GPs in England gained "eye-watering" pay increases of 58% under a revised NHS contract that reduced their working hours, the Commons public accounts committee said. The committee found the contract, which allowed family doctors to opt out of care outside office hours, cost the Department of Health more than expected over the three years to 2006. Partners in GP practices were rewarded with bonuses for meeting performance targets that were designed to give patients a better service.
The sting in paying for healthcare costs amid the ailing economy is most acute among young adults, according to a new survey from Medco Health Solutions Inc. Nearly 70% of adults aged 25-34 claim the economic downturn of the last 12 months has made it somewhat or significantly more difficult to pay for healthcare expenses, the survey by New Jersey-based Medco reported.
Three men who say they have adequate health coverage and enough money to pay for their healthcare needs want to opt out of hospital coverage under Medicare. Federal rules say they cannot collect Social Security benefits if they do that. Their goal is to save taxpayer money by voluntarily forgoing Medicare, and their challenge to that policy is coming in a lawsuit expected to be filed in federal court.
A contract dispute between Blue Cross and the Care New England hospital group has raised worries about whether Blue Cross subscribers will be able get care at Rhode Island-based Butler, Women & Infants and Kent hospitals after Dec. 31. But the chief executives of both companies say they expect to resolve their differences. Negotiators are meeting regularly and still have three months before the current contract expires. Care New England recently drew attention to the problem by sending letters to doctors and employees, telling them that after Dec. 31, Care New England might be dropped from the provider network of Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island.
For years, healthcare unions have been trying to eliminate, or at least limit, mandatory overtime for nurses and other workers in Pennsylvania hospitals and nursing homes. And now under a bill approved unanimously by the Pennsylvania Senate, they made some significant progress. House Bill 834, introduced by Rep. Dan Surra, D-Elk, prohibits a healthcare facility from requiring nurses and other healthcare employees "to work in excess of agreed to, predetermined and regularly scheduled daily work shifts."
Up to 1,600 residents in the Louisville, KY, neighborhood known as Rubbertown at risk of cardiovascular disease could get free screenings and preventive counseling from University of Louisville medical teams through a grant from the Anthem Foundation. The $600,000 grant also will pay for research into possible links between environmental pollutants and heart disease. The screenings will be a follow-up to 2007's free screening program in western and southwestern Louisville.