A proposed bill unveiled by Ohio legislators would require insurance companies to offer coverage to dependents up to age 29 and create a pool of high-risk people whose insurance would be subsidized by the state. The legislation would also help small businesses provide coverage for workers through discounts on workers' compensation premiums.
Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann wants to ensure that the state's poor and uninsured pay the same prices for medical care as insurance companies. The move is part of Dann's push to define what nonprofit hospitals must do for their communities to remain exempt from paying property taxes. He is concerned that uninsured patients pay high prices for procedures because they do not get the hefty discounts that insurance companies negotiate.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center has decided to stop those who work on its campus from accepting meals or gifts from the drug industry in a bid to reduce the companies' influence on patient care and trim spending. Under the policy, most employees and students would no longer be allowed to accept lunches, pens with logos or other freebies from pharmaceutical companies or other suppliers.
Scouring claims can prevent battles with payers. Plus reports on Wal-Mart's health clinics, judging effectiveness of treatments, and more. [Powered by Trinity Healthforce Learning.]
Kansas City, MO-based St. Luke's Health System has announced that it intends to terminate its contract with UnitedHealthcare on Feb. 28, 2009. The flap between St. Luke's and UnitedHealthcare is the latest example of contentious relations between health providers and insurers nationwide. Tensions between the two camps have escalated in amid growing concerns over higher healthcare costs and standards for quality and efficiency.
Capital BlueCross Chief Executive Officer Anita Smith said the merger between Highmark Inc. and Independence Blue Cross. would further stifle competition in Pennsylvania's health insurance market unless some conditions are attached. Although Highmark and IBC have testified that the merger wouldn't reduce competition in the state because the two insurers' geographic footprints don't overlap, Smith said her counterparts were omitting key details.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is working with medical professionals to encourage greater use of health-information technology in order to provide safer and more efficient care. Doing so will connect more Americans to information on quality and cost to give them more control over their healthcare options, says HHS Secretary Mike Levitt in an op-ed piece for the Des Moines Register.
Since its inception, the Massachusetts Health Care Reform Plan has dramatically reduced the number of uninsured residents in the state. The plan, however, has created a growing demand for primary healthcare services that cannot be met with the state's existing supply of primary care physicians, say state officials.
The majority of emergency room physicians at St. Anthony's Medical Center in south St. Louis County have resigned and could leave the hospital by April 1, 2008. Several months ago, St. Anthony's began looking into changing how the hospital staffs its emergency room, but several doctors said inadequate nurse staffing and other concerns have also contributed to the discontent.
Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire has announced the adoption of a resolution by three major state medical associations to help ensure that patients are treated fairly by the healthcare system. The Washington State Hospital Association, Washington State Medical Association and the Washington Ambulatory Surgery Center Association have all adopted the voluntary agreement to not ask patients to pay for care related to serious medical errors. The agreement applies to 28 specific "adverse events."
