“Never Events are egregious and they truly should never happen, but at the very least if they do happen, we expect hospitals to take the most humane and ethical approach,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of Leapfrog. “Unfortunately, many hospitals still won’t commit to doing the right thing, including apologizing to the patient or family and not charging for the event. We should see 100% of hospitals with the Leapfrog policy.”
Sonoma West Medical Center confirmed Monday it has defaulted on millions of dollars in loans made to the struggling Sebastopol hospital by its two primary benefactors, raising further questions about its financial viability.
The treasurer for the hospital’s board of directors issued a letter last week warning that Sonoma West could be forced to close without an infusion of money. The warning, however, was questioned Monday night by the board of directors at the Palm Drive Health Care District, which provides financial support to the medical center.
http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2016/06/07/the-ripple-effects-of-medicaid-expansion/
The 19 states that continue to decline federal funding to offer Medicaid coverage to more uninsured residents are missing out on more than just improvements to their uninsured and uncompensated care rates. In fact, the ability of providers in Medicaid expansion states to deliver care to their most vulnerable patients has notably improved.
Residents of Medicaid expansion states—both adults and children—are more likely to have insuranceand thus more likely to have a usual source of care and less likely to have unmet health care needs or problems paying medical bills. Furthermore, Medicaid expansion has helped the financial bottom line forsafety-net clinics and hospitals because more of their patients can afford to pay for their care.
http://www.healthcaredive.com/news/beth-israel-of-nyc-to-undergo-extreme-downsizing/419863/
It also follows the closure of numerous other NYC facilities in recent years due to excess capacity. Those closures included St. Vincent’s in 2010, Cabrini Medical Center in 2008, and and Long Island College Hospital in 2014.
http://www.sunherald.com/news/special-reports/singing-river-health-system/article81375622.html
More than 200 feisty retirees wanted to pursue lawsuits against Singing River Health System over its failed pension plan, but U.S. District Court Judge Louis Guirola Jr. has signed off on a settlement proposed by attorneys for other pension-plan members.
Hillary Clinton last month dusted off a long-standing proposal of hers to expand health care coverage by allowing uninsured people 55 and older to qualify for Medicare – the government health care program for the elderly.
Her proposal potentially could help nearly 13 million Americans below the age of 65 who are currently without insurance. It also provided the former secretary of state with a rejoinder to rival Sen. Bernie Sanders’ call for supplanting Obamacare with a European-style national health insurance program he called “Medicare for All.”
HENRY KOTULA 