Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell said there's time to build up the healthcare provider network for the new Charter Oak Health Care Plan for the uninsured, which has been criticized of late for not having enough hospitals and doctors. With 24 people enrolled as of Aug. 1, Rell said the next wave of enrollees won't be needing access to doctors and hospitals until Sept. 1. Department of Social Services said St. Mary's Hospital in Waterbury has joined the Hospital of Saint Raphael in New Haven in providing care to Charter Oak enrollees. The three insurers offering the plan are in discussions with other hospitals and expect more to enroll shortly, said DSS representatives.
Columbus (IN) Regional Hospital has reopened its emergency room nearly two months after the hospital was closed by flooding that caused more than $100 million in damage. Work continues on repairs from the June 7 flooding that forced the hospital to close, and officials do not expect a full reopening until late October. The emergency department is temporarily sharing space with the pharmacy and laboratory. The hospital does not yet have any operating rooms and inpatient care is not available.
Cape Cod Healthcare will cut 169 jobs, or nearly 4% of its workforce, as part of a sweeping financial makeover intended to add as much as $40 million to the hospital system. Richard Salluzzo, MD, the organization's new chief executive, said the plan includes cutting expenses by $16 million and raising between $15 million and $25 million in new revenues. Salluzzo added the system would slash consulting and legal fees, and improve patient coding to maximize reimbursement.
The Hospital for Special Surgery is planning a a $235 million construction project in New York City, but opponents say traffic congestion, horn-honking, and vehicle emissions in their neighborhood are already intolerable. The opponents argue trucks loading supplies or removing trash at the 145-year-old hospital are unable to fit into loading berths, so they block the street and create gridlock. The Hospital for Special Surgery performs more than 20,000 operations a year, and executives from the facility say it is at already at capacity despite a growing need for its services.
One out of every three working-age, uninsured Americans suffers from a chronic illness and isn’t getting the medical care they need, according to a report by researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle. Many of these people are forgoing doctors’ visits or relying on emergency rooms for their medical care, according to the study's authors. The report, based on an analysis of government health surveys of adults ages 18 to 64 years old, estimated that about 11 million of the 36 million people without insurance in 2004 had received a chronic-condition diagnosis.
Seeking to salvage two years of efforts to completely remake the state's health insurance system, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic legislators are nearing deals intended to rein in costly, meager medical insurance policies sold directly to individuals. They are negotiating measures that would limit insurer profits on individual plans, require plans to provide a minimum set of benefits, and restrict insurers' ability to cancel policies retroactively. The new focus reflects how far Schwarzenegger remains from his original goal to orchestrate medical insurance for the 5 million Californians who lack it. The state Senate rejected that $14.9-billion plan in January.