After weathering back-to-back budget cuts, Florida hospitals now face a $137 million reduction that could soon put the state's healthcare system into crisis and lead to the closure of some facilities, according to hospital officials. The hospital cuts won't go into effect until spring, when legislators return for the regular lawmaking session to hash out next year's budget. That budget already has a projected deficit of about $4 billion.
Former Sen. Tom Daschle will be the first of President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet choices to undergo a hearing. Daschle, Obama's pick as the next health and human services secretary, is to appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Lawmakers will most likely question him about one of the most contentious aspects of President-elect Barack Obama's domestic agenda: his call for a new public health insurance plan to compete with private insurers. Daschle supports the concept of "a government-run insurance program modeled after Medicare." It would, he says, give consumers, especially the uninsured, an alternative to commercial insurance.
Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen's administration has asked a federal judge to release the state from a decades-old court order in a healthcare lawsuit that could allow the state to drop some TennCare recipients and potentially save the state tens of millions of dollars. The move returns to the forefront a long-standing case over the state's ability to fairly determine whether a group of about 150,000 disabled TennCare recipients are entitled to the benefits.
Leaders of House Democrats say they are scheduling a vote on renewing a politically popular health insurance program for children, giving President-elect Barack Obama an early victory on healthcare. Unless Congress acts, federal funding for the program expires March 31. The legislation will look similar to bills the House and Senate twice approved in 2007.
Milwaukee-based Aurora Health Care has acquired a 43-person physicians group in northern Illinois. Northern Lake Medical Ltd. primary care clinics serve the Illinois communities of Gurnee, Lindenhurst and Fox Lake. Nick Turkal, MD, Aurora's president and CEO, said the affiliation makes sense because a growing number of Illinois residents seek healthcare services in Wisconsin.
With consumers pressed for time and money, Michigan hospitals are adding services for patients to keep them coming back. The basic, consumer-friendly services are growing as health system officials look for ways to help people in a difficult economy. The services include door-to-door shuttles, increased hours, discounts on care, and even gas cards for poor patients and their families.
An Alabama lawmaker wants Jefferson County to divert sales tax dollars earmarked for Cooper Green Mercy Hospital to help pay down the county's $3.2 billion sewer debt. Sen. Scott Beason, R-Gardendale, said his proposed legislation is a good way to resolve the sewer-debt crisis without any additional burden on taxpayers. The measure would remove a guaranteed funding source for Cooper Green, although Beason said he believed the County Commission would find money from elsewhere in the general fund for the hospital.
Free-standing centers tend to have low infection rates, they typically offer pleasant surroundings in newer construction, and parking's rarely a problem. Yet the proliferation of ambulatory surgery centers has some questioning if the lower cost comes at a higher price than people realize. Foremost among the skeptics are traditional acute care hospitals, which say the ambulatory surgery centers draw healthier patients and patients who are more likely to be insured. That leaves hospitals bearing a greater share of charity care.
After more than three years and several location changes, Nemours Foundation will finally break ground on its children's hospital in February. Nemours officials said that groundbreaking for the hospital and children's clinic will be held on Feb. 25 at Lake Nona's medical city complex. The hospital, which will be built in a complex near the University of Central Florida's College of Medicine and the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, will likely open in the second half of 2012.
Florida Hospital Altamonte is opening its new $14 million surgical suite Jan. 12. The 30,000-square-foot area includes six operating rooms equipped with advanced technology and offers minimally invasive and robotic surgery.
