More than 100 pages of 'war room notes' released by congressional investigators on Tuesday offer a window into the chaos that overwhelmed the Obama administration as the federal health insurance marketplace started up last month and officials realized that its problems could not be fixed quickly. The documents were made public just as Marilyn B. Tavenner, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, who oversaw the creation of the troubled website, wrapped up her testimony at a Senate hearing in which she faced tough questioning from Democrats and Republicans alike.
A major California hospital chain, Sutter Health, agreed to pay $46 million and disclose more pricing information to consumers to resolve a whistle-blower complaint alleging false and misleading charges for anesthesia. Sutter Health, which runs 24 acute-care hospitals in Northern California, said it reached the settlement Monday just prior to a trial starting this month over the allegations that it added thousands of dollars for "Code 37x" anesthesia charges that were already covered by other billing for the hospital operating room. Nationwide, federal officials and consumer advocates have been putting pressure on hospitals to explain their high prices, while many employers have been demanding greater price transparency in an attempt to hold down costs.
A panel of Superior Court judges on Monday upheld what amounts to a nearly $14.2 million judgment against UPMC Shadyside, affirming Allegheny County's largest medical malpractice award in at least the past 13 years, an attorney for the plaintiff said. The March 2012 judgment, which the hospital appealed, stemmed from the death of Michael Rettger, a 24-year-old accountant from Murrysville, Westmoreland County, who was taken to UPMC Shadyside on Nov. 15, 2003, after doctors in Cabell Huntington Hospital in Huntington, W.Va., where he was working, found a mass in his brain diagnosed as a potential brain tumor or abscess.
Stepping into the national backlash over health policy cancellations, California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones faulted the state's health exchange for requiring insurers to terminate coverage Dec. 31, but acknowledged that he has little power to stop it. Jones reiterated his support for President Obama's healthcare law Tuesday, but he said these cancellation notices and the resulting avalanche of consumer complaints were an unnecessary blunder. "There are areas where implementation could be done better, and this is an example of that," Jones said. "Individuals could have been allowed to stay in their plan for another year. Don't force people out arbitrarily Dec. 31."
In a new line of attack on canceled health policies, two California residents are suing insurance giant Anthem Blue Cross, alleging they were misled into giving up their previous coverage. About 900,000 Californians and many more nationwide have received cancellation notices on their individual health insurance policies, triggering a public uproar against the rollout of President Obama's healthcare law. Some consumers have complained about hefty rate hikes from the forced upgrades because their current plans don't meet all the requirements of the Affordable Care Act.
The impending closure of an urgent care center in St. Louis has thousands of people wondering where they'll go for medical care. The Smiley Urgent Care Center on the city's north side provided treatment to about 16,000 patients a year. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that about 60 percent of those patients lack insurance, and 23 percent have Medicaid. The impending closure of an urgent care center in St. Louis has thousands of people wondering where they'll go for medical care. The Smiley Urgent Care Center on the city's north side provided treatment to about 16,000 patients a year.