The House gave final approval to a bill extending health insurance to millions of low-income children, and President Obama signed it later in the day. Obama hopes it is the first in what will be many steps to guarantee coverage for all Americans. Since August 2007, the House has voted at least seven times for legislation to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program, but prior efforts were thwarted by the Bush White House.
Novant Health isn't giving up on Holly Springs, NC, despite a report from state regulators that said Novant failed to show there's a need and enough support from area physicians for a new healthcare facility. "We're disappointed, and we disagree with the agency," Novant spokeswoman Kati Everett said after the release of the CON report. "This may have slowed us down, but we're not deterred."
The Texas Medical Association said that a survey of doctors found that health insurers and government bureaucracy are hurting their ability to care for patients. The Dallas area's largest insurers responded that while they've been working to reduce the clerical burden, some of the doctors' administrative responsibilities cannot be avoided. The survey also revealed that doctors worry that their financial hardships are threatening both quality of care and their patients' access to care.
The chairman of the Arkansas State Medical Board was critically injured when a powerful car bomb exploded outside his West Memphis home as the physician prepared to leave for work, federal and local authorities said. West Memphis Police Chief Bob Paudert said there is no immediate evidence that Trent Pierce had been threatened or took part in controversial medical procedures. Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler, however, said investigators will meet with board members and other staffers to find out if the attack might have been related to his work on the panel.
A convicted rapist fired in August from his job as a Los Angeles County hospital X-ray technologist was rehired by county managers through a contractor a short time later to do the same work at an East Los Angeles health clinic, officials acknowledged. Gariner Beasley, 48, was fired again Tuesday and escorted from the Edward R. Roybal Comprehensive Health Center, said county Supervisor Gloria Molina. County officials struggled to explain how they had rehired a man they fired in August, calling his criminal record incompatible with a job that required he work alone with patients in "very vulnerable and compromised positions."
Congress convened last month with 16 medical doctors, including three newly elected members of the House of Representatives as well as a freshman senator, according to the latest tally by the Chicago-based American Medical Association. "The number of physicians in Congress continues to grow, with 16 physicians in the 111th Congress, demonstrating intense physician interest in making a difference in people's health and their lives," said Nancy Nielsen, MD, president of the AMA. Often, doctors are known to push an agenda that would increase access to medical care by boosting payments to programs that pay doctors and other medical-care providers.