Health insurer WellPoint is selecting Chinese partners for a joint venture in the country. WellPoint provides medical management consulting services in China through WPMI Enterprise Consulting and Services Co, which was set up in 2008. Chinese health insurance companies are struggling with high operating costs and a lack of a mature set of rules governing the industry, with some starting to sell investment-linked insurance policies to survive.
Florida and federal agencies are cracking down on corruption in the state's Medicaid program after revealing $124 million in improper payments and more than $56 million in fraud and abuse last fiscal year. The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services said it had revoked the billing privileges of more than 1,100 medical equipment suppliers in South Florida and Southern California and suspended payments to home health agencies in Miami-Dade County. It also said it would require certain suppliers of medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies to post a $50,000 surety bond this year.
The national credit crisis has claimed a small Bucks County, PA, hospital devoted to breast-cancer care. Leif Murphy, chief executive officer of Diversified Specialty Institutes, said DSI was "seeking additional capital" to keep the hospital open, but there was only a "remote chance" it would succeed. In a letter to the state Department of Labor and Industry, DSI said it planned to close the Comprehensive Breast Care Institute at DSI of Bucks County, which has 89 employees, on Feb. 4.
With Barack Obama's inauguration upon us, policy wonks are itching to get started on an overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system. This roundup presented in the Wall Street Journal's health blog outlines some of the proposals made by Health Affairs.
President-elect Barack Obama's plan to link up doctors and hospitals with new information technology is imperiled by a seemingly intractable dispute over how to protect the privacy of electronic medical records. Lawmakers, caught in a crossfire of lobbying by the healthcare industry and consumer groups, have been unable to agree on privacy safeguards that would allow patients to control the use of their medical records. Congressional leaders plan to provide $20 billion for such technology in an economic stimulus bill.
The medical system in Gaza is close to being overwhelmed and the Palestinian enclave faces a humanitarian catastrophe unless a cease-fire is reached soon, a senior U.N. health official said. Sixteen health facilities have been damaged by shelling and fighting during the 3-week-old Israeli offensive, said Tony Laurance, head of the World Health Organization office in Gaza.