More than half of the nearly 9 million people who enrolled in ObamaCare coverage through the federal website were new customers, the administration said Wednesday, touting the number to show the vibrancy of the law. Fifty-three percent of the 8.84 million people who signed up through Healthcare.gov were new to ObamaCare this year. The administration had previously praised the better-than-expected total number of enrollments, but it was unclear how many already had health insurance. The other 47 percent of sign-ups were re-enrollments from people who already had coverage. Twenty-two percent were automatically re-enrolled, and 25 percent actively chose a plan again.
WBZ-TV's Jon Keller reported Wednesday that Gov. Charlie Baker demanded and received resignations from four members of the Massachusetts Health Connector board. According to reports, the resignees were John Bertko, Rick Jakious, George Gonser, and Jonathan Gruber, all of whom served under former Gov. Deval Patrick. Gruber, a professor of economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is perhaps most notable in this group for advising the Obama administration in the creation of the Affordable Care Act. Prior to that, he advised then-Gov. Mitt Romney in developing health care reform in Massachusetts. The New York Times even nicknamed him 'Mr. Mandate.'
Buying health care in America is like shopping blindfolded at Macy's and getting the bill months after you leave the store, economist Uwe Reinhardt likes to say. A tool that went online Wednesday is supposed to give patients a small peek at the products and prices before they open their wallets. Got a sore knee? Having a baby? Need a primary-care doctor? Shopping for an MRI scan? Guroo.com shows the average local cost for 70 common diagnoses and medical tests in most states. That's the real cost — not "charges" that often get marked down — based on a giant database of what insurance companies actually pay.
In the first lawsuit stemming from the superbug outbreak at UCLA, an 18-year-old patient accused a major healthcare device maker of negligence for selling a medical scope prone to spreading deadly bacteria. Aaron Young, a high-school student still hospitalized at UCLA for his infection, sued Olympus Corp. of the Americas in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleging negligence and fraud. Young and his San Fernando Valley family declined to comment on the suit filed late Monday, said attorney Pete Kaufman. The teenager was exposed to a contaminated duodenoscope at UCLA in October and again in January, according to his lawsuit.
Bernard Valencia's room in the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial Medical Center in Loma Linda, Calif., illustrates how hospitals across the country could fight a nationwide epidemic. As soon as you enter the room, you can see one of the main strategies: A hook hangs from a metal track that runs across the ceiling. This isn't some bizarre way of fighting hospital-acquired infections or preventing the staff from getting needle sticks. The contraption is a ceiling hoist designed to lift and move patients with a motor instead of muscle. As NPR has reported in our investigative series Injured Nurses, nursing employees suffer more debilitating back and other injuries than almost any other occupation — and they get those injuries mainly from doing the everyday tasks of lifting and moving patients.
Albany Medical Center has four biomedical startup companies in the queue to join the center's incubator when it opens this spring. The 8,000 square-foot biomedical acceleration and commercialization center will open in May or June, says Kevin Leyden, senior vice president of business development and strategic partnerships. The center, at the second-largest hospital system in the Albany area, has space in the incubator for between eight and 10 companies. The incubator at Albany Med is among several accelerators in the region that are aiming to tie research to commercialization and create a regional support system for entrepreneurs.