The subsidized insurance program at the heart of Massachusetts' healthcare initiative is expected to roughly double in size and expense over the next three years. Thisn unexpected level of growth could cost state taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars or force the state to scale back its ambitions. The state has asked the federal government to shoulder roughly half of the program's cost from 2009 through 2011, but there is no guarantee of that funding. The Commonwealth Care program provides free or subsidized insurance for low- and moderate-income residents.
Ft. Lauderdale, FL-based Holy Cross Hospital is buying one of its main rivals, the financially struggling North Ridge Medical Center in Oakland Park. The Catholic-owned Holy Cross is acquiring the 332-bed North Ridge from Tenet Healthcare Corp. in Dallas. The entities did not disclose a purchase price, saying the transaction must still be approved by state regulators.
In a move that has been fiercely debated by legislators and the hospital industry, Mount Sinai Medical Center opened a stand-alone emergency room Monday less than a mile from Aventura Hospital. The money-losing hospital is gambling $5 million that it can attract Aventura residents to a 'round-the-clock ER and, if needed, rush them by ambulance to their half-empty facility in Miami Beach for surgery or other extensive care.
Under the new program known as BadgerCare Plus, every every family in Wisconsin will have access to affordable health insurance for their children. The insurance will cost $10 to $90.74 a month for each child, depending on family income. The program consolidates and simplify three existing programs that provide health insurance to low-income families in Wisconsin.
St. Louis Children's Hospital's "Building for Care, Searching for Cures" five-year campaign raised more than $130 million, administrators have announed. The funding will be used for ongoing programs and services, facility expansion and the establishment of the Children's Discovery Institute.
A proposed bill unveiled by Ohio legislators would require insurance companies to offer coverage to dependents up to age 29 and create a pool of high-risk people whose insurance would be subsidized by the state. The legislation would also help small businesses provide coverage for workers through discounts on workers' compensation premiums.