When a senior vice president for Boston-based Caritas Christi Health Care discovered that a competitor was wooing three of his doctors earlier this year, he reacted viscerally. "You have fired the first shot," Timothy J. Crowley, MD, said in a voicemail to James Blakeley, the recruiter at Mount Auburn Hospital. "And trust me, you don't want to go to war with me. I'll take everything you got and everything you love and kill it." Crowley told the Boston Globe that the voicemail, while "unfortunate," was intended as a "light-hearted" joke between two longtime friends. But an executive at Mount Auburn complained to Caritas, and that led to Crowley's departure from the hospital chain May 29.
British politicians and citizens are racing to defend the honor of the country's National Health Service against perceived attacks from the Americans. The rush is a response to claims about the alleged inefficiency and poor quality of the U.K. system made by critics of President Barack Obama's proposals on healthcare reform. Opponents of the proposals claim the president intends to nationalize healthcare and point to purported weaknesses in the U.K.'s service as a warning of what could happen in the U.S. Prime Minister Gordon Brown and opposition leader David Cameron each have interrupted their summer holidays to weigh in.
President Obama is embarking on a public relations push on healthcare as he heads to Montana and Colorado for town hall meetings. His allies are stepping up their efforts to rebut what they describe as "myths" about healthcare reform. Obama supporters are being urged to turn out for the president to counter what they anticipate could be the kind of vocal criticism that has recently dominated the news.
President Obama's proposal to transform the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission is meeting resistance from lawmakers, doctors, hospitals, and some advocates for older Americans. Obama's proposal would transform the agency, known as Medpac, which has just 36 employees and a budget of $10.5 million, and typically holds seven meetings a year. In annual reports to Congress, the existing commission recommends Medicare payment rates for hospitals, doctors, nursing homes, and other healthcare providers. Recommendations of the proposed new entity could take effect unless blocked by Congress.
Lawmakers eager to broaden healthcare coverage while holding down costs are examining the institutional market for medical supplies. Senators from committees like finance, judiciary, and aging are investigating the practices of companies that represent big networks of hospitals, nursing homes, and other institutions. These group purchasing organizations select "preferred" manufacturers and negotiate the prices of medical products, which are a closely held secret. They then use a variety of carrots and sticks to make sure their hospitals buy those brands at the contracted price, according to the New York Times.
A coalition that includes drug companies, doctors, and a big labor union that all favor an overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system opened a $12 million television advertising campaign directed at 12 states. The advertisements are intended to counter the sharp criticism of President Obama's overhaul efforts that has emerged at town-hall-style meetings. Change would have a positive effect, according to the coalition. The commercials are running in Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Virginia.