Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt, who has presided over a steady decline in the number of children on taxpayer-funded health care in the state, is leading a drive to turn the trend around. The governor stars in a public service announcement boosting the state program, has sent 106,000 letters to families that lost coverage and is making it easier for them to sign up for benefits. His opponents, however, call the moves political ploy.
Blaming increases in payments from Medicare and Medicaid, Florida Hospital Waterman has furloughed 25 employees. The hospital, which employs about 1,500 people, also made the reductions because of "increases in the number of people who are having difficulty paying for our services," said a hospital spokeswoman.
Lawyers representing uninsured and underinsured South Carolina hospital patients hope to convince the state's Supreme Court that their clients were routinely denied discounts offered to the insured through 2004. The discounts can shave 50 percent or more off a typical hospital bill, thanks to a little-known loophole that at the time required hospitals to offer anyone the best rate possible if their bills are paid within seven days of being treated. The hospitals' lawyers say the loophole is being misinterpreted.
A commission appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said California needed to immediately set aside $1.2 billion to pay for lifetime healthcare promised to state employees. The panel said the commitments made to retirees were so large they would overwhelm the budget if money to cover them was not set aside now.
A group of healthcare, labor and civil rights activists will start a petition drive to put a universal healthcare proposal before before Michigan voters.
Evanston Northwestern Healthcare has acquired, for an undisclosed sum, a diagnostic imaging center known for providing MRIs to Chicago sports teams Evanston Northwestern operates three hospitals in the north Chicago suburbs. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.