A small but growing number of American families beset by major medical problems are learning that having health insurance is sometimes not enough. Those with costly chronic illnesses can easily rack up medical bills that blow through the lifetime benefits cap of $1 million or more that is a standard part of many insurance policies. That has left some very sick people facing healthcare tabs of hundreds of thousands of dollars or more.
Tenet Healthcare Corp. has entered into a new multiyear agreement with Blue Cross of California, Tenet's second-largest managed-care payer nationally. The contract, which takes effect Feb. 1, 2008, covers 16 acute-care hospitals in California. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The Charity Hospital System has raised an alarm that Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's state government hiring freeze is impairing its effort to fill vacancies for more than 100 registered nurses and 200 other jobs in New Orleans to rebuild the public healthcare system. With patients waiting 120 days on average for primary care appointments and a patient load that has increased 24 percent in the past six months, Charity is pursuing an expansion plan that could come to a grinding halt if the hiring process is stymied, hospital officials said.
Black South Carolina lawmakers joined forces with healthcare advocates on the State House steps to push presidential candidates to make healthcare available for more Americans. Leaders of the South Carolina chapter of Americans for Health Care want candidates to offer ideas to extend insurance to those lacking it and improving preventive care without passing along much of the cost.
Grady Memorial Hospital seeks to stabilize its spiraling finances by cutting nearly 500 jobs over six years, according to its Baseline Strategic Financial Plan. The document says Grady would accommodate the losses through greater efficiencies, but does not identify them. Hospital representatives say the job losses could largely be accomplished through attrition and are not tied to plans for layoffs or buyouts.
Democrats backing universal healthcare have long favored a single-payer system, with government replacing insurance companies and providing insurance for everyone. More recently, most have advocated a more modest system that provides universal coverage by building on the employer-based system. The ghost of a single-payer system, however, looms large.