Zimmer Holdings says it will suspend sales of the Durom cup, an artificial hip component, that some doctors have complained was failing at a high rate. In recent months, some doctors have complained that the device was failing in their patients, who then had to undergo replacement surgery. Zimmer said its investigation had determined that the product was not defective, but added that even some experienced surgeons had found it difficult to implant. The company said it expected to resume sales once specialized training for doctors had begun.
Procure Treatment Centers Inc., a private company that wants to build a proton therapy cancer treatment center in Warrenville, IL, has sued Northern Illinois University for its efforts to build a similar facility in nearby West Chicago. Procure Treatment Centers Inc. accuses NIU of abusing the state's regulatory system to stifle competition in the healthcare market, according to the lawsuit. The company, which has partnered with Central DuPage Hospital on the proton therapy facility project, accuses NIU of violating the Illinois Antitrust Act and wants to know who helped NIU in its appearances before the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, the state agency that regulates healthcare construction.
Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama has vowed that he will lower the country's healthcare costs enough to "bring down premiums by $2,500 for the typical family." Obama has also promised that his health plan will be in place "by the end of my first term as president of the United States." But whether he can deliver is a matter of dispute among health analysts and economists.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed into law a ban against health insurance companies rewarding employees with bonuses for canceling or limiting a patient's coverage. The law is part of efforts to curtail the practice that the industry has defended as a little-used guard against fraud that helps control costs. Critics contend that insurers use confusing applications for individual policies to trap people into making mistakes that can later be used against them. When a policyholder gets sick, insurers scour old medical records looking for an undisclosed condition or symptom to use to justify cancellation, the critics say.
Large employers in Wisconsin expect their healthcare costs to increase 3.7% in 2008, a rate lower than medical inflation and lower than the 6.1% national average, according to an analysis by benefits consulting firm Towers Perrin. Healthcare costs in Wisconsin haven't risen at a lower rate than medical inflation in the past decade, said Towers Perrin representatives. Towers Perrin attributed the recent gains to an array of moves, such as higher deductibles to company clinics and wellness programs that encourage people to eat better, exercise more, not smoke, and take other steps to remain healthy.
A recommendation presented to Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland would restructure the state's health-insurance landscape by requiring all residents to buy at least a basic benefit plan and mandate insurance companies to offer coverage to anybody who applies. The recommendation also includes a mandate for employers that don't offer health coverage to allow workers to buy coverage using pre-tax dollars, a goal to enroll more Ohioans in Medicaid, and a policy to provide subsidies for people who can't afford coverage. The goal of the plan is to cover 500,000 Ohio residents by 2011. The plan was presented by a healthcare task force established by Strickland in 2007.