Featuring hospital and health care headlines from the media and the Web.

Iowa News

Keokuk hospital finds support
Keokuk Area Hospital is getting bipartisan support to keep its doors open. A Republican and two Democrats are petitioning Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to help the financially strapped medical center. Sen. Charles Grassley, a Republican, and Democrats Sen. Tom Harkin and Rep. Dave Loebsack drafted a letter asking Sebelius to review options for the hospital. They noted the hospital serves a “particularly needy population,” as more than 23 percent of families in the area live below poverty and Lee County has the second highest unemployment rate in Iowa. About three-quarters of its patient care is paid for by either Medicare or Medicaid, at about 76 percent of costs, or is uncompensated. (Burlington Hawkeye)

Council lauds Mercy for keeping jobs downtown
Sioux City lawmakers took the first step Monday to keep 80 well-paying jobs downtown and praised Mercy Medical Center for making that decision. Mercy wants to buy the Central Medical Building at 500 Jackson St., where it houses 80 administrative employees. Plans call for remodeling the exterior and interior of the building, which is adjacent to Mercy’s main hospital to the east. “Mercy has been very important to Sioux City,” Councilman John Fitch said Monday. “I know you had options. … Choosing to stay in downtown Sioux City is really appreciated.” (Sioux City Journal)

Survey: state budgets facing ‘big squeeze’
While the overall fiscal condition of U.S. states has improved from the depths of the national recession, results of a new national survey issued Tuesday suggested states are facing a ‘big squeeze’ from both local and federal governments. The combination of the effects of the economic downturn, tepid economic growth, and the expiration of federal stimulus and other program funding from Washington has severely impeded the growth of state resources, according to the fall 2011 fiscal survey of states conducted by the National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers. (Eastern Iowa Government)

A certificate worth three years’ hard work
The Parents as Teachers program operated by the Van Buren County Hospital received its certification today from the Iowa Department of Management. The certificate is the result of almost three years’ hard work of the program’s directors and coordinators. The Parents as Teachers program is one that began in Missouri. It is a home visitation program that offers parents the tools they need to foster their child’s development. “We go into the home, and we educate the parents of children 0-5 years of age,” program director Janet Phelps said. “We speak on their child’s developmental stages, the activities that they do and provide information and support to the family.” (KTVO)

New swine flu strain keeps health officials on alert
The new flu strain combines parts of a rare influenza virus — H3N2 – circulating in North American pigs, and the H1N1 virus from the 2009 worldwide flu outbreak. New flu strains develop when flu viruses combine in new ways. They can pose health risks because people haven’t yet developed immunity to them. The new swine flu strain has drawn particular interest because none of the Iowa children sickened last month — all of whom have recovered and are doing fine — nor their families, had known contact with pigs, suggesting person-to-person transmission. (ABC News)

National News

Study: Employers could dump sickest employees on public health care
A loophole in the federal health care overhaul could allow employers to game the system by getting their sicker employees to opt into buying coverage on the health insurance exchanges, according to two University of Minnesota law professors. They say the loophole could have dire consequences for the financial health of the exchanges, which are a key part of President Barack Obama’s health care law. The online marketplaces are intended to make it easier to comparison shop for health plans and also to expand access to coverage for the uninsured. (Kaiser Health News)

Democrats to attack Republicans for pushing Medicare cuts
The Democratic Party will begin a campaign on Wednesday to attack Republican lawmakers for pushing cuts to Medicare benefits during the latest round of failed federal deficit talks, a new turn in a drama that not long ago featured top Democrats expressing a willingness to tinker with the popular entitlement program. The strategy underscores the full-circle nature of the policy fight that has gripped Washington for the past year, as early calls for bipartisan solutions have turned into trench warfare in the wake of last week’s collapse of the debt-reduction “super committee.” (Washington Post)

7 states suing to overturn health overhaul receive federal grants to carry out Obama’s law
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said 13 states will split grants totaling nearly $220 million to help set up health insurance exchanges. Millions of uninsured Americans will be able to buy private coverage through these online supermarkets starting in 2014, with taxpayer-provided assistance to cover the cost of premiums. The seven that are suing and also getting money are: Alabama, Arizona, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Michigan and Nebraska. Three other plaintiff states — Indiana, Mississippi and Nevada — previously got funding. (Associated Press/Washington Post)

Rise in PTSD cases from two wars strains military resources
Ten thousand combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder flooded into VA hospitals every three months this year, pushing the number of patients ill from the disorder above 200,000 and straining resources, Department of Veterans Affairs data to be released today show. Demand for mental health care is only going to continue to grow as thousands more troops return home,” says Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., head of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. “The VA still has work to do to decrease wait times … reduce the stigma around seeking care and to provide access to care in rural areas.” (USA Today)