Federal authorities have determined that staff at a Dallas hospital endangered a patient in their care, marking the third time the hospital has been cited since promising to reform its psychiatric services. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services claims workers in the psychiatric emergency room at Parkland Memorial Hospital failed in June to safely move a disabled, elderly patient, causing broken bones in her ankle. The finding comes weeks after the federal agency threatened to cut off $400 million in annual funding after determining that Parkland jeopardized another patient, according to The Dallas Morning News.
Lodi Health directors have signed a letter of intent to affiliate with Adventist Health, based in Roseville. Lodi Health, which operates Lodi Memorial Hospital, had been seeking a larger, better-financed partner for several months. The hospital has been independent since it was founded 61 years ago. In an interview shortly after the announcement Thursday afternoon, Scott Reiner, president and CEO of Adventist Health, said Lodi Health patients will likely see enhanced services with an emphasis on preventive health care, one of the cornerstones of the Adventist system.
The standard "all-clear" letter sent after mammograms to tell women they are cancer-free is going to contain new and potentially troubling information for thousands of Minnesota women — the disclosure that they have dense tissue in their breasts that could cloud their cancer screenings. Minnesota mandated as of Aug. 1 that doctors notify women if their mammograms discover dense breast tissue, which can mask the presence of a tumor on an X-ray. "There is no shortage of women like me who have been harmed by their density and never knew it," said Nancy Cappello, a breast cancer survivor from Connecticut. She became an advocate for state-mandated disclosure of tissue density after mammograms failed to find her tumor until it was enlarged and her cancer had spread beyond her breast.
When Washington eliminated corporate tax deductions on health insurance executive compensation above $500,000 under President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law in 2013, it generated more than $72 million in additional tax revenue for the U.S. government, a left-leaning think tank said on Wednesday. The report from the Institute for Policy Studies examined executive compensation in the 2013 proxy filings from WellPoint Inc and UnitedHealth Group Inc, among others, and found that those companies paid more taxes than they would have if the law had not been passed.
Reduced costs for medical services and labor have trimmed the 10-year projected cost of Medicare and Medicaid by $89 billion, the Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday. Medicare spending is projected to drop by $49 billion — or less than 1 percent — from 2015 and 2024, while Medicaid spending is expected to drop by $40 billion — or about 1 percent — over the next decade, CBO said in an update to its April forecast. Despite the long-term projected drop, federal spending for major health care programs will jump this year by $67 billion — or about 9 percent — the agency estimated.
Insurers can no longer reject customers with expensive medical conditions thanks to the health care overhaul. But consumer advocates warn that companies are still using wiggle room to discourage the sickest — and costliest — patients from enrolling. Some insurers are excluding well-known cancer centers from the list of providers they cover under a plan; requiring patients to make large, initial payments for HIV medications; or delaying participation in public insurance exchanges created by the overhaul. Advocates and industry insiders say these practices may dissuade the neediest from signing up and make it likelier that the customers these insurers do serve will be healthier—and less expensive.