Voters in Alameda County, CA, have turned down a parcel tax to help build a new $750 million Children's Hospital in Oakland, a move that has stunned the hospital's chief executive and left him searching for financial alternatives. The nonprofit hospital had counted on raising $300 million to help fund a 250-bed, seismically safe facility near the current facility. The rest of the funding would have come from state bonds and private donations. Some of the money raised would have paid to upgrade the existing hospital and turn it into an outpatient facility.
Demand for affordable healthcare has produced 21,101 applications for the Healthy Indiana Plan for low-income adults, but key lawmakers said the state must find ways to cover people not currently eligible. Secretary Mitch Roob of the Family and Social Services Administration said that his agency has had to more than double the staff of the Healthy Indiana Plan because of the volume of applications. But some are criticizing the plan's restrictions that bar enrollment,to anyone eligible for an employer-covered health plan and to anyone whose household earns more than twice the federal poverty level.
The incoming top executive at Health Care Service Corp. is committed to the Chicago-based health plan's longtime growth strategy of staying away from public markets. But some observers say an acquisition of or merger with another Blues plan might be necessary for Health Care Service tp provide more bargaining muscle when they negotiate payment rates with doctors and hospitals.
A plan to provide access to healthcare for an estimated 20,000 uninsured residents in Howard County, MD, requires state legislation because of its unusual structure. If the legislation is approved by the Maryland General Assembly, the program will not begin until Oct. 1, 2008, to give state officials time to write regulations governing the "Healthy Howard" program.
Kentucky's Medicaid program is likely to be short more than $360 million in total funding over the next two years, the state's health and family services secretary said. Under Gov. Steve Beshear's proposed budget, Kentucky's Medicaid program is expected to be shy by as much as $183 million in each of the next two fiscal years. That's despite proposed state funding increases to the program. Economic forecasters have predicted that shrinking state revenues have led Kentucky to the brink of a $900 million shortfall over the next two fiscal years.
Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed said they or their family would face a financial hardship if they experienced a serious illness, according to a nation poll by CreditCards.com. The figure jumped to 73 percent for families earning less than $30,000. And if hit with medical bills greater than $1,000, nearly half of those polled said they would tap savings or checking accounts to pay their debts.