by Chris English on Friday, March 26, 2010
Leave a CommentFeaturing hospital and health care headlines from the media and Web.
Iowa News
Obama revels in triumph, braces for a new fight
President Barack Obama on Thursday challenged Republicans to make the 2010 elections a national referendum on the health care law he championed, arguing that the tactic could be politically risky for them. On his first national trip to begin building support for the law he signed Tuesday, Obama said the legislation would be an economic boon, especially for small businesses. (Des Moines Register)
In Iowa, Obama calls health bill pro-business
President Obama began an aggressive White House public relations blitz to sell his newly signed healthcare overhaul to the public, calling the measure “pro-jobs” and “pro-business” and taunting Republicans who are vowing to repeal it. With polls showing the public still uncertain about the law, Obama will make a series of stops around the country in the coming weeks to tout its more popular provisions, including allowing young people to stay on their parents’ health insurance plans until they turn 26, barring insurers from discriminating against people with pre-existing medical conditions, and granting tax credits to help small businesses cover their workers. (The New York Times)
U.S. News
Congress approves final health overhaul
Democrats pushed the last piece of President Barack Obama’s overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system through Congress, completing the sweeping measure. The House, voting 220-207, gave final congressional approval to the measure, clearing the bill for President Obama’s signature on the ten-year, $938 billion health initiative. The health overhaul will provide tax breaks and subsidies to help small businesses and individuals buy insurance; create state-based marketplaces to spur competition among insurers, and bar insurers from engaging in a range of practices, including denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions, the Wall Street Journal reports. (Wall Street Journal)
Congress approves fixes to healthcare law
Congress has agreed to amend the nation’s new healthcare law, and prepared to head home for a two-week recess and to hear from skeptical voters about the legislation, the Washington Post reports. The last legislative hurdle to clear before recess was a reconciliation bill that contained a number of “fixes” to the healthcare law. Senate Republicans forced 41 votes to strip or alter provisions—although Democrats won every one—and identified 20 words that violated procedural rules, requiring the bill to return to the House to be approved a second time, the Post reports. (Washington Post)
Bigger hospitals may treat some conditions better
People hospitalized with a heart attack, heart failure, or pneumonia fare better if they are admitted someplace that treats a lot of those problems, a large study of Medicare patients finds. Busier hospitals, on average, tended to have lower rates of death from these three common conditions than smaller hospitals. The risk of death dropped until the number treated reached 610 heart attacks, 500 heart failures, and 210 pneumonia cases a year, the study showed. After that point, the number treated didn’t change the outcome. (Associated Press)
More doctors giving up private practices
An increasing portion of young physicians, burdened by medical school debts and seeking regular hours, are deciding against opening private practices. Instead, they are accepting salaries at hospitals and health systems. And a growing number of older doctors—facing rising costs and fearing they will not be able to recruit junior partners—are selling their practices and moving into salaried jobs, too. (The New York Times)
by Chris English on Thursday, March 25, 2010
Featuring hospital and health care headlines from the media and Web.
Iowa News
Obama to visit UI on Thursday
Less than 24 hours after the U.S. House gave final approval to the historic health care reform bill, the White House announced President Obama will visit Iowa City on Thursday to discuss health insurance reform’s effect on small businesses and American families. Obama first announced his health care plan as a presidential candidate in May 2007 in Iowa City, according to the White House. The heavily Democratic Iowa City area served as a frequent campaign stop for Obama from late 2006 to early 2008 during his march to the presidency. Thursday marks his first visit as president. (Iowa City Press Citizen)
12 perspectives on health care reform’s Iowa impact
When President Barack Obama arrives in Iowa today to extol a sweeping new health care law, he will find a state — much like the nation as a whole — not fully convinced of its benefits. Iowa businesses, large and small, feel angst about the possibility that their costs will increase amid a recession still battering the state. And state insurance officials await a deluge of inquiries to their lean staffs as they sift through thousands of pages of new law. (Des Moines Register)
Iowa firm cleans up on 24-hour sanitizer
Ask the multistate mix of men behind Prefenz Botanicals hand sanitizer about their new-and-growing product, you get a mix of complex science and simple enthusiasm. The short version: New chemistry means Prefenz works differently than alcohol sanitizers, sticks to hands longer, and therefore could turn out to be lucrative for a Muscatine company. (Des Moines Register)
Registration opens for USD health care careers camp
High school students interested in health care careers can register now to attend the Fourth Annual Healthcare Careers Summer Camp June 20-25 at the University of South Dakota. Students entering the 10th through 12th grades this fall are eligible to attend. The camp is open to students from South Dakota, northeast Nebraska, northwest Iowa and southwest Minnesota. (Sioux City Journal)
U.S. News
GOP challenges send health bill back to House
Senate Republicans have successfully identified two minor violations of reconciliation rules in the final piece of the healthcare package, forcing the Senate to change the reconciliation bill and ship it to the House of Representatives for final passage. But Democratic leaders said the provisions that will be struck do not significantly affect the student loan program or the healthcare bill overall. The corrected legislation most likely will not be subjected to additional challenges when it is sent back to the House and is expected to receive final approval before the weekend, the Washington Post reports. (Washington Post)
Funds double for health clinics
Federally funded health clinics are set to play an even larger role in the revamped healthcare landscape, which expands Medicaid and other insurance coverage and sharply increases funding for the clinics, the Wall Street Journal reports. The healthcare overhaul that President Barack Obama signed Tuesday boosts funding by $10 billion over five years for the clinics, known as community health centers. The clinics currently receive about $2 billion of federal funds annually, and offer care such as basic blood and dental work to 20 million patients in hundreds of locations across the U.S. (Wall Street Journal)
Lawmakers concerned as healthcare overhaul foes resort to violence
The healthcare overhaul debate has unleashed a rash of vandalism and attacks directed at politicians, with at least 10 House Democrats reporting death threats or incidents of harassment or vandalism at their district offices over the past week. The vandalism began last weekend, when the House debated the health bill for final passage. In Wichita, KS, someone broke the window of a county Democratic Party headquarters with a brick that had “No to Obama” and “No ObamyCare” written on it, the Washington Post reports. (Washington Post)
Free medical clinic to return to Los Angeles area in April
A large-scale free mobile medical clinic that treated more than 6,300 uninsured and underinsured people last summer is scheduled to return to the Los Angeles area in April, volunteers and lawmakers said. Remote Area Medical, or RAM, a Tennessee-based nonprofit group, plans to hold a clinic at the Los Angeles Sports Arena from April 27 to May 3. Last August, the group’s eight-day clinic attracted 3,827 volunteers, including dentists, doctors, and other healthcare workers who provided more than $2.8 million in services at the Forum in Los Angeles. (LA Times)
by Dan Royer on Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Featuring hospital and health care headlines from the media and Web.
Iowa News
Special nurse helps with loss of babies
In her 50 years of service at Iowa Health Des Moines, Mary Lou Olauson has helped families through times of joy and sadness. She began her career as an operating room nurse and transferred to the maternity center in 1960. She currently serves as the bereavement coordinator for Iowa Lutheran and Methodist West hospitals, working on an as-needed basis with families who have lost a newborn or suffered a miscarriage. (Des Moines Register)
Kids learn to take charge of health
A free online health risk assessment at Blank Children’s Hospital is helping children identify behaviors to help achieve and maintain better health. Blank was the first children’s hospital in the country to implement the survey in 2007. Since then, 1,050 children have participated, said Janna Hiatt, community outreach educator at Blank. (Des Moines Register)
Iowa supporters celebrate health care victory
“For health care!,” Iowa supporters of health care reform toasted their success. “It feels almost as great as election day because we really accomplished real change,” says Jan Bauer. Organizing for America celebrated the historic signing of the health care reform bill. “Right now I’m pretty satisfied where we’re at and I’m savoring the victory.” (WHO-TV)
Hospitals should earn tax exemptions
Senator Chuck Grassley should introduce legislation to finally define in federal law what hospitals should do to earn tax-exempt status. That means clearly defining what constitutes “community benefit” and requiring hospitals to provide at least a certain amount of it if they want preferential tax status. (Des Moines Register)
U.S. News
Senate begins debate on health care bill
The U.S. Senate began debate Tuesday on legislation combining the last pieces to the Democratic overhaul of the health-care system and a shake-up to the student-loan industry, commencing what promises to be a contentious few days. President Barack Obama signed into law the main health-care bill earlier Tuesday. It was passed by the Senate on Christmas Eve and then by the House late Sunday by a razor-thin margin. (Wall Street Journal)
Final health care legislation shaped by changing political landscape
In the year it took Congress to write and pass a health care overhaul, turbulent political shifts — including the Democrats’ loss of Sen. Edward Kennedy’s seat and the rise of the Tea Party movement — forced critical compromises on the scope of legislation. (Kaiser Health News)
For many interest groups, health-care bill’s passage isn’t the end
Interest groups that spent the past year fighting over President Obama’s health-care overhaul are quickly transforming themselves for battle in a new arena, working to sway the law to their benefit while helping the lawmakers who supported them during the bruising legislative debate. (Washington Post)
Obama likely has a special place in his heart for Iowa, where he won the caucuses in 2008, which gave him the political momentum that inevitably led to his presidency. Iowa City is also where candidate Obama first laid out his vision for health care reform at the University of Iowa on May 29, 2007. The President begins his victory lap by returning to that same university where he first promised that he would sign a reform bill into law by the end of his first term in office. (Fox News)
Georgia hospitals agree to bed tax in major budget win for Perdue
With hospital officials standing by, grim but resolute, House budget writers on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to a plan to raise more than $175 million through a new fee on hospital revenues. (Atlanta Journal Constitution)
by Scott McIntyre on Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Featuring hospital and health care headlines from the media and Web.
Iowa News
Obama to visit UI on Thursday
Obama is scheduled to speak at 1 p.m. Thursday at the Field House on the University of Iowa campus. The planned capacity for the event is 3,000, UI spokesman Tom Moore said. (Iowa City Press-Citizen)
Local health officials positive about reform package
Jack Dusenbery, chief executive officer of Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare, said reform in the Medicare payment system is crucially needed to recognize Iowa medical providers who practice high-value care, which arguably could help reduce health-care spending. “I’ll play the Iowa card with you,” Dusenbery said. “If there’s not some fairness in the (Medicare) reimbursement, Iowa hospitals and doctors will be losers again.” (Waterloo-Cedar Fall Courier)
Hospital administrators praise health care bill
“Anything to make insurance more affordable is a positive,” said Mike Trachta, CEO at Waverly Health Center. “Regardless of financial impact, the abolishment of pre-existing conditions is an outstanding improvement of the current environment.” (Waverly Democrat)
Health professionals weigh in on reform
“Bruce Braley and other members of the Iowa legislative team deserve a round of applause for demanding and achieving language in this bill, along with assurances from the administration, including the president, that Iowa physicians and hospitals will see some immediate relief from some of the unfair payment inequities we have been forced to live with for many years,” said Dr. Bryan Pechous, a Dubuque ophthalmologist who serves as medical director of The Finley Hospital. (Dubuque Telegraph Herald)
Mercy reaches out to bilingual John Morrell workers
Mercy Medical Center-Sioux City’s Certified Nurse Aide Program for John Morrell Displaced Employees is designed to attract men and women interested in improving the quality of nursing care for Siouxland’s diverse population by increasing the bilingual nursing workforce at Mercy Medical Center. (KCAU)
U.S. News
Obama signs sweeping healthcare overhaul into law
The president links the measure to the historic passage of Social Security after the Depression, and Medicare in the 1960s. Democratic leaders celebrate at signing ceremony. GOP prepares for battle. (Los Angeles Times)
Doctors, hospitals, insurers, pharma come out ahead with health bill
Most health industry sectors are winners – some bigger than others — under sweeping health care legislation that will expand coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans over the next decade, analysts say. (Kaiser Health News)
How Obama revived his health-care bill
It was the Barack Obama the American public rarely sees — irritated and wondering if he had arrived at the moment of defeat. Shortly after 6 p.m. on Jan. 19, with a political crisis about to explode, the president summoned the two top Democrats in Congress to the Oval Office for a strategy session. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) sat alongside Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), the tension in the room acute. (Washington Post)
What does the health care bill mean to me? Calculator tells the story
The health-care overhaul will change the way millions of Americans get health insurance and require nearly everyone to have health insurance or face penalties. A number of factors – including income, age, location and family size – will determine how it specifically impacts your life. This online calculator looks at what it could mean for your health coverage and taxes based on your income, family size and current insurance status. (Washington Post)
Small-business owners unclear on health care impact
As far as shop owner Rob Osborne is concerned, the historic health care reform package that President Obama plans to sign into law Tuesday, is a lot like Osborne’s sub sandwiches: A little bit of this. A little bit of that. And, in the end, made to look digestible. (USA Today)
Parties joust over next steps on health
“There’s a dawning recognition of the significance of this, both on policy and political grounds,” White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said. “At a certain point, winning is winning.” Yet the legislation contains political risk for the Democrats, which the Republicans intend to make every effort to exploit in this fall’s election. No Republican voted for the main bill that passed the House Sunday night on a 219-to-212 vote, nor for a companion bill to make changes to the first bill. Thirty-four Democrats opposed the main bill and 33 voted against the second one. (Wall Street Journal)
Georgia high court overturns state’s tort reform
A unanimous Georgia Supreme Court on Monday struck down limits on jury awards in medical malpractice cases, the cornerstone of the state’s sweeping 2005 tort reform law. The state high court determined that a $350,000 cap on noneconomic damages, which includes compensation for a plaintiff’s pain and suffering, violates the right to a jury trial as guaranteed under the Georgia Constitution. (Atlanta Journal Constitution)
by Chris English on Tuesday, March 23, 2010
A special thanks to all who attended IHA Legislative Day 2010. Your attendance each year goes a long way in helping to improve health care in Iowa.
We’ve put together the following video as a thank you to everyone who helped contribute to making the day a great success!
YouTube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZC-5IEyL4k
