Two Chicago-area hospitals are at risk of closing their doors completely. Federal funding cuts and allegations of mismanagement prompted the closures of most operations at Weiss Memorial Hospital in Uptown, while Oak Park’s West Suburban Medical Center is facing a similar fate. Weiss' massive winding down follows CMS issuing a termination notice for the hospital, citing violations related to nursing services, emergency protocols and the facility's physical condition.
President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are no longer promising to repeal Obamacare, but that doesn't mean they have given up efforts to take down the landmark health reform law. Republicans barely mentioned Obamacare as they swiftly pushed Trump's massive domestic agenda package through Congress this year. Instead, they focused their talking points on eliminating fraud in Medicaid and protecting the program for the most vulnerable.
About 10 million Americans are expected to lose health insurance under President Donald Trump's tax cut and spending law. Over the next decade, 7.5 million people will lose Medicaid coverage due to changes under the law, the CBO said in an analysis released Monday. Nondisabled adults on Medicaid will be required to get a job, volunteer or enroll in school to maintain their Medicaid coverage. And states must double Medicaid eligibility checks to twice a year. Another 2.1 million people will shed ACA coverage over the next decade. And 400,000 more will lose coverage due to impacts of the OBBBA which was backed by Congressional Republicans.
Lawmakers have justified these cuts as a necessary step to address the bigger budget deficit exacerbated by tax cuts and other spending increases in the big bill. However, that doesn't capture how these cuts will send costs spilling out around society, to be paid by hospitals, clinics, individuals and then in the end, back to the federal government.
New York prosecutors say they were 'erroneously' sent Luigi Mangione's confidential medical records from the alleged shooter's healthcare company and then again from his defense attorneys. Prosecutors said they had requested 'entirely unremarkable' information from health company Aetna regarding Mangione, but the company mistakenly included 120 pages of medical records, court filings showed. They added that defense attorneys also accidentally sent the same medical records with them.
House Democrats are sounding the alarm and demanding more information about a new HHS demonstration they say will increase red tape by adding prior authorization requirements in Medicare. A group of 17 Democrats questioned why HHS would want to test adding PA requirements in traditional Medicare when the Trump administration is touting efforts to reduce the practice in Medicare Advantage.