These insurers will sell you some Obamacare—at least as long as the government is footing the bill for most of their customers. Insurers doing business on HealthCare.gov will be allowed to terminate their health plans if there's a halt on federal tax credits that help most Obamacare customers buy the coverage, according to new language for 2015 contracts. The language giving insurers the new opt-out does make clear, however, that individual state laws still may force insurers to continue the coverage. Insurers must sign the new contracts by the end of Wednesday or they will not be allowed to sell insurance on the federal exchange.
Most doctors would face random drug tests, just like truck drivers and pilots. Payouts for medical malpractice would more than quadruple. Doctors would have to check a database to see what drugs patients have already been prescribed before issuing any new prescriptions. Those are the three components of Proposition 46, a statewide measure on the Nov. 4 ballot that is the subject of a heated and expensive battle pitting doctors against lawyers. Supporters of Prop. 46 – mostly trial lawyers and consumer advocates – say the proposed law would make doctors and hospitals more accountable.
Tufts Medical Center and Lowell General Hospital joined together under a new parent company Wednesday and are looking to expand their network to compete with other health systems. So far, the parent company, named Wellforce, includes just the two hospitals, but executives said the company's future acquisitions may include hospitals, doctors' groups, or other health care businesses. "This isn't about buildings, and this isn't about hospitals, but it's about people and physicians and nurses caring for people," said Ellen Zane, vice chairwoman at Tufts and chairwoman of its new parent. "We view ourselves as a group of providers, with hospitals being part of the continuum, but not being at the center of the universe."
Denver-based kidney care giant DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc. announced Wednesday it has acquired Colorado Springs Health Partners, the largest health care practice in Colorado Springs - a deal that could change the face of local health care. Terms of the deal, which is expected to be completed by year's end, were not disclosed. Colorado Springs Health Partners is owned by 76 of its 114 doctors, and all 76 approved the deal, said Deborah Chandler, CEO of the 68-year-old practice. The acquisition isn't expected to mean many changes for CSHP's 110,000 patients, since DaVita will keep the practice's management team and retain its more than 600 employees.
Although healthcare workers are urged to wash their hands often and hand sanitizer dispensers are everywhere in hospitals, patients are less scrupulous and may be contributing to the spread of hospital-acquired infections, say Canadian researchers. After tracking hundreds of patients in a transplant ward for nearly a year, the study team found that hand washing followed less than a third of bathroom visits, and washing or hand-sanitizer use happened only rarely after patients entered or left a room. "We know that certain infections can be spread on people's hands, and hand washing is an important way to prevent those infections," said the study's lead author, Dr. Jocelyn Srigley, associate medical director of infection prevention and control at Hamilton Health Sciences in Hamilton, Ontario.
Americans' trust in the medical profession has plummeted in recent years, and lags well behind public attitudes toward doctors in many other countries, according to a new report. That lack of trust comes from how Americans' perceive doctors' motivations, said Robert Blendon, a professor of health policy and political analysis at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston and co-author of the new report. While physician leaders elsewhere in the world often take public stands on key health and medical issues, Americans perceive the medical profession as looking out for itself, not advocating for public health, he said.