Florida's attorney general has questioned the constitutionality of the federal healthcare bill, and is calling on states to study whether to file suit to kill a provision requiring that individuals buy health insurance or pay a fine. William McCollum, a Republican who is running for governor in 2010, said that the fine might be illegal because, in his view, it is disconnected from any commercial act. The attorneys general of South Carolina and nearly a dozen other states have also threatened to sue over the mandate, the New York Times reports.
Since 1996, the Richmond, VA, area has lost more than 600 of its hospital beds, mostly because of state regulations on capacity. Several hospitals have closed, and others have shrunk. In 1996, the region had 4.8 hospital beds for every 1,000 residents. Today, it has about three. But the quality of care in Richmond is better than in most American metropolitan areas, according to various measures, and it continues to improve. Medicare data, for example, shows that Richmond hospitals do a better-than-average job of treating heart attacks, heart failure, and pneumonia, the New York Times reports.
Even after plans to reduce staff and close units, Miami-based Jackson Health System is getting close to its bare minimum for cash-on-hand. As of Oct. 31, Miami-Dade's public hospital system had 20.8 days of cash to pay its bills, including payroll. Even accounting for planned cost-cutting measures, Jackson estimates it will have 16.5 days of cash in May and will drop dangerously low to 2.4 days of cash in August 2010, the Miami Herald reports.
Baptist Health South Florida is back into the black with net income of $131.3 million in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30. That's up from a loss of $71.7 million in 2008. The nonprofit hospital operator saw most of the turnaround thanks to improved performance in its investment portfolio. Baptist Health gained $1.1 million from investments in fiscal 2009, compared to a loss of $210.4 million in fiscal 2008.
Medicare advocates say a growing number of older adults are getting ensnared in the program's complex rules, as more seniors return to work or put off leaving their jobs, the Wall Street Journal reports. In January, Rep. Kurt Schrader (D, OR) plans to introduce a bill designed to make it easier for those 65 and older who leave jobs to switch from their employer's group health insurance to Medicare. Among other things, the bill would eliminate the delays that some experience before their Medicare benefits go into effect.
UNC Health Care and CIGNA HealthCare of North Carolina have settled their differences and reached terms for a new two-year contract. The agreement means CIGNA insurance customers will not have to worry about paying out-of-network charges to receive treatment at UNC Hospitals and Rex Hospital and from UNC and Rex physicians. The two organizations expect to sign definitive contracts within the coming days.
Duke Raleigh (NC) Hospital is preparing a long-range expansion plan that will continue transforming the hospital into a specialty medical campus. Initial plans, which the Duke health system board is expected to approve in January, call for expanding the Raleigh hospital's emergency department and operating rooms. Since the Duke University Health System bought the former Raleigh Community Hospital in 1998, it has pumped nearly $120 million into renovations and improvements at the facility, the Raleigh News & Observer reports.
The new hospital in Maple Grove, MN, opens Dec. 30 and several hospital executives and local elected officials will be on hand to greet the first patients. The hospital opens with 30 private patient rooms, but that could expand to 90 as demand increases. The hospital also opens with a staff of 200 but expects to double that by the end of 2010.
Millions of Americans receive implanted cardiovascular devices such as pacemakers and stents, but many of the devices are not subjected to rigorous safety and effectiveness research before being approved for use, according to a study. It's common for such devices to receive Food and Drug Administration approval based on information from only a single study, which "raises questions about the quality of data on which some cardiovascular device approvals are based," said the authors. Such scant data do not constitute the kind of high-quality evidence for safety and efficacy that doctors and consumers expect, the authors said.
Oak Lawn, IL-based Advocate Christ Medical Center has added a new kidney transplant program after recently receiving approval from the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board. Advocate Christ Medical Center is partnering with Loyola University Medical Center on the new program so the two can share expertise and donor kidneys if one has a patient awaiting transplant and the other a compatible kidney. Hospital officials said the transplant program will bring an important service to patients and improve their quality of life by consolidating medical care locally.
