Simi Valley (CA) Hospital has terminated its state contract to accept Medi-Cal patients and will now treat such patients only on an emergency or outpatient basis. The state's Medi-Cal reimbursement rate was too low, so the 153-bed hospital ended its contract, said hospital representatives.
California's top insurance regulator has accused Blue Shield of 1,262 violations of claims-handling laws and regulations that resulted in more than 200 people losing their medical coverage. Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner is seeking a $12.6-million fine.
Georgia's Emory University may move its hospital, outpatient clinic and some research facilities to the school's satellite campus, a a proposal stunning in scope. Driving the discussion is the University's desire to modernize its medical facilities and make them more accessible for patients.
A fight in Georgia over the state's healthcare regulations has erupted again this week. The standoff largely pits Gov. Sonny Perdue, who backs an overhaul of state healthcare regulations, against House leaders. The fight also renews the long-running legal and lobbyist battle between hospitals and general surgeons over the right to open surgery facilities.
A recent court decision that determined doctors who own an outpatient-surgery center in North Jersey were in violation of a state law prohibiting self-referrals has lawyers scrambling to protect the alternative to hospital treatment. Lawyers representing the state's 200 ambulatory-surgery centers have asked the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners to clarify its position.
The Massachusetts Public Health Council has delayed a vote until January 2008 on whether to allow medical clinics to operate inside retail stores in the state. CVS Corp. had asked for waivers from existing regulations so the chain could open 20 to 30 MinuteClinics in Boston-area stores in the to treat minor illnesses. Instead, state health officials decided to develop new regulations to address the concept of retail clinics.
High-cost and high-volume conditions helped drive the national hospital bill up 7 percent in 2005, to $873 billion. The record high nearly doubled 1997 spending when adjusted for inflation, according to a report from the federal Agency for Health Care Research and Quality.
The National Federation of Independent Business has warned politicians and policy makers not to impose new health-benefit obligations on small employers. In a statement, the group said that "a healthcare system built on employer mandates or on play-or-pay taxes is unacceptable." The group also called for universal healthcare, with a government safety net to help the neediest obtain coverage.
Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine proposed an expansion Wednesday of the state's effort to subsidize healthcare for the uninsured, but a tight budget forecast kept the governor from expanding the proposal to hundreds of thousands of residents who lack coverage.
For the second time, President Bush has vetoed a bipartisan effort in Congress to expand government-provided health insurance for children. Bush said the bill was unacceptable because it allows adults into the program, would cover people in families with incomes above the U.S. median and raises taxes.
