Wanted: an advocate for a hospital patient. Long hours, no pay. Must be articulate, assertive, able to ask tough questions and stay cool under pressure. Blood relative or close friend preferred. Knowledge about the health-care system a plus. It has become an unwritten rule of hospital care that patients should always have a friend or family member by their bedside to make sure they're getting the right care and to be on the lookout for medical errors. But while there are some professional advocates out there and some organizations that offer training for family members, most people learn on the job, so to speak.
After years of scary, rocket-like growth, America's health care spending has slowed to record lows. That much we know for certain. What's less clear is why -- the weak economy or cost-control measures, including the earliest provisions of the Affordable Care Act. Since health care spending is a major driver of the federal deficit, that's a pretty critical question. The experts at the Kaiser Family Foundation and Altarum Institute are among the first to tease out how much each factor contributed to the slowdown. Their conclusion: about three-quarters is due to the lackluster economy. The rest stems from efforts to keep spending down, including measures introduced in the 2010 "Obamacare" law.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The first draft was as mind-numbing and complex as tax forms. Now the Obama administration is unveiling a simplified application for health insurance benefits under the federal health care overhaul. Details to be released Tuesday include a three-page short form that single people can fill out, administration officials said. Medicare chief Marilyn Tavenner, also overseeing the rollout of the health care law, called it ''significantly shorter than industry standards.'' The earlier draft of the application was widely panned, and administration allies feared uninsured people would give up in frustration. Administration officials say they have trimmed the paperwork burden back considerably.
(Reuters) - State and local governments can expect ever-widening budget gaps through 2060, as rising healthcare costs for both citizens and public employees surpass recent improvements in their revenue, the Government Accountability Office said on Monday. Closing the gap may require drastic action. If state and local governments were to end the shortfalls over the next 50 years solely through spending cuts, they would have to reduce their expenditures 14.2 percent each year, GAO found. If they relied only on tax increases, they would need to raise revenue by a "similar magnitude."
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan's largest health insurer and a dozen hospitals announced Monday they are starting to carry out a cost-saving deal designed to prevent unnecessary or overused tests and procedures, an attempt to put less emphasis on the traditional way providers are reimbursed for medical services. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Trinity Health-Michigan — one of the country's largest Catholic health care systems, which includes 12 hospitals around the state — said the dominant fee-for-service model is not working. They do not plan to drop the traditional model by which providers are reimbursed for each service through agreements with insurers. But hospitals will be rewarded financially for saving money by better coordinating care, preventing re-hospitalizations and improving patients' outcomes.
Six months after superstorm Sandy crippled much of the Tri-State area, Coney Island Hospital is still struggling to keep up with demands. Half of the hospital's emergency department has been restored, but the other half is a construction zone. "We're operating about 40 percent of capacity to total number of beds. We have about two-thirds of the inpatient units open," Coney Island Hospital Executive Director Arthur Wagner told WCBS 880?s Marla Diamond. Prior to Sandy, Coney Island Hospital had 60 beds in the ER. As of Monday, there are 38 beds with an additional 10 coming soon to the critical care area.