Three powerful House committee chairmen have agreed to work together on legislation to overhaul the healthcare system, starting with the view that most employers should help finance coverage and that the government should offer a public health insurance plan as an alternative to private insurance. The three chairmen, George Miller and Henry A. Waxman of California and Charles B. Rangel of New York, all Democrats, have a combined total of more than 100 years of service in the House. The unified approach contrasts with the competition and rivalry among committee chairmen that helped sink President Bill Clinton's plan for universal health insurance.
More than 80 managers at Chicago-based Resurrection Health Care were let go as part of cost-cutting moves. Resurrection, which operates eight hospitals in Chicago and adjacent suburbs, said management, ambulatory services, and system support positions would be eliminated. Of those "81 employees have been laid off and an additional 44 vacant positions will not be filled," the Chicago health care system said in a statement.
A new Oakland, CA-based union—the product of a fight between the elected leaders of healthcare workers in Northern California and their superiors in Washington—has announced that it gained its first members. North American Healthcare agreed to recognize the National Union of Healthcare Workers as the representative of more than 350 nursing home workers at four of the company's facilities in Northern California, the union said. But United Healthcare Workers West and its parent union, the Service Employees International Union, which had until now represented those workers, are not giving them up without a fight.
Health policy experts say guaranteeing coverage for all Americans may cost about $1.5 trillion over the next decade, more than double the $634 billion "down payment" President Barack Obama set aside for health reform in his budget. The potential for runaway costs is raising concerns among Republicans and some Democrats as Congress prepares to draft next year's budget.
A Miami Beach woman left bedridden and in excruciating pain following spinal surgery in 2003 at Mount Sinai Medical Center was awarded $38 million by a Miami-Dade Circuit Court jury. The jury found that neurosurgeon Mario Nanes, Mount Sinai, and the hospital's pharmacy management firm caused Amanda Slavin's debilitating injuries. Mount Sinai settled before the case went to trial, so it's not on the hook to pay any part of the award. The hospital's pharmacy management firm at the time, McKesson Medication Management, vowed to appeal the decision. Nanes has been sued nine times by patients previously.
St. Petersburg, FL-based All Children's Hospital plans to replace $60 million in auction rate securities issued in 2007 with fixed-rated tax-exempt bonds. The move will stabilize the hospital's capital costs, said Arnie Stenberg, executive vice president for administration at All Children's.