Already a troubled system, Iraqi medical care has fallen to the brink of collapse since the U.S.-led invasion five years ago. Scores of doctors have been slain, cancer patients have to hunt down their own drugs--even IV fluid is in short supply. A former deputy health minister and the head of the ministry's security force will stand trial, a year after they were accused of letting Shiite death squads use ambulances and government hospitals to carry out kidnappings and killings. Adding to the problems, specialists are in short supply.
The Shriners Hospitals for Children will offer free medical care for up to 500 working-class children from Georgia whose treatment would otherwise be funded through the state health insurance plan. The Shriner's charity offer is expected to save the state $1.3 million annually on the state insurance program called PeachCare, which covers children in families who do not qualify for Medicaid but cannot afford health insurance.
For decades, elected commissioners in the Georgia counties of Fulton and DeKalb have appointed all 10 members of the board of trustees at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. The county commissioners' power, however, would be diminished should Grady shift control over policies and budget from the Grady board to a proposed nonprofit. Ironically, Fulton and DeKalb must give final consent for the change to occur.
Advocates for state Medicaid patients who need interpreters say they worry that cuts in Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell's budget proposal could jeopardize access to crucial services and information. Rell's budget proposal recommends eliminating $4.7 million that had been set aside for the translation services in the 2008-09 budget. A coalition advocating for the translators said that about 22,000 patients statewide who speak a total of 65 languages need the service.
Patient's Compensation Fund surcharge rates in Indiana will be reduced 19 percent for doctors and 1 percent for hospitals starting March 1, 2008, according to the state Department of Insurance. The fund was established in 1976 to help compensate malpractice victims. Healthcare providers contribute to it on a voluntary basis, and the vast majority of Indiana's doctors participate.
A burgeoning medical travel industry is aggressively wooing older patients by offering joint-replacement surgeries and non-emergency cardiac procedures at 40 percent to 80 percent less than in the United States. Most older adults who go overseas for cheaper care are uninsured. But even the insured might soon be encouraged by their employers, via financial incentives like lower out-of-pocket costs, to go abroad for such care.