Assembly member Luis Alejo (D-Salinas) yesterday said he wants to undo the 10% Medi-Cal provider reimbursement rate cut passed by the Legislature in 2011. The across-the-board reductions were challenged in a lawsuit still pending in federal court and have not taken effect. California lawmakers in 2011 faced a huge budget shortfall, and this particular cut was made to save the state an estimated $50 million a month, health officials say. Physicians and other providers of Medi-Cal services have been leery of this further reduction, when California already ranks near the bottom in the nation in Medicaid reimbursement rates.
Over the past decade, in response to public concerns about medical errors arising from fatigue, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, the organization responsible for accrediting American medical residency programs, has been progressively limiting the number of hours that trainees can work. The latest mandate, which took effect in 2011, is the most stringent and deals most specifically with interns. These youngest doctors are allowed to work no longer than 16 hours in a day; and residency programs that violate the restriction risk losing their accreditation.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A sweeping state budget that would give residents an income tax cut while scrapping an expansion of Medicaid passed the Republican-controlled House on Thursday after lawmakers agreed to continue discussing health coverage for the poor. The $61.5 billion, two-year budget rewrites Republican Gov. John Kasich's proposals for overhauling the state tax code and drops his plans to extend Medicaid health coverage to thousands more low-income residents. The House voted 61-35 on the spending blueprint, which would begin July 1. The plan, with the support of three Democratic lawmakers, now goes to the GOP-dominated Senate, where more changes and hearings are expected.
You may have found your doctor to be a great communicator, your hospital room clean and quiet and your pain well controlled. Yet a study finds these opinions are not barometers of whether your hospital's surgical care is any good. The study, led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University medical and public health schools, looked at patient satisfaction and surgical quality measures at 31 urban hospitals in 10 states. Patient satisfaction was determined by the results of standard Medicare surveys given to patients after they left the hospital. Quality was judged by how consistently surgeons and nurses followed recommended standards of care, such as giving antibiotics at the right time and taking precautionary steps to avert blood clots.
After 10 weeks of radio silence, the National Nurses United union is ramping up pressure on the D.C. Council to enact strict staffing mandates for hospitals. The California-based union launched a letter-writing campaign this week targeting all 13 council members and Mayor Vincent Gray. Friday, the union will hold a rally at 5:30 p.m. in front of the John A. Wilson Building. "We've been doing lots of outreach to the community over the last several months," said union organizer Ken Zinn. "We're now escalating that outreach to include the mayor and the District council to urge expedient action on the bill."
The Maryland Patient Safety Center has plans to expand its program offering for doctors and hospitals in an effort to reduce its reliance on a state funding. The nonprofit organization is launching new programs for hospitals and expanding its work to include doctor groups, said Robert Imhoff, the center's CEO. The move is an effort to raise more of its budget independently. About half of the center's budget currently comes from the Health Services Cost Review Commission, which works the center's allowance into hospital rates.