Three top Republicans are pushing an alternative to ObamaCare that would scrap the law's mandates while keeping the tax credits that help low-income people buy private insurance coverage. An outline of the plan was made public late Wednesday by Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.). The plan — released the same week that the House cast its first vote to repeal ObamaCare of 2015 — will compete with several other replacement options as the GOP tries to coalesce around a response to a looming Supreme Court decision that could dismantle the law.
Insure Tennessee, Gov. Bill Haslam's health care expansion plan, died in the Senate Health and Welfare Committee. It was a committee that bill sponsor Sen. Doug Overbey, R-Maryville, said in his final remarks — in an impassioned appeal to its members to vote in the the best interests of the state — was charged with voting for "good public health policy." "It's not a perfect proposal -- almost none of our legislation is. ... It is a step in the right direction," Overbey said. "I ask this committee to not be the one that stops the process" for the "good, working hard people."
Leslie Goldfarb of Charlotte had been talking to two surgeons about knee surgery and worrying about her out-of-pocket costs. When she recently read about a new online database from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, she checked the average reimbursement for those surgeons. One of them averaged about $1,500 less in total costs associated with the arthroscopic surgery she's having. And Blue Cross pays about twice as much if the same doctors do the procedure in a hospital – costs that pass through to her with a high-deductible plan. She used that data to schedule her surgery.
Long-running talks over a proposal for Tenet Healthcare Corp. to acquire five Connecticut hospitals have failed to produce a deal, the company and governor's office announced Wednesday. The Dallas-based company said it is best for the hospitals and their communities to move forward exploring other options. The on-again, off-again negotiations stretched on for more than two years as Tenet considered acquiring hospitals in Bristol, Manchester, Vernon and Waterbury. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said the issues separating the two sides "simply could not be overcome." But he said his administration still planned to work with the hospitals, affected communities and the General Assembly "to come up with smart, creative solutions that will preserve local access to care for all patients."
Partners HealthCare, reeling from a rejection of its plan to take over three hospitals, has named Dr. David Torchiana, a cardiac surgeon and in-house executive, to become its next chief executive. Torchiana will lead Boston-based Partners, the state's largest employer and its largest health system, beginning in March. He will replace Dr. Gary Gottlieb, who is stepping down after five years in the job. Partners' board approved the appointment Wednesday night. Torchiana, who has been chief executive of the Massachusetts General Physicians Organization since 2003, will provide "a steady hand for Partners in the years ahead," said Edward Lawrence, chairman of Partners' board.
Some Charlotte-area hospitals will lift visitor restrictions at 8 a.m. Thursday as flu cases continue to decline in the region. Carolinas HealthCare System and Novant Health have limited visitors under the age of 18 as flu cases spiked since early January. Patients experiencing flu-like symptoms were also asked not to visit patients in the hospital. "The visitor restrictions were necessary to protect our most vulnerable hospitalized patients, but now as we see the number of influenza cases continue to decline we are happy to invite the community back into our facilities," says Dr. Tom Zweng, chief medical officer for Novant Health.