Four Maine school districts will participate in a two-year pilot program designed to lower risks and improve the overall health of employees. The voluntary program is a joint effort between Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield and its foundation and the Maine Education Association Benefits Trust. Participants will complete health risk assessments and the program will include health coaches, who will work one-on-one with teachers and staff.
Two of the Senate's most influential leaders are working separately behind the scenes on legislation that would dramatically alter the way Americans get healthcare. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy are hoping their early efforts will push President-elect Barack Obama to move rapidly on the issue and spare the incoming administration some of the missteps that killed Bill Clinton's health reform initiative in 1994.
The city of New Orleans could spend nearly $80 million for land that will accommodate a new veterans hospital. Officials are eyeing a site just north of the downtown region where a number of houses currently sit. The city committed to the project last year, and plans to use Community Development Block Grants to help fund it.
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich administration's decision to stop paying for most state-subsidized healthcare is up for discussion in Cook County Circuit Court. A hearing is set after the governor asked a judge to clarify an order to shut down an illegal expansion of the FamilyCare program. Court documents indicate state reimbursement to doctors stopped Oct. 15, the day a Cook County judge ordered the administration to stop an expansion of the program to people with higher incomes.
Across the country, hospital executives and fund-raisers are bracing for difficulty in their efforts to raise money. The new environment is a marked change from recent years, when many hospitals had substantial success in fund-raising. And some hospital systems are already saying they are lowering their expecations.
Indianapolis-based St. Vincent Joshua Max Simon Primary Care Center has received a $1 million donation that will be used to create an endowment to help pay for supplies, staff training, and other needs. The 60,000-square-foot Simon center provides primary medical care to the poor and those with inadequate or no health insurance. Income from the $1 million gift will be used to generate ongoing funding of patient care-related expenses, said St. Vincent representatives.