A group of part-time community college instructors filed a lawsuit against the commonwealth of Massachusetts, saying that hundreds of adjunct faculty in the state's public higher education system are unfairly denied healthcare coverage. The lawsuit, filed in Suffolk Superior Court on behalf of five instructors, follows nearly a decade of unsuccessful wrangling with state legislators to get an adjunct health insurance bill enacted into law. It also comes as schools, particularly community colleges, are increasingly turning to adjuncts amid burgeoning enrollment.
A new statewide survey by the Ohio Hospital Association found 18% of responding hospitals plan to lay off additional employees. The survey also found that about half of respondents plan to leave future vacancies unfilled, 39% plan to reduce or eliminate services, 49% plan to cancel or delay expansion or renovation projects, and 64% will take more cost-cutting steps.
Essent Healthcare said that it is consolidating acute care services offered by its Paris Regional Medical Center in Paris, Texas, at one campus. Under the transition to be completed by next fall, the North campus will become home to an emergency department, women's services, the Heart Hospital at Paris Regional, pediatrics, and labor and delivery among other operations.
The administrator and chief operating officer of the Pike County Hospital in Texas have been arrested on felony check charges for allegedly writing bad checks to a physician. Authorities say 61-year-old Robert Hicks of Oklahoma City and 63-year-old Arthur Clyde Benson Jr. of Richardson, Texas, wrote two checks for nearly $8,900 for salary payments to Dr. George Gray of Little Rock. Hicks serves as the chief operating officer for the hospital while Benson is the administrator.
Moderate Senate Democrats threatened to scuttle healthcare legislation if their demands aren't met, while more liberal members warned their party leaders not to bend. The dispute among Democrats foretells of a rowdy floor debate next month on legislation that would extend healthcare coverage to roughly 31 million Americans. Republicans have already made clear they aren't supporting the bill. One major sticking point is a provision that would allow Americans to buy a federal-run insurance plan if their state allows it. Moderates say they worry the so-called public option will become a huge and costly entitlement program and that other requirements in the bill could cripple businesses.
Democratic leaders finally moved their sweeping health bill to the Senate floor, where wheeling and dealing over major unresolved and divisive issues likely will shape the legislation before its next big test. A handful of Democrat centrists say they can't support the government-sponsored health-insurance plan—known as the public option—that is included in the bill. And Democrats are divided over abortion, an issue that nearly derailed the House earlier this month when it narrowly passed a health bill that blocked abortion coverage from federally subsidized insurance plans, including some run by private insurers. Another growing concern even as the bill progresses is the political heat on Democrats over expanded government spending amid rising unemployment and deficit concerns.