The Senate Finance Committee has outlined a proposal to add a 5% bonus to Medicare payments for primary-care docs. General surgeons who practice in rural areas where surgeons are scarce would also qualify. But still unclear is how to pay for it, notes this blog posting from the Wall Street Journal.
In a new survey conducted by employee benefits firm Mercer, nearly half of the 428 employers polled said they plan to shift more health costs to employees in 2010. One-fifth of the companies said they planned to add or switch to a high-deductible or consumer-directed health plan with a health savings account, perhaps doubling the percentage of employers who offer such plans, Mercer said. A big reason is that employers say the recession isn't just crimping business; it's also expected to drive up their healthcare costs.
Electronic health records need a nudge from the government if the technology is to become widespread, the nation's new health information technology czar said. "It is clear that this field has not advanced (enough) ... when left exclusively to the private sector so there is a public role," said David Blumenthal, MD, head of the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.
The Florida Senate has passed a measure that would streamline the Florida KidCare program, but the bill may never get heard in the House. Republicans there say they are worried the changes will cost too much at a time when the state is struggling to balance the state budget. Supporters, however, dispute that the bill will cost the state anything extra. They say there's enough money in the existing program to take care of the estimated $15 million cost. Florida KidCare is an umbrella program that includes the Healthy Kids program, which provides subsidized health insurance to families to those who make up to 200% of the federal poverty line. There are nearly 176,000 children enrolled in the Healthy Kids program, which also gets matching federal money.
As swine flu has spread to most San Francisco-area counties over the past few days, worried residents have been descending on hospitals and clinics at the first sign of ill health, to the chagrin of the region's public health officials. A perception that there has been a sudden explosion of swine flu cases may be prompting people to seek medical care, said San Mateo County Health Officer Scott Morrow, MD.
Health insurer CIGNA Corp. lowered its profit and membership forecasts for the year after its first-quarter earnings fell short of expectations and said it would take further actions to cut expenses. CIGNA, which announced in January that it would cut 1,100 jobs companywide, plans additional expense reductions "to improve our competitive position in the marketplace," said David Cordani, president and chief operating officer. The size of the new cuts won't be disclosed until second-quarter earnings are announced, but Cordani said they will include "employment-related cost reductions," consolidation of vendors and other actions.
At the heart of the healthcare debate that will soon occupy Washington is a huge conundrum, says Peter Baker in this blog posting for the New York Times. It's one thing to say that it makes no sense for a country to spend so much on procedures that ultimately will do little to extend or improve the lives of those nearing death, Baker says, but as a personal matter, it's another to deny your own grandmother an operation that may at least make her last days more comfortable.
New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is expected to abandon his plan to ask public employees to pay more for their healthcare coverage when he unveils his latest budget proposal. The mayor had hoped to convince labor leaders that union members should pay 10% of their healthcare premiums, as part of an overall attempt to save $1 billion in pension and healthcare costs. Many employees now pay nothing, so a 10% contribution could save the city $350 million. But negotiations between the city and the unions have proved difficult.
More than two dozen states have not stocked enough of the emergency supplies of antiviral medications considered necessary to treat victims of swine flu should the outbreak become a full-blown crisis, according to federal records. The medications are part of a national effort to be prepared for a pandemic: If a health crisis wiped out drug supplies in pharmacies and hospitals, or if families were unable to get to their doctors, local and state officials could quickly distribute stockpiled medications.
Wondering what top fire safety danger to mention the next time you run into your facilities director or safety officer?
First and foremost, ask them to keep a close eye on the kitchen and other cooking areas, as cooking operations are the source of 52% of blazes in hospitals and hospices, according to data from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).
This cooking-related problem persists despite it being well documented over the years.
“[With cooking], you’ve got a heat source, you’ve got a fuel source, and at some point if not supervised properly, you’ve got a fire,” says David Demers, PE, CFI, owner of Demers Associates, Inc., in Lunenburg, MA. Demers is a member of an NFPA technical committee on venting systems for cooking appliances.
Even though cooking fires remain troublesome in hospitals, Demers has seen the number of such fires decrease from years past because facilities have limited the amount of deep-fat frying done in kitchens.
However, risky spots to monitor are privately run restaurants and snack bars in hospitals, which still often deep fry foods, he said.
The fire statistics come courtesy of Structure Fires in Medical, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse Facilities, a report which the NFPA published in February 2009 and can currently be downloaded for free.
Going by the report’s statistics, which cover the period from 2003–2006, there are 1,600 fires in hospitals and hospices annually, which result in an average of one death and 29 civilian injuries.
As a comparison, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 99,000 people die each year from infections they acquire during hospital stays.
In other words, life safety prevention strategies and associated regulatory pressure from The Joint Commission and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are working well to keep fire-related casualties low in hospitals.
The NFPA combines statistics for hospitals and hospices into one category. Those settings experience an average total of $5.5 million in direct property damage from fires.
Some other interesting tidbits from the report:
• Fires in hospitals typically occur on a weekday, with peak hours from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Three out of four fires in hospitals and hospices were too small to activate sprinklers
• During fires large enough to activate sprinklers, the sprinklers were 100% effective when they operated properly
