As hundreds of thousands of diabetics get health coverage under the federal law, insurance companies are aggressively targeting this glut of new patients. That's because they are expensive to treat and often lax in taking medications and following their diet. Insurers are calling diabetics when they don't pick up prescriptions or miss appointments. They are arranging transportation to get them to the doctor's office and some are even sending nurses on house calls. It's all part of an effort to avoid costly complications that will have a big impact on the insurance companies' bottom lines.
If a deal between Billings Clinic and RegionalCare Hospital Partners to purchase Community Medical Center is approved after a months-long regulatory process, the Missoula hospital will become one of nearly 1,070 for-profit hospitals nationwide. Community is currently one of about 2,890 non-governmental, not-for-profit locally based hospitals, out of the more than 5,720 registered hospitals in the U.S. Community Medical Center's volunteer board and hospital leadership spent more than a year narrowing down a list of contenders with whom to partner, and earlier this month chose Billings Clinic and RegionalCare.
If it's possible, two Torrance hospitals have made a medical stay sound appetizing. Napa Valley glazed salmon, beef tenderloin filet, parmesan-crusted chicken, build-your-own omelettes, meals prepared to order and delivered to your room soon after you order them. Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center in Torrance has set out to give its patients a hotel-like experience. Last week, they unveiled new patient cuisine and room service for all patients, with meal selections designed to appeal to every palate and dietary specification — vegans, diabetics, dairy-free and more.
A motorcycle crash on the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge three years ago catapulted Manuel Abad over his handlebars. He landed hard on the roadway and lay there fully conscious, certain rush-hour traffic would run over him. "I knew I was going to die," he said. Instead, he survived -- not only the oncoming cars but also the serious neck, limb and internal injuries he suffered. On Saturday Abad, 56, joined two dozen other trauma survivors at a gathering with paramedics and Stanford University Hospital doctors, nurses and other staff members who saved their lives.
Even when Sylvia Mathews Burwell was in her early 30s, friends speculated that she might return to her native Hinton, W.Va., and run for governor someday. After all, she had been a Rhodes scholar, and her mother — who later became mayor of Hinton, population 2,600 — had driven her daughter's interest in politics. So far that has not happened, but plenty of other things under two presidents have. On Friday, President Obama is to nominate Ms. Burwell, currently director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, to take over one of the largest and most unwieldy parts of the federal bureaucracy as secretary of health and human services.
Kathleen Sebelius, the health and human services secretary, is resigning, ending a stormy five-year tenure marred by the disastrous rollout of President Obama's signature legislative achievement, the Affordable Care Act. Mr. Obama accepted Ms. Sebelius's resignation this week, and on Friday morning, he will nominate Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, to replace her, officials said. The departure comes as the Obama administration tries to move beyond its early stumbles in carrying out the law, convince a still-skeptical public of its lasting benefits, and help Democratic incumbents, who face blistering attack ads after supporting the legislation, survive the midterm elections this fall.