The rate for a semi-private adult room at UW Hospital went up 8.9 percent this year, to $1,720 per day. The hospital's rate for a semi-private pediatric room increased by the same percentage, to $2,412. At Meriter Hospital, the charge for a day in the intensive care unit is $5,400 this year, a 42.5 percent jump from last year. Meriter's newborn nursery rate went down 37.6 percent, to $995. The newborn nursery rate at St. Mary's Hospital is $1,030 this year, up 6 percent from last year. Its ICU rate is $4,940, up 6.4 percent.
Janice Nakamura knows the financial burden of going without health care, and she's thankful for the Hawaii law that strictly mandates expansive, employer-provided coverage for her and her family. Without that, "it would be a choice between paying for medical coverage or eating," she said. The Nakamuras are among the 763,000 Hawaii residents – more than half the state's population – who rely on a unique, longstanding system that has been jeopardized by the federal health-care overhaul. State officials are concerned that if they don't quickly find a solution, Hawaii will end up getting "punished for being too good," as University of Hawaii law professor Hazel Bay described.
A group of Philadelphia hospitals, that deliver babies, say they'll no longer give free formula to mothers when they leave area hospitals. 3 On Your Side's Stephanie Stahl has the details. A Philadelphia breastfeeding task force made the announcement today, no more formula giveaways. The goal is to raise the city's breastfeeding rates . Studies show breastfeeding can help improve children's health and even benefit the mom, reducing her risk of cancer. Now six Philadelphia hospitals, including Temple University Hospital , Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Einstein Medical Center Philadelphia, Hahnemann University Hospital, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania Hospital are making a dramatic shift in policy, hoping more mothers will breastfeed.
When a man opened fire at a hospital outside Philadelphia, fatally shooting his caseworker and wounding his psychiatrist, the doctor saved his own life and probably the lives of others by pulling out a gun and shooting the patient. If Dr. Lee Silverman's decision to arm himself at the office was unusual, the violence that erupted at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital served as yet another illustration of the hazards mental health professionals face on the job — and, experts say, the need for hospitals to do more to protect them.
Friday's jobs report was a little lower than expected, but still contained positive news for the economy: The workforce grew again in July, as employers added more than 200,000 new jobs for the sixth straight month. (The last time that happened was in 1997.) The U.S. has now gained more than 9.1 million jobs since February 2010, the lowest ebb of the Great Recession. And in no surprise, health care employers added thousands of jobs last month: The industry has gained more than 1 million jobs since Obamacare was signed into law back in March 2010, and is working on a 13-year streak of unprecedented jobs growth.
U.S. consumers who purchase private health coverage through the federal Obamacare website HealthCare.gov are likely to find only modestly higher premiums but may still have technical problems signing up, a top health official said on Thursday. "It won't be perfect," Andrew Slavitt, a newly appointed principal deputy administrator at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), told lawmakers at hearing before a House of Representatives oversight committee. "It's a bumpy process at times," he added. "I think we've got a committed team of people, though, that by and large are doing a very good job. But there will clearly be bumps."