The family of a 40-year-old woman who died following a cycle of experimental chemotherapy at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston was awarded a total of $13.5 million. The jurors decided that her death could have been prevented if Dana-Farber doctors had investigated the cause of chronic diarrhea that surfaced during an unusual treatment protocol for a tumor behind her knee.
Healthcare played a big role in the presidential campaign, but the Obama administration will face a tough choice: try for a wide-ranging systematic overhaul or make do with piecemeal fixes. Overshadowing any effort to provide health insurance to millions of uninsured families is the huge deficit in Medicare and Medicaid.
While it definitely matters for healthcare who leads the White House and Congress, at this particular moment in history perhaps it matters less than you might think, says Sg2 Vice President Stephen Jenkins. He says that regardless of who was elected, a certain set of facts remain, including Medicare is in deep fiscal trouble and the national economy is swooning. These facts not only suck the political air away from other policy issues, but will be a persistent drag on tax revenues for years to come.
Protests by firms that submitted bids for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Recovery Audit Contractor program but weren't among the final four permanent auditors selected have thrown RAC into a 100-day hiatus. The two unsuccessful bidders—Vaperville, IL-based Viant and Atlanta-based PRG-Schultz International—have filed protests with the Government Accountability Office.
The Western Massachusetts healthcare network that runs Baystate Medical Center in Springfield says a $37 million projected shortfall is forcing it to cut 55 jobs and eliminate 120 vacant positions. Baystate Health will also enact a hiring freeze for non-clinical positions and wait until the economy improves before moving ahead with financing for a major expansion. Baystate representatives said the network has been hit hard by the economic downturn, reductions in Medicaid reimbursements, and falling numbers of patients.
An increasing number of health insurers are relying on outside firms to make doctors justify costly imaging scans like MRIs. The health plans say they want to ensure that doctors use high-tech scans only when it is clear that patients will benefit. Some doctors say the review procedures of so-called radiology-benefit managers can result in delays or rejections that sometimes pose risks for patients.