Pennsylvania's hospitals say in a new survey they increasingly are feeling the pinch of the struggling economy, and a growing number say they are considering staff cuts. Since a similar survey in December, more hospitals also say they have fewer patients overall, but more who need financial help or have mental-health problems. The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania said its latest survey is further evidence that state and federal leaders should maintain funding levels for Medicaid, Medicare, and other health programs.
According to a survey of 489 large U.S. employers, 62% said they were confident they would still be offering their workers health coverage 10 years from now, down from 73% in 2008. The economic crisis and the prospect of a new and much different health-insurance system was two reasons cited for the drop.
Emergency department physicians are reporting that the nation's economic problems are increasing pressure on an already overburdened system of critical medical care, and they're seeking government support. "We are in a crisis," said Janyce M. Sanford, MD, head of emergency medicine at Univerity of Alabama-Birmingham Hospital. "It's gotten worse." Sanford said the economic downturn is forcing more uninsured patients into the emergency medical system, and the doctor is calling for passage of federal legislation to deal with the problem.
The two hospitals of the Pennsylvania-based Heritage Valley Health System—Heritage Valley Beaver and Heritage Valley Sewickley—average 90,000 visits a year combined. That is the driving fact behind expansion projects going on in the emergency departments of both hospitals. Both projects got a boost in recent weeks through two separate $1 million state grants, one for each project.
The White House on Thursday kicked off a series of regional health forums in Michigan by emphasizing that reforming healthcare is yet another way to help the nation's struggling economy. The forum was moderated by Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle. Doctors, patients, insurers, policy experts and healthcare advocates were in the audience.
People's lives and plenty of money are at stake when it comes to determining which medical treatments work best, so some prominent health industry and patient advocacy groups are trying to reframe the debate over how such decisions are made in order to ensure their interests are protected. Spurred by $1.1 billion in the recent economic stimulus bill for "comparative effectiveness research," their coalition unveiled a new campaign with a prominent Democrat and disability rights advocate, former California Rep. Tony Coelho, as its spokesman.