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Health care reform may hurt hospital credit ABC News Share     High-cost urban U.S. hospitals may face debt rating downgrades if large cuts to Medicare funding are implemented as part of U.S. health care reform, Moody's Investors Service said on Monday. The U.S. Senate voted on Saturday to debate a reform bill two weeks after the House of Representatives passed its own version of a bill. Both bills seek to expand the number of insured patients, while reining in future health care costs. More
Physician groups vow to lobby hard for SGR fix in Senate Modern Physician Share
When it comes to fixing Medicare's physician payment formula in the House, the livin' is easy. The Senate, not so much. The physician lobby faces an uphill battle in the Senate after the House's uneventful passage of a bill that aims to prevent a scheduled 21.2 percent rate decrease to Medicare physicians next year by reforming the way doctors are paid under the program. Physicians have been waiting for a long time for Congress to fix Medicare's sustainable growth-rate, or SGR, formula, which is based on the economy's health, and has produced results that would have led to payment cuts to physicians every year since 2003. More Can health care pass with public option? CBS News Share
New York Democratic Senator Charles Schumer said he believes Democrats can get the sixty votes needed to pass health care reform even if the final legislation includes the so-called public option on "Face the Nation" Sunday. Three moderate Democrats as well as independent senator Joe Lieberman (I- Conn.) have voiced their concern with voting for any bill containing the alternative government sponsored insurance plan. More ER program aids students and hospital The Huntsville Item Share
Huntsville Memorial Hospital in Huntsville, Texas, has recently developed a program with Sam Houston State University allowing pre-medical students to work in the emergency department. The partnership allows SHSU pre-med students to work as scribes in the emergency department under the supervision of physicians and physician assistants on duty. More Illinois launches long-awaited hospital comparison Web site iHealthBeat Share
Last week, Illinois launched a new Web site that lets residents compare hospitals and surgery centers in the state, the Chicago Tribune reports. The site aims to help consumers become better health care consumers and to hold health care providers accountable for their performance. Legislation passed in 2003 called for the state to create the Hospital Report Card and Consumer Guide. However, the Illinois Department of Public Health's launch of the site was delayed because of funding, legal and regulatory issues. More Medicaid changes could cost Vermont Burlington Free Press Share
The federal government would boost Medicaid payments to states under a Senate proposal to expand the program as part of health care reform. The expansion would burden Vermont taxpayers more than taxpayers in other states.The Senate bill, unveiled last week by Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, would expand Medicaid coverage to people earning up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level -- about $14,400 annually. The federal government would pick up all of the costs for the expansion for the first three years. More |
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