Forced to slash their budgets, some California counties are eliminating nonemergency health services for illegal immigrants—a move that officials acknowledge could backfire by shifting the financial burden to emergency rooms. Sacramento County voted in February to bar illegal immigrants from county clinics at an estimated savings of $2.4 million. Contra Costa County followed last month by cutting off undocumented adults, to save approximately $6 million.
A higher percentage of the poor and uninsured are being redirected from the University of Chicago Medical Center to Mercy Hospital and Medical Center than the typical rate of admission of such patients to hospitals in Illinois. Nearly 7% of the patients cleared from the U. of C. emergency room and then transported and admitted to Mercy have no health insurance coverage, according to an eight-month period of data analyzing 396 patients. In addition, 25% of patients transported by ambulance 5 miles north to Mercy were covered by Medicaid, which is known for paying hospitals low rates, particularly in Illinois.
Thousands of baby boomers are finding themselves having to choose between expensive monthly premiums that rise with age, and cheaper plans with skimpier coverage and high out-of-pocket costs for doctors and prescriptions. Consumer advocates had hoped that regulators overseeing Massachusetts' health insurance overhaul would start to address this issue, by making it easier for self-employed people and retirees who are 50 to 64 to be exempted from a stiff tax penalty if they can't afford insurance. Connector Authority board members recently postponed tackling the issue, however, saying they needed to further study it.
Newton-Wellesley Hospital has offered over the next five years to pay Framingham, MA, the full amount the town would lose in property taxes if the hospital gains approval for its plan to develop an outpatient screening and surgical facility. While the offer was enough for the Framingham Planning Board to begin drafting a decision regarding the project, not all of the board's members were satisfied. And in Newton, where the hospital is based, a spokesman for the city said that the change in payments would not alter Newton's approach to the hospital and whether it should provide more revenue to the city.
Democratic Congressional leaders have agreed to pursue a plan that would protect major healthcare legislation from Republican opposition by shielding it from last-minute Senate filibusters. The aggressive approach reflects the big political claim that President Obama is staking on healthcare, and with it his willingness to face Republican wrath in order to guarantee that the Democrats could not be thwarted by minority tactics.
Obama administration officials are looking for ways to increase the supply of physicians to meet the needs of an aging population and millions of uninsured people who would gain coverage under legislation championed by the president. The officials said they were particularly concerned about shortages of primary care providers who are the main source of healthcare for most Americans. One proposal, which would increase Medicare payments to general practitioners, at the expense of high-paid specialists, has touched off a lobbying fight.