The 2010 healthcare overhaul law has provoked an unprecedented clash between the federal government and 26 states, dividing them on fundamental questions about the very structure of the federal system. But the two sides share a surprising amount of common ground, too, starting with their agreement in briefs, filed on Wednesday, that the Supreme Court should resolve the clash in its current term. Until just days ago, it was hardly clear that the Obama administration would agree with the states on the need for prompt review, as there were good political reasons for moving slowly. The court's decision is now most likely to come just months before the 2012 presidential election.
Mayo Clinic will join forces with Arizona State University to develop a new $266 million medical-school branch in Scottsdale that could begin teaching medical students by 2014. Mayo Clinic's plan to raise and spend millions of dollars is the latest example of Arizona's health-care providers pursuing lucrative investments in new buildings, technology, education and research despite the poor economy and uncertainty related to the nation's new health-care law. The $109 million Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center opened this week in Gilbert. Mayo Clinic also plans to build a $187 million cutting-edge, proton-beam center for treating cancer at its northeast Phoenix hospital. The University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix is poised to expand with a nearly $200 million health-sciences-education building under construction in downtown Phoenix. That will be followed with a $136 million expansion of the Arizona Cancer Center in downtown Phoenix.
A bedridden patient who predicted he wouldn't survive a move from a now-closed Illinois charity hospital has died, three weeks after his transfer to a nursing home, family and friends said Thursday. The death of Michael Yanul, 58, who had muscular dystrophy and breathed with a ventilator, raises questions about how Cook County managed patient transfers while closing the hospital in Chicago's south suburbs. Facing a multimillion-dollar budget deficit, Cook County converted Oak Forest Hospital to an outpatient center in August to save money. Earlier this year, protesters opposed to closing the hospital carried Yanul's photo, enlarged to poster size, to several public hearings. They said they wanted officials to see the faces of patients who could be harmed if the hospital closed.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is already looking at an alternative to the smart card system that new Congressional bills are proposing that are designed to fight Medicare fraud. Unlike the system envisioned in this legislation, which would require a new data network dedicated to Medicare, the pilot underway in Indianapolis uses magnetic-stripe cards that can be read by conventional credit-card terminals. Proponents say that this system, which would verify the identities of providers, patients, and suppliers, would be much cheaper and easier to launch than the dedicated network. Advocates of the smart-card system argue that the credit-card terminal approach is less reliable and uses a technology that will soon be obsolete.
MetroHealth System plans to close a 144-bed skilled nursing facility in the former Deaconess Hospital in Old Brooklyn within 90 days, according to a state filing. The news comes four days after MetroHealth Chief Executive Mark Moran confirmed that the health system, which includes a hospital and outpatient clinics as well as the senior center, would cut 450 jobs over the next two months. More than 100 of the reductions will come with the closing. "This change maintains our responsibility to the overall financial health of the system," Moran said in a statement. "We will continue to review and refine our service delivery to ensure excellent quality and maximum efficiency." Patients -- many of whom are long-term care residents -- will be placed in community-based facilities suited to meet their needs, said a MetroHealth release.
Attorneys for a West Texas prosecutor will begin presenting their defense Friday in his trial on charges that he helped a doctor retaliate against two whistle-blowing hospital nurses. State prosecutors rested their case Thursday against Winkler County Attorney Scott Tidwell, who is charged with two counts each of misuse of official information, retaliation and official oppression by using his position to retaliate against the nurses. Misuse of official information and retaliation are third-degree felonies, and each count is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.