With a growing sense that Democrats may have the votes to pass healthcare reform, many participants are now attempting to shape the components of landmark legislation rather than to defeat it, the Washington Post reports. Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-NV) is expected to request a cost estimate on the bill he has worked out behind closed doors, and lawmakers, industry executives, and lobbyists told the Post that this is the moment to exert maximum influence on legislation aimed at refashioning the $2.4 trillion healthcare sector.
As President Obama's push for a healthcare overhaul moves toward its final stages, the health insurance industry is on the verge of seeing a plan enacted that largely protects its financial interests. There is broad agreement that the final plan will, for the first time, require Americans to buy health coverage, with taxpayer subsidies for millions who cannot afford it. For the health insurance industry, that means millions of new paying customers. In addition, there are likely to be no limits on what insurers can charge, while at the same time the plan is expected to limit competition from any new national government insurance plan that lawmakers create.
Combined, "bundled" payments are getting close attention during the healthcare debate as a way to encourage hospitals and doctors to work together to hold down costs and improve care. Bundling payments moves medical charges away from the traditional fee-for-service system that pays providers separately for individual services. Critics of the current healthcare system say the arrangement leads to doctors and hospitals delivering more care, but not better care.
Baylor Health Care System is asking for incentives from Terrell, TX, to build a 100-bed hospital in the city. The project is planned to expand to as many as 400 beds. When complete, it would be the largest regional hospital serving Kaufman County, TX.
The $467 million, 14-story Smilow Cancer Hospital is set to open October 26 in New Haven, CT. The facility is the culmination of a multiyear expansion effort at Yale-New Haven Hospital and part of a larger campaign to raise the hospital's profile in the treatment of cancer. The hospital is in the midst of a recruitment drive that could lead to more than 60 additional physicians specializing in cancer, officials said.
Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center has become too overcrowded to handle the expected surge of H1N1 flu patients in coming months, county leaders said as they forced hospital officials to reduce wait times by transferring patients more quickly. The crowd waiting for emergency room beds at County-USC often swells to 100 with some waiting up to 24 hours, Supervisor Gloria Molina said. Recent county reports show that 30% to 40% of the time the hospital is operating at "severely" and "dangerously" overcrowded levels.