A report issued by the trustees who monitor the government's two main forms of help for the elderly shows that Medicare has become more fragile and is at risk of imminent fiscal collapse. Starting eight years from now, the report says, the health insurance program will be unable to pay all its hospital bills. The trust fund that pays for hospital care under Medicare is now predicted to run out of money in 2017, two years earlier than forecast a year ago. That fund does not involve the parts of Medicare that cover doctor's visits or coverage for prescription drugs.
Providing health insurance to the roughly 50 million people uninsured will cost approximately like $120 billion a year. President Obama has proposed $60 billion or so in new revenue for this purpose but Congress seems set to reject about half of the down payment. That makes for the $90 billion healthcare hole, and no one is quite sure how to fill it, says this analysis from the New York Times.
The Illinois-based Loyola University Health System announced it will cut more than 440 jobs, or about 8% of its work force, amid the recession and an economic downturn causing an influx of patients who cannot pay their medical bills. For example, the number of patients who cannot pay their bills has increased by 73% the medical center's expenses on charity care to $31.3 million from $18.1 million for the nine-month period that ended March 31.
The idea of taxing employee healthcare benefits to raise money for an overhaul of the health system is gaining strength in Congress, although it drew criticism from Barack Obama when he was campaigning for president. Experts before the Senate Finance Committee said it is one of the best ways to pay for a healthcare overhaul, and many top Democrats support the concept.
In response to a sagging economy, Minnesota-based Park Nicollet Health Services announced it would shut down a clinic and consolidate some mental health services. The moves will result in 240 employees losing their jobs. Park Nicollet already has eliminated more than 490 positions in the past six months, a result of its diminished investment portfolio and a decline in the number of patients because of the recession.
Federal authorities are investigating the theft of patient information, possibly by a former Johns Hopkins Hospital employee, as part of a scheme to make fraudulent driver's licenses. The employee, who worked in the patient registration area, would have had access to information such as names, addresses, parents' names, and Social Security numbers as part of her job duties, according to a letter the hospital sent to the identity theft unit of the state attorney general's office.