A new bill on the table would establish the Vermont Hospital Security Plan, a universal healthcare system that would provide in- and outpatient hospital care to all state residents. Under the bill's provisions, each hospital would negotiate an annual budget and then live within it.
Aetna and the American Medical Association are in a dispute centering on how much Aetna pays out-of-network doctors in some instances and the right of those doctors to bill HMO members for charges the insurer doesn't pay. Millions of dollars are at stake, and physicians say Aetna is violating a provision of its 2003 nationwide settlement with doctors. Aetna says it is only trying to protect members from high charges.
The penalties for Massachusetts residents who do not obtain health insurance this year have been set too low to encourage people to buy insurance, said a director of the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority. The authority oversees implementation of the state's health insurance initiative, and members are encouraging harsher penalties.
Maryland lawmakers, Prince George County officials and the governor's office have been negotiating toward a long-sought solution to the county hospital system's financial troubles. Leading lawmakers said that if no agreement is reached by the end of the new General Assembly session, they would back legislation to transfer ownership of the system to an independent authority set up by the state.
Tenet has spent half a decade trying to recover from past scandals that hurt its performance in a brutal industry environment. But the company finally showed some encouraging signs of life that, if sustained, could signal a bona fide turnaround.
Bombarded by complaints from patients and staffers, Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami said it may rescind its doubling of its parking fees that began on the first of the year. The hospital cited major capital needs as the main reason for the rate increases. The hospital provided approximately a half-billion dollars' worth of charity care in 2007.