Massachusetts' bill for providing healthcare to employees of large companies increased 14% in the last fiscal year, according to a report. The state report shows that while healthcare reform has extended coverage, many employers still rely on state programs to provide healthcare benefits for their workers. The findings also underscore what is likely to become the next battle in the ongoing implementation of healthcare reform: getting employers to contribute more toward health insurance.
John McCain's plan for a healthcare system built around consumers shopping for their own insurance comes would bolster the role of high-risk pools, which sell insurance to people with pre-existing conditions such as diabetes, cancer and AIDS. These pools require significant government subsidies, charge high premiums and sometimes sharply restrict benefits or enrollment. Nationally, fewer than 200,000 people are enrolled in such pools, while 47 million people in the U.S. are without insurance.
Where you stand on the Indian social ladder shapes to a large degree what kind of healthcare you receive. India has a countrywide network of government-funded primary health centers and hospitals, but staffing, medicines and resources vary widely. The Planning Commission of India found that in government-run health centers this year, 45% of gynecologist posts and 53% of pediatric posts went unfilled, and that salaries for government doctors are a fraction of those at new private hospitals.
The Bush administration is threatening to veto legislation that protects doctors' Medicare payments at the expense of private insurers. Beginning July 1, reimbursement rates for doctors will drop 10.6% when they treat elderly and disabled Medicare patients.
To prevent it, lawmakers are looking at finding at least $9 billion in savings from other Medicare programs over the next five years. The veto threat complicates efforts by lawmakers to find the needed savings to retain the current level of physician payments, or even raise them slightly.
Washington, DC-based Greater Southeast Community Hospital has ceased to exist and United Medical Center has been announced as the new identity. The name change, by owner Specialty Hospitals of America, accompanies more than $12 million in capital renovations and technology upgrades. They include a new roof and generators, major improvements in the emergency department and replacement of nearly all radiology equipment.
The number of young adults without health insurance rose again in 2006, according to a report released by the Commonwealth Fund. As a result, 38% of high school graduates and 34% of college graduates will spend some time uninsured in the year after graduation, the report found. There were 13.7 million Americans aged 19 to 29 without health insurance in 2006, up from 13.3 million in 2005. Some action is being taken to remedy the situation—20 states have passed legislation requiring insurance companies to extend coverage of minors after age 18 or 19, said Commonwealth Fund representatives.