Despite President-elect Barack Obama's plans for an ambitious push to expand health coverage nationwide, states are slashing health services to their poorest residents amid the economic downturn. The unprecedented cuts in public assistance come as millions of Americans are losing their jobs and health insurance. In many cases, the cuts are so deep that even the massive federal rescue package being assembled on Capitol Hill may not be enough to restore services being eliminated, health officials warn.
Two Queens, NY, hospitals are facing bankruptcy and may close by February, the Queens borough president announced. The two private hospitals, St. John's Queens and Mary Immaculate, had sometimes been given millions of dollars in state subsidies just to meet their payrolls, according to other hospital officials. But with the state facing a $15 billion budget gap, the state was less likely to help hospitals that had limited long-term viability.
Two large Illinois hospital systems have agreed to settle lawsuits alleging they overcharged tens of thousands of uninsured patients and provided inadequate financial assistance. As part of the agreements, Resurrection Health Care and Advocate Health Care are offering to recalculate patients' bills and give refunds to needy patients eligible for free or discounted medical care.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services approved expansion by subsidiaries of WellCare Health Plans Inc. in several states. CMS approved the expansion of the company's Medicare Advantage private fee-for-service plan for three WellCare subsidiaries, a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission said. They are WellCare Health Insurance of Arizona, WellCare Health Insurance of Illinois Inc., and WellCare Health Insurance of New York.
Under a new California law which took effect Jan. 1, health insurers are required to provide patients who lack English comprehension with an on-site interpreter or access to one through telephone or Web-hosted video conferencing. The new law also requires health plans to translate their standardized documents into the top two languages spoken by their members, typically Spanish and Mandarin or Cantonese.
Hospitals across California are reeling from the effects of the economic downturn and the troubled financial markets. When these hospitals need working capital the most, the credit markets are all but frozen. And in California, low Medi-Cal reimbursements for poor patients and the state budget crisis are making matters worse. The latest complications follow a dozen years during which more than 70 hospitals closed in California, and there is concern that some may not pull through this downturn.