The first big fight over the Senate Finance Committee's healthcare legislation erupted over a deal that the Obama administration cut with the pharmaceutical industry to achieve $80 billion in savings on drug costs over 10 years. Senator Bill Nelson, Democrat of Florida, has proposed an amendment that would essentially toss out the White House deal with PhRMA, the lobbying association for the drug industry. Nelson said his alternate plan would extract an additional $86 billion more from the drug industry.
Vice President Joe Biden said new data showing health-insurance premiums rising faster in every state than wages or inflation highlight the need for healthcare legislation. The administration released a report with new figures showing the growth in premiums state-by-state over the last decade. Compiled by the National Economic Council, the report says that from 1999 to 2009 premium growth ranged from 88% in Michigan to 145% in Alaska. During the same period, wages and inflation rose in the U.S. by 38% and 28%, respectively.
A healthcare union trying to organize workers at Boston-based Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has assailed the hospital's physicians group for charging a late-night fee for patients who come to the emergency room after 10 p.m. Local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union drew on Medicare claims data that show patients treated by the Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians at five hospitals in the state were billed a surcharge of $30 if they were seen between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. The doctors group and Beth Israel representatives said the fee was a common practice in Massachusetts and nationwide.
The parent of Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago will purchase Lake Forest Hospital for an undisclosed sum. The expected transaction had been in discussions for several months. Lake Forest will become a subsidiary of Northwestern Memorial HealthCare, a joint statement said. The boards of Northwestern Memorial HealthCare and Lake Forest Hospital approved the affiliation agreement.
Health overhaul advocates turned out across the country at rallies targeted against insurance companies and promoting a public insurance alternative as part of health legislation. MoveOn.org, Health Care for America Now, and labor unions said they organized about 150 gatherings. Protesters took aim at the insurance industry for standing in the way of healthcare reform.
Newark, NJ, has enrolled 400 uninsured and underinsured residents in a pilot program that enables them to obtain routine medical care from family doctors. The goal is to prevent people with chronic illnesses from seeking more costly treatment at hospital emergency rooms as a last resort. The yearlong program is expected to save Newark-area hospitals more than $2 million.
Sen. Chuck Grassley is continuing to raise questions about research done by orthopedic surgeon David W. Polly Jr., a Medtronic Inc. consultant and chief of the spine service at the University of Minnesota. Grassley wrote to the university's president raising issues of possible conflict of interest on Polly's part in research on a Medtronic bone-growth product called Infuse. Grassley has been raising questions about doctors who also serve as consultants to drug companies and medical-device makers, and raised the issue of whether Polly might not have alternatively chosen to do his research on another bone-growth product made by a competitor.
George Halvorson, the chief executive of Kaiser Permanente, says he is optimistic about U.S. health reform. Kaiser Permanente, a HMO-style not-for-profit health plan in California, is often held up as a model for a system that provides high-quality patient care, at reasonable cost. Despite this focus, Halvorson told the New York Times he was not concerned about the current emphasis in Washington to expand insurance coverage rather than improve patient care. Congress needs to tackle both issues, he said, but lawmakers need to expand coverage first.
France has long been proud of its national health insurance, but the fast-rising cost of drugs and medical care, particularly for the elderly, has raised the question of how long the country can afford healthcare. Seeking to beat back rising deficits, the government has reduced the reimbursement rate for many medicines and routine medical services, opening a growing market for private insurance policies to cover the steadily increasing co-payments.
Children's National Medical Center announced last week it has received a $150 million gift from the Government of Abu Dhabi for the construction of the new Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation.
The Institute will focus on pain medicine, immunology, bioengineering, and personalized medicine. The goal of the new facility is to make surgery more precise, less painful, and less invasive, said Children's National representatives.
Abu Dhabi presented the gift in honor of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, founder of the United Arab Emirates and president from 1971 until his death in 2004. In addition to creating the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation, the medical center will also name its primary campus in downtown Washington, DC, the Sheikh Zayed Campus for Advanced Pediatric Medicine at Children's National Medical Center.
In a statement, Ahmed Mubarak Al Mazrouei, chairman of the Health Authority-Abu Dhabi, said the people of Abu Dhabi were honored to support Children's National Medical Center's goal to improve children's lives.
"We share a commitment to alleviating suffering and curing disease for children throughout the world," Al Mazrouei said in a statement. "We look forward to outcomes of the center's work in the years ahead, and the positive impact on healthcare delivery for children."
UAE Ambassador to the United States Yousel Al Otaiba added that because illness and disease know no borders, any medical advances require cooperation and partnerships to fully develop resources that will improve medical care.
"This new institute will bring together the best minds in the field of pediatric surgery, pain management, and medical research—all with a singular focus to initiate breakthroughs and find solutions," Al Otaiba said.
The donation will enable Children's National to hire more than 100 surgeons, researchers, and other staff members over the next few years, said hospital officials. The gift will dedicate $60 million to research and programs, $40 million to improving research facilities, $25 million for a surgical institute endowment, and $25 million for other needs at the center, according to a Washington Post article announcing the gift. The hospital will add $100-120 million of its own money for doctors' salaries, new operating theaters and other expenses.
"The creation of the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation represents an incredible investment in knowledge and ideas that will lead to life-saving discoveries," said Kurt Newman, MD, senior vice president of the Joseph E. Robert, Jr., Center for Surgical Care at Children's National, in a statement.
The gift could be just a start of a partnership between Children's National and Abu Dhabi as well: the hospital is also working to develop a partnership with strategic investor Al Qudra Holding to build and operate a pediatric hospital in Abu Dhabi.
"What's going to happen at this Institute in surgery could be replicated in all the medical disciplines, said Richard D. Snowdon, chairman of the Board of Directors of Children's National, in a statement. "This Institute has the potential to fundamentally change pediatric medicine throughout the world."
