A federal grand jury indicted a Massachusetts man for allegedly scamming about $1.4 million from Medicare. Kingsley Tochukwu Eze, the owner and director of Kings Enterprize in Quincy, MA, was indicted on 14 counts of healthcare fraud, two counts of aggravated identity theft, and a single charge of making a false statement. Eze allegedly submitted false Medicare reimbursement claims for durable medical equipment in 2006 and 2007, according to the indictment.
A laptop computer containing limited health information on 100,000 patients was stolen from a Baylor Health Care System Inc. employee's car in September, a representative from the Texas-based system announced. A letter is being sent to the patients, including 7,400 whose Social Security numbers were stored on the computer.
As of late Wednesday, Nov. 5, Arizona's Proposition 101, which would block the state from requiring everyone to get health insurance, is still up for grabs. The vote is virtually tied: 865,286 vote for and 867,425 vote against, with 99.1% of polls reporting, according to the Secretary of State.
The Western Massachusetts healthcare network that runs Baystate Medical Center in Springfield says a $37 million projected shortfall is forcing it to cut 55 jobs and eliminate 120 vacant positions. Baystate Health will also enact a hiring freeze for non-clinical positions and wait until the economy improves before moving ahead with financing for a major expansion. Baystate representatives said the network has been hit hard by the economic downturn, reductions in Medicaid reimbursements, and falling numbers of patients.
With Barack Obama heading to the White House, Massachusetts' experiment with near-universal healthcare suddenly takes on new meaning as a potential model. Obama has touted an affordable, universal coverage plan that draws heavily from Massachusetts' 2006 law, which requires most employers to offer insurance or pay a penalty, expands subsidies, and provides more coverage choices.
Some healthcare analysts and leaders in the business and insurance industries say Massachusetts' experience offers tangible proof that overhauling a massive system is possible. But, they warn, the political and financial challenges state leaders have faced may pale in comparison to what lies ahead for the federal government.
Health insurers are priming themselves to gain new business from policy changes likely to be approved with Democrats in control of Washington. Democrats are expected to expand federal programs that cover low-income children and adults, groups that insurers are increasingly contracted to administer via private Medicaid plans.
Other moves to reduce the number of uninsured also could boost the individual insurance market, which insurers also have been expanding into. A research report issued by Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. estimates that health-insurance industry's revenue could actually grow slightly more under an Obama administration compared with the status quo, or if Republican Sen. John McCain had won the White House.