The effort to overhaul the nation's health system will begin in 2009 with one clear advantage over previous attempts: A wide variety of interest groups are rooting for it to succeed. That is a stark contrast to the last big healthcare initiative in the early 1990s, when many of the same groups helped block any major change. In addition, Barack Obama's choice of Tom Daschle, a former Senate Majority Leader, as Secretary of Health and Human Services, puts a skilled navigator of Capitol Hill in charge of the president-elect's bid to establish universal healthcare.
Thomas A. Daschle, a former Senate majority leader, will be nominated as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and will take on a broader role as the administration's health policy chief, said several sources close to the transition process. The selection of Daschle is recognition of the central role he played in Obama's political ascendancy and a signal that the incoming president wants an experienced Washington insider to shepherd comprehensive health legislation through Congress.
Leaders of some large academic medical centers and community hospitals called for Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to examine how Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Children's Hospital, and a few other institutions are able to obtain higher payments from health insurers even though there is often no demonstrated difference in the quality of the care delivered by those hospitals. Hospital executives and state officials say the practice of insurers paying substantially higher fees to a handful of Boston medical centers is imperiling some rival hospitals and distorting the greater Boston healthcare market.
The health insurance industry said it will support a national healthcare overhaul that requires them to accept all customers, regardless of pre-existing medical conditions. But in return it wants lawmakers to mandate that everyone buy coverage. Lawmakers have signaled their intent to craft healthcare legislation early in 2009. The new position taken by the insurance industry, which helped sink President Bill Clinton’s plan for universal health coverage in 1994, could ease the way for passage of such legislation.
Washington health officials said they will start tracking MRSA hospital cases and will require hospitals to use federal guidelines in controlling the potentially fatal, drug-resistant bacteria. Department of Health Secretary Mary Selecky emphasized her agency's ongoing actions in controlling the germ. She said hospital tracking of MRSA cases began for the first time in October, through changes in a uniform tracking system. She said her department will analyze the data for trends.
The healthcare industry, often deemed recession-proof, may not be so immune to the economic downturn, according to a parade of recent reports from Moody's Investors Service. The financial ratings firm has issued reports in the past two weeks on various sectors, from hospitals and medical devices to insurance companies, revising the healthcare industry's 12- to 18-month outlook to "negative" from "stable." Moody's sees fewer patients seeking medical care, particularly elective surgeries, while more people could lose their healthcare coverage altogether. Such trends will lead people to delay getting medical care or avoiding treatment.
At least two Pennsylvania lawmakers are hoping that a pending state budget deficit and a dismal economy do not result in spending cuts in the state's $14.8 billion Medicaid program. Both state Rep. Chelsa Wagner and Sen. Wayne Fontana are trying to avoid the cuts, though a spokeswoman for a legislative budget committee said Medicaid reductions were a possibility.
Sutter Health is seeking a pivotal city approval for Elk Grove, CA's first community hospital. The hospital is part of a 488,000-square-foot medical campus. If the Elk Grove Planning Commission gives its initial thumbs up Dec. 4, the project could proceed in stages, starting with an ambulatory surgery center and medical office building completed in about two years. In 2012, Sutter Health also hopes to have completed the first phase of the hospital, a 133,000-square-foot facility with 68 licensed beds.
Along with butler and concierge service, spa and sauna, buyers who purchase homes at a new luxury high-rise in Atlanta receive two years of service from MD on Call, a mobile medical practice that treats patients in their homes. The high-rise, which opened in May but is yet to be occupied, is believed to be the first residential property in Atlanta and among the first in the country to offer medical services to its homeowners.
If Roy Schoenberg, co-founder and chief executive of American Well, has his way, patients will no longer have to wait a month to see a doctor, wait all day for a doctor to return their call, or leave work and drive a long distance for a routine appointment. Instead, patients will log on to their computers and find themselves face-to-face with physicians over Webcam.
