The Iowa Senate has approved a $25 million expansion of the state's healthcare system aimed at providing coverage for most Iowa children. If approved and signed into law, the bill would provide healthcare for virtually all the state's 53,000 children who lack coverage. The measure was approved 42-6 and heads to the Iowa House.
Maine Gov. John Baldacci is urging support for a bill advocates say is needed to shore up the state's troubled Dirigo Health program. The Dirigo Health bill would change the funding mechanism for the program by repealing a savings offset payment that targets insurers and replacing it with a health access surcharge on paid claims. The bill would also establish a reinsurance association for the individual health insurance market without placing individuals in a separate risk association. Additionally, the state superintendent of insurance would be authorized to approve a pilot project to let health insurance carriers offer individual health insurance products for young people under the age of 30.
The heads of the old board for Atlanta's Grady Memorial Hospital and the new Grady nonprofit corporation have signed a lease agreement to transfer control of the hospital from the old board to the new. The move was planned for a year and is expected to draw millions in additional funding from numerous sources. During the nonprofit board's second meeting, the highlight was the announcement that the facility was receiving $200 million from a philanthropic organization. At least one board member, however, belived that state leaders failed to fulfill promises of long-term funding for trauma care in Georgia, led to a caveat to the lease agreement.
Most people assume that preventing a disease is cheaper than waiting for the disease to develop and then treating it. The belief is especially dear to politicians, who often view prevention as weapon in the battle against healthcare costs. But studies show overall cost to the healthcare system typically goes up when lots of disease-preventing strategies are put into practice.
Although a bill setting minimum insurance reimbursements for Kentucky kidney dialysis centers that aren't in an insurer's network failed to pass, supporters are promising to not let it die. The measure was proposed by dialysis companies because health insurers have reduced the amounts they pay to centers that haven't signed a contract to join a carrier's network. Insurers said many centers were avoiding price negotiations by remaining outside networks and as a result were getting paid up to twice as much as in-network centers.
Purdue University has received an $11 million gift from the Indianapolis-based Regenstrief Foundation to boost the efforts of a university center that aims to improve patient care and safety. The five-year grant will help Purdue's Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering continue its research into ways to make healthcare more affordable, efficient and effective, said Purdue representatives.
Officials for St. Bernard Parish in Louisiana are weighing two opitions presented by nonprofit groups as the parish continues its quest to build a hospital to replace the one destroyed during Hurricane Katrina. One option is a 20-bed hospital that would be debt free but might not be large enough to meet the parish's needs. The other is a 60-bed hospital saddled with $60 million in loans.
Appleton (WI) Medical Center's general medicine unit treats patients with such conditions as heart failure, pneumonia and infections, but is also part of a sweeping attempt to change the way the center cares for patients. The changes include redefining the roles of doctors, nurses and other caregivers. Appleton's parent system, ThedaCare, has been testing and refining the "Collaborative Care" model in the redesigned general medicine unit since February 2007.
The American Health Information Management Association has published a book that probes issues surrounding medical identity theft. The book is targeted to health information management professionals, privacy and security officers, and risk managers. It covers preventive policies, internal and external threats, risk and exposure mitigation, HIPAA compliance, and best practices to resolve incidents.
Now in its 17th year, the Aesculapius Award honors excellence in health communication through World Wide Web sites and public service announcements.
The deadline for receipt of entries for the 2008 Aesculapius Award competition is September 5, 2008. Any WWW site or PSA that promotes public awareness, understanding or involvement in health, health care or health policy is eligible. Entries are judged by panels of communications and health professionals. Past honorees include the American Dietetic Association, the American Institute for Cancer Research, American Lung Association, and Texas Heart Institute. The contest is sponsored by the Health Improvement Institute. For information, visit www.hii.org.
