The House gave final approval to a bill extending health insurance to millions of low-income children, and President Obama signed it later in the day. Obama hopes it is the first in what will be many steps to guarantee coverage for all Americans. Since August 2007, the House has voted at least seven times for legislation to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program, but prior efforts were thwarted by the Bush White House.
The economic downturn has caused 60% of Georgia's hospitals to cut staff or consider it, and more than one-third to reduce services or contemplate such a move, according to a survey of 63 hospitals and health systems by the Georgia Hospital Association. And about 60% of hospitals say the economy and low payments from the Medicaid insurance program have affected their ability to meet day-to-day operating expenses.
Novant Health isn't giving up on Holly Springs, NC, despite a report from state regulators that said Novant failed to show there's a need and enough support from area physicians for a new healthcare facility. "We're disappointed, and we disagree with the agency," Novant spokeswoman Kati Everett said after the release of the CON report. "This may have slowed us down, but we're not deterred."
Google Inc. is teaming with International Business Machines Corp. to allow patients to add data generated from home-health monitoring products. The companies said software developed by IBM, with consumers' permission, can shift the data into a personal health record in Google Health, the search giant's service for helping consumers manage and store their health information online. Other software lets the patient transfer the information from there to an electronic medical record kept by healthcare providers.
The Texas Medical Association said that a survey of doctors found that health insurers and government bureaucracy are hurting their ability to care for patients. The Dallas area's largest insurers responded that while they've been working to reduce the clerical burden, some of the doctors' administrative responsibilities cannot be avoided. The survey also revealed that doctors worry that their financial hardships are threatening both quality of care and their patients' access to care.
Officials with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services acknowledge they've had trouble with a new $64.2 million computer system that handles Medicaid services. Glitches with the automated system caused a backlog of claims, preventing the state from processing some prior authorizations for therapies and medical equipment. The agency has been unable to process about 10% of its claims for prior authorization within the 20-day time period required under state law, and some requests have taken four times longer to be approved.