coverage from federally subsidized insurance plans, including some run by private insurers. Another growing concern even as the bill progresses is the political heat on Democrats over expanded government spending amid rising unemployment and deficit concerns.
Leaders of the Church of Christ, Scientist, are pushing a proposal that would help patients pay a spiritual healthcare specialist for prayer by having insurers reimburse the $20 to $40 cost. The provision was stripped from the bill the House passed this month, and church leaders are trying to get it inserted into the Senate version. And the church has powerful allies there, including Sens. John F. Kerry (D-MA), who represents the state where the church is based, and Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT), who said the provision would "ensure that healthcare reform law does not discriminate against any religion." But opponents of spiritual care coverage—a coalition of separation-of-church-and-state advocates, pediatricians, and children's health activists—say such a provision would waste money, endanger lives, and, in some cases, amount to government-funded prayer.