Several consumer groups and a labor union that represents healthcare workers want the Pennsylvania to appoint an independent consumer advocate to help review the proposed merger of Independence Blue Cross and Highmark Inc. The groups say such an advocate would ensure that consumers' interests are represented. The groups made their request in a petition filed with acting Insurance Commissioner Joel Ario, but they would like Gov. Ed Rendell to make the appointment.
Philadelphia-based Fox Chase Cancer Center has announced that it is exploring opening a second campus in Delaware. Representatives from the healthcare center said it remained committed to finishing 19 building projects under way at its Northeast Philadelphia campus, including outpatient facilities, a urology suite, and a clinical research pavilion. They added, however, that Fox Chase is prepared to look elsewhere to grow.
Caritas Christi Health Care, a hospital chain owned by the Archdiocese of Boston, is dropping a longstanding strategy in which doctors at its five community hospitals have been pressured to refer as many patients as possible to its flagship facility. Doctors will have more freedom to refer patients to whichever institution will provide low-cost, high-quality care, said Caritas chief executive Ralph de la Torre, MD. That will enable the community hospitals to keep more high-paying procedures. Until the change was made, community hospital referrals have acted to subsidize the flagship hospital.
Despite beginning treatment in his battle with brain cancer, Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy has placed a flurry of phone calls to top Bush administration officials in a bid to make sure the state continues receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicaid money. Kennedy spoke with Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt and Josh Bolten, the chief of staff to President Bush. He also had a conversation with Governor Deval Patrick, who is meeting this morning with Leavitt to discuss extending a Medicaid waiver that is set to expire June 30. Massachusetts would probably lose at least $600 million if the waiver negotiations fall through.
Federal regulators are preparing to announce plans to allow digital prescribing of restricted medications, easing a barrier to widespread adoption of the technology. The proposal from the Drug Enforcement Administration comes as Congress appears likely to pass a bill that would push doctors to switch to electronic prescriptions from written ones. Together, the likely bill and the DEA shift may finally lead to widespread adoption of e-prescribing. Many doctors have been reluctant to purchase the technology because of concerns including cost and DEA restrictions.
Schools, hospitals and nursing homes would get a reprieve from cuts in their Medicaid payments under a House bill to pay for the war in Iraq. In the past two years, the Bush administration has proposed seven Medicaid regulations that it projected would save $13 billion over five years. States and healthcare providers said the proposals would have shifted costs to the states and created new hardships for the poor. One rule would have prohibited Medicaid funding to provide medical education at teaching hospitals. Of the seven changes proposed by the Bush adminstration, only one stays in effect: One that limits which services Medicaid will pay for in hospital outpatient settings.