New Jersey has moved to keep the wealthy out of healthcare programs for the poor after a state audit found people earning as much as $295,000 enrolled in taxpayer-funded health programs created for low-income people. The state Assembly has approved legislation requiring the state to verify applicants' incomes. The Senate approved the bill, so it needs only the governor's signature.
The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration has approved Ten Broeck Tampa Inc.'s certificate-of-need application for a freestanding 40-bed, $15.7 million adult psychiatric and substance abuse hospital in the Wesley Chapel area of Pasco County.
The decision, announced late Friday afternoon, comes at the expense of rival Morton Plant North Bay, which had sought CON approval for a freestanding $17 million, 19,257-square-foot, 70-bed psychiatric hospital that included a 40-bed adult psychiatric hospital, a 20-bed adult substance abuse unit, and a 10-bed child/adolescent psychiatric hospital.
Morton Plant North Bay spokeswoman Beth Hardy says the hospital, part of the BayCare Health System, has not determined whether it will appeal the decision. "It's too soon to tell," Hardy says. "We are in the process of evaluating the situation and expecting to make a decision over the coming weeks."
"Obviously, we are disappointed because we continue to believe that we are the best choice," Hardy says. "It is our understanding that a freestanding site cannot participate in all Medicaid programs. But we are part of a hospital license, so our project would be able to do so. We believe that is very important."
Ten Broeck's 34,500-square-foot Wesley Chapel hospital project includes a 35-bed adult psychiatric unit and a five-bed adult substance abuse unit. Ten Broeck officials did not immediately return telephone calls on Friday afternoon.
The Ten Broeck and Morton Plant North Bay projects were opposed by Community Hospital in New Port Richey, which told AHCA that another psychiatric hospital in the region would duplicate the services that it already provides.
AHCA also approved the CON application for a $19.6 million, 50,000-squarefoot 40-bed comprehensive medical rehabilitation hospital in Ocala, filed by HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital of Ocala, LLC. The application, which was submitted in February, was opposed by Leesburg Regional Medical Center, which said the project would "absorb virtually" all the rehabilitation patients in Marion County who are now served by LRMC.
Northwestern University is terminating its long-standing academic affiliation with Evanston Northwestern Healthcare, paving the way for a similar teaching and research relationship with the University of Chicago. The coming change is expected to shake up the landscape among some of the Chicago area's most prestigious names in academic medicine. The end of Northwestern's affiliation with the healthcare provider also will eventually result in the Northwestern name coming down at Evanston Northwestern Healthcare. The changes will occur during a one-year transition period, and will involve more than 700 full-time and part-time faculty out of more than 3,000.
Employer healthcare costs are poised to rise almost 10% in 2008, more than double the annual inflation rate. And it will likely increase nearly that much again in 2009, according to study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers. The report said the two factors driving the increase were a hospital building boom, and an increase in the expenses those with insurance are paying for those without.
Most group health plans cover employees’ children until the age of 19, or often up to 23 if they are full-time students. As a result, young adults are the fastest-growing group of the uninsured as recent graduates get dropped from their parents' health insurance. But with the economy weakening, and entry-level jobs that offer health coverage harder to find, some recent graduates are coming up with creative ways to get health coverage.
The American Medical Association has issued its first health insurance report card, with the primary focus on how quickly and accurately doctors get paid. The report card is an effort to reduce the cost of claims processing to doctors and help them as they negotiate contracts with insurance companies. It will also help patients if it reduces wasteful administrative costs, said AMA representatives. The report card compares Medicare and seven national commercial health insurers on the timeliness and accuracy of claims processing, and is based on a random sample drawn from 3 million claims.
Ben S. Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, told a Congress symposium convened by the Senate Finance Committee that health spending would "rise relentlessly" unless lawmakers overhauled the healthcare system. Bernanke said Congress could establish an independent healthcare panel like the one used to recommend the closing of military bases. Congress could approve or reject the panel's recommendations, but not amend them, he added. Another alternative Bernanke presented was establishing a commission like the Federal Reserve Board to set health policy.
The first step to helping emergency room patients feel better could be telling them how long they'll have to wait, according to a national survey conducted by healthcare consulting firm Press Ganey. The survey of more than 1.5 million patients in over 1,600 ERs found that although satisfaction decreased the longer a patient waited, consistent communication with ER staff helped people feel comfortable and cared for.
Washington, DC, is gearing up for another run at healthcare reform, as the Congressional Budget Office has nearly doubled its health policy team and the Brookings Institution has snatched up more than a dozen researchers for a new center devoted to healthcare innovations. Smaller Washington think tanks are also taking experts from academia, private companies, and the Bush administration. With the renewed interest, many political and policy experts say the stars may be aligned for Congress to make big changes.
After a hepatitis C outbreak in southern Nevada drew focus on the Board of Medical Examiners' operations, Nevada regulators have decided to post more information about doctors' malpractice history on the Board's Web site. The outbreak spurred criticism of the way the board distributes information about the doctors it licenses and censures. The current Web site lists the names of doctors who've been disciplined and the nature of the infraction, and the board plans to add to that a searchable database of all doctors named in malpractice cases that ended in a settlement, award, or judgment.
