Fourteen medical centers nationwide have been selected to participate in the newly created NFL Player Care Foundation, which will provide access to world-class medical technology and financial assistance to vested players who need it. The program will be funded by the NFL Alliance.
A host of critics are demanding that nonprofit hospitals in Ohio like the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals do more to detail their acts toward public good, such as amounts of charity care. The IRS is also targeting the facilities for more information and reporting.
Cleveland-based MetroHealth Medical Center said earlier this year that it lost $8.9 million during the first nine months of 2007 in part because of uncompensated care it provided to a rising number of nonpaying patients showing up at the emergency room. Now community activists that are fearful the hospital is bearing too great a burden are planning to talk about solutions.
Minnesota House Republicans want to loosen regulations limiting the kind of insurance consumers can buy, opening up the state's nonprofit HMO market to more competition. Proponents of the plan say it will drive down prices.
Chemicals used to keep hospitals clean and to treat patients could be harmful to nurses who are exposed to them in their daily duties, according to a study released by the Environmental Working Group and Health Care Without Harm. The chemicals could have long-term effects on nurses' health and the health of their children, according to the research.
The health industry is creating the medFICO score to judge patient's ability to pay their hospital bill. The medFICO score could debut as early as this summer in some hospitals. It is already being questioned by consumer advocacy groups that fear it will be checked before patients are treated.
The Pennsylvania Senate has voted to extend a malpractice insurance subsidy for doctors and hospitals through 2008, but has rejected an effort to divert a surplus from a malpractice reserve fund to pay for adult health insurance.
Phillipsburg, NJ-based Warren Hospital has agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle Medicare fraud claims. Federal prosecutors claimed the hospital was overbilling the government for the treatment of patients whose needs did not meet typical Medicare parameters.
The Washington, DC, City Council has givem initial approval to legislation that would make the District the first jurisdiction in the country to license pharmaceutical sales representatives. The move is a blow to the prescription drug industry, and could have national implications if states follow the Washington, DC's lead.
