The Dallas Veteran's Administration Medical Center nurse who told a lesbian Marine her depression was the result of "living in darkness" as a homosexual will no longer be working for the VA. According to an e-mailed statement from the VA, the nurse will "retire from federal service January 21, 2012." The email also states that the Administrative Investigation Board "was able to substantiate material portions of the veteran's claims."
Programs designed to cut Medicare spending and improve the quality of healthcare have mostly failed, according to the Congressional Budget Office. There is widespread support, in Congress and among economists, for the broad ideal that Medicare would save money if it paid for better outcomes instead of more procedures. But 20 years of trying to shift the program in that direction have yielded little to no progress, CBO said Wednesday.
At a time when the city's public hospitals are struggling and Brooklyn hospitals are facing possible closures, top-tier East Side institutions—including the Hospital for Special Surgery, NYU Langone Medical Center, Lenox Hill Hospital, Weill Cornell Medical College and Mount Sinai Medical Center—could dramatically reshape the city's landscape over the next five years as they expand their footprints, modernize and adapt to upcoming health care reforms.
Federal officials say UPMC health system overcharged Medicare $26,547 when it incorrectly billed patients who had been to a Pittsburgh hospital, sent home and then returned the same day as new admissions on their second visit. UPMC officials said the money has since been refunded and system changes made.
The leader of the Mississippi Hospital Association says his group won't fight renewal of a tax his members pay to help fund Medicaid. The association protested in 2009 when then-Gov. Haley Barbour pushed for the hospital tax. Now, the association's president and CEO, Sam Cameron, says the tax gives hospitals something very important—predictability in their expenses.
When University Hospital attempted to merge with Catholic Health Initiatives, Jewish Hospital and St. Mary's & Elizabeth Hospital, the proposal was rejected by Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear and Attorney General Jack Conway. Last week, Conway explained his reasoning for opposing the merger. On Tuesday, Dr. James R. Ramsey spoke publicly for the first time since the request was denied. Ramsey emphasized that University Hospital will always fulfill its responsibility to provide indigent care—an issue that became an obstacle during the proposed merger talks.