AARP Ohio is inviting consumers, doctors, insurers and employers to provide their opions on making healthcare more affordable. The organization is sponsoring forums about the topic around the state. "What we're trying to do is bring together individuals and business owners and providers and insurance folks, people from all over the map, to talk about possible solutions," said an AARP spokeswoman.
Efforts to make the blood thinner heparin safer, and to replace supplies that were depleted by a major recall, have meant new safety concerns for hospitals, heart clinics and dialysis centers that use it. The drug was recalled in February after contamination during production in China led to as many as 81 deaths in the United States. Its leading maker has suspended manufacture of most of its heparin products. The resulting shortage of heparin means heparin from new suppliers is arriving in different quantities and strengths than medical staffs are accustomed to, and pharmacists and others worry that patients may be vulnerable to receiving improper doses.
The St. Bernard Hospital Service District will spend as much as $135,000 to study the economic feasibility of a 40-bed hospital in Chalmette, LA. District commissioners voted unanimously to contract with Eide Bailley, an accounting and consulting firm. The study is expected to take 60 to 90 days, and will help determine how successful such a hospital would be in St. Bernard Parish. St. Bernard's lone hospital was swamped during Hurricane Katrina and has not reopened.
A big union, national, state and local medical groups, a government official and a U.S. House panel have filed documents in Washington, DC, in efforts to block the $2.6 billion purchase of Las Vegas-based Sierra Health Services Inc. by Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group Inc. Those opposing the deal include Service Employees International Union Nevada, which represents thousands of healthcare workers in Nevada, the American Medical Association, Nevada State Medical Association and Clark County Medical Association. The Justice Department has said it will allow UnitedHealth to go forward with the purchase if the companies divest assets related to UnitedHealth's Las Vegas Medicare Advantage. Opponents say the deal would enable UnitedHealth to acquire a 90 percent share of the health maintenance organization market, and that the Justice Department "dropped the ball" in letting the acquisition go forward.
Two of California's largest health plans have agreed to reinstate coverage to nearly 1,200 patients whose policies were dropped after they incurred high medical expenses. Under the deal, patients whose insurance was rescinded by Kaiser Permanente or Health Net since 2004 will be allowed to purchase new insurance regardless of their medical conditions. California is trying to reach similar deals with Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield and PacifiCare involving about 4,000 rescissions.
All New Jersey children would have to have health insurance and all taxpayers would have to prove that they have health insurance every year under a plan advanced in the state Senate. The legislation is designed as the first step toward universal health coverage in the state by 2011. About one in six New Jersey residents lack health insurance, according to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Of those, 275,000 are children.