As early as March 1, Sacramento county plans to shutter Capital Health Center and Northeast Health Center to trim about $360,000 from its annual budget. The clinics serve a total of about 10,200 visitors a year, said county spokeswoman Laura McCasland. Some said the new closures could portend disaster, forcing sick people to wait longer for appointments at the remaining clinics, to wait in longer lines for care, and to head to emergency rooms if they are unable to get treatment in a reasonable amount of time.
A bill has been introduced in the Alabama House of Representatives that would abolish the state's Certificate of Need program. The proposed legislation would do away with the regulatory review process that requires healthcare providers to get state approval before adding new health services. Rep. Mike Ball, R-Madison, introduced the bill for the second consecutive year, knowing it's not likely to gain much traction. But Ball is frustrated over the regulatory process, which allowed competition between two hospitals over who should be allowed to build a hospital in Madison to drag out for years.
The Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati, the owner of Jewish Hospital, will expand its circle of potential buyers of the facility beyond the Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati. The Foundation has been talking to other hospital companies for more than a year and had focused on the alliance since mid-2008. In a message to hospital employees and community leaders, foundation President Gary Heiman said those talks would continue but the group would "expand our discussions to include other potential partners for the hospital."
Jacksonville-based children's health network Nemours recently moved into a new corporate headquarters in Deerwood, and is scheduled to break ground on a new pediatric campus in Orlando in two weeks. The 95-bed Nemours Children's Hospital in Orlando will include a hospital, clinic, emergency department, diagnostic and ambulatory programs, education and research centers in the 620,000-square-foot facility. It is scheduled to open in 2012.
A relatively small provision in the stimulus bill that would devote about $1 billion in government research funds to figure out which drugs and medical devices work better than others has some industry groups, conservative talk-show hosts, and others crying "rationing."
To proponents, the research would improve quality of care and reduce health costs by limiting the use of drugs and treatments that do not work well.
The Joint Commission and the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services have agreed to share information about infection control breaches such as those blamed for a hepatitis C outbreak last year in southern Nevada. Officials said cooperation between The Joint Commission and the state should improve the detection and reporting of conditions such as those linked to nine confirmed cases of hepatitis C at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada and the Gastroenterolgy Center of Nevada.
Woodland Hills, CA, insurer Health Net has agreed to pay as much as $14 million to settle a pair of lawsuits brought on behalf of 800 former policyholders whose coverage was dropped after they submitted substantial medical bills. Under the deal, individuals whose health insurance policies were canceled since 2004 are eligible for payments of up to $218,000. The average payment is expected to be $7,836.
North Texas lawmakers have urged the state to crack down on Evercare, a health insurer that manages care of 78,000 elderly and disabled Medicaid patients. Republican Sens. Jane Nelson of Flower Mound and Chris Harris of Arlington said that fines against Evercare of Texas haven't worked. At a Senate Finance Committee hearing, both senators said that they still field many complaints from Evercare plan members who can't find doctors willing to see them.
New Jersey is asking 224,000 public employees to show proof that their dependents are eligible for healthcare benefits. The state Pensions and Benefits Divisions has estimated the state is spending as much as $185 million for coverage for those who don't qualify, and the audit is trying to determine if children under 23 are married or if marriages or civil unions have been dissolved.
The Connecticut Office of the Healthcare Advocate, an independent agency that advocates for consumers on health coverage issues, is facing elimination under Gov. M. Jodi Rell's proposed budget. Rell's administration has said the cut was part of an effort to reduce the size of government and that other agencies also monitor health insurance.
