The Clayton County (GA) Commission has voted unanimously to back a $40.2 million bond for Southern Regional Health System, allowing the county's only hospital to stay open. The vote means the 331-bed Riverdale hospital will not default on its loan, which is due to SunTrust January 7.
The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania has released results of a December survey showing that tight credit, ailing stocks, and financially strapped patients are hurting the state's hospitals. Forty-two percent reported a moderate to significant effect on their day-to-day financial operations, and three-quarters are forecasting a moderate to significant effect on their financial stability this year. The release came with a plea not to cut government funding for Medicaid and Medicare or special programs like burn and trauma centers and obstetrical care.
The first day of Florida's low-cost, bare-bones health insurance program started with a flurry of interest from uninsured Floridians, but also with confusion and glitches. The state Agency for Health Care Administration could not post phone numbers and Web sites of insurers selling the new policies, leaving consumers to hunt for the information or delay signing up. In a state where one in five adults are uninsured, the third-highest rate in the nation, hundreds of people called the state agency and the insurers about the low-cost, "Cover Florida" coverage.
New York Gov. David A. Paterson will propose that private employers be required to offer health insurance to workers' dependents who are ages 19 to 29. The proposal is part of what the administration hopes will be a step toward universal healthcare coverage in New York. Currently, employers are not required to offer health insurance to dependents who are older than 18 or, if they are in college, 22. The proposal expand coverage to some 800,000 people 19 to 29 years old who are uninsured.
Blue Shield has agreed to reissue medical coverage to nearly 700 Californians whose policies were canceled after they got sick and to make changes in the way it handles insurance bought by individuals, officials have announced. Blue Shield of California's Life & Health Insurance Co. also agreed to reimburse consumers whose coverage was canceled for medical expenses they paid out of pocket. In turn, the state dropped its case against Blue Shield and declined to pursue $12.6 million in proposed fines.
A $3.3 million expansion of Allina Medical Clinic in Cottage Grove, MN, will nearly double the number of patient rooms and add 11,000 square feet to the clinic. Existing portions of the 11-year-old clinic will undergo renovation, the clinic's first. Cottage Grove's population grew by 47% since 1990, and the expansion is due to the increase in patients, officials said.