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Archive of Health Care on Monday May 05, 2008
States look to rein in private Medicare plans
WASHINGTON - State officials say they will soon ask Congress for more power to regulate the marketing of private Medicare insurance plans to older Americans because they are still receiving complaints of high-pressure sales tactics that have led some beneficiaries to sign up for unsuitable policies. Read More
$66.2B budget will roll out Crist's health-insurance plan
The Florida Legislature skidded to the finish line of the 2008 session Friday, approving a $66.2 billion budget, help for children with autism, and a sweeping health-insurance plan sought by Gov. Charlie Crist. Read More
Mental health policy costs state Medicaid funds
At a time when officials are scrambling to find money to balance the state budget, Connecticut is losing out on millions of dollars in federal Medicaid revenue because of its continued over-reliance on nursing homes to house the mentally ill. Read More
Governor to consider health care bill
Legislators sent Gov. Kathleen Sebelius health care legislation that supporters say provides greater access to health care for many Kansans and saves them money on insurance. Read More
Minnesota Legislature: Health fund a sticking point as budget talks move slowly
Legislative leaders and Gov. Tim Pawlenty ignored Sunday's beautiful weather -- 67 degrees and sunny skies -- and huddled in the Capitol for a second straight day of closed-door talks designed to end the 2008 Legislature. Read More
Medical Society takes 'neutral' position on stem cell ballot initative
After five years of supporting embryonic stem cell research, the Michigan State Medical Society changed its policy Sunday to a neutral position on the controversial issue that may appear on the November ballot. Read More
State's insurance program for kids a big success
An expansion in Pennsylvania's Children's Health Insurance Program helped add more than 15,000 children to the program in a year, according to the state Department of Insurance. Read More
Palin balances newborn's needs, official state duties
The results of Gov. Sarah Palin's prenatal testing were in, and the doctor's tone was ominous: "You need to come to the office so we can talk about it." Read More
Trauma system will be priority in session, Wills says
Funding a statewide trauma system that could cost $25 million will be a priority during the 2007 legislative session despite what is expected to be a tight budget cycle, the next House speaker said Friday. Read More
Mental health help hit by budget crunch
Hundreds of psychiatric patients will no longer receive personal therapy or casework. Sixteen low-income schools will lose on-site crisis-intervention services. Group homes for teens may see a vital county subsidy disappear. Read More
Bill would shift care from nursing homes to communities
State Senators have approved a plan to help more than 5,000 elderly and disabled people in Connecticut move from nursing homes and other institutions back to their homes or other community settings. Read More
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist wrings success out of legislative session
With a sluggish economy's stranglehold on state finances, there should have been few winners at the 2008 legislative session. But Charlie Crist exits from his second session as Florida's governor with much of what he wanted. Read More
Tampa Bay area's legislative rewards small in lean budget year
Stopping lead-laced toys from being distributed and sold in Florida seemed like "an apple pie bill" to Sen. Charlie Justice. The Senate even passed it. Read More
'Pain' seen in session fallout
All eyes in the Capitol fixed on House Speaker Marco Rubio on Friday as he huddled with a handful of fellow representatives and the closing moments of the legislative session ticked away. Read More
Winners and losers in the 2008 Florida Legislature
A list of legislation that passed in this year's regular session of the Florida Legislature, which ended Friday, from The Associated Press. Read More
Belt-tightening session comes to an end
Florida lawmakers ended their annual session Friday by approving a tight-fisted state budget and stitching together plans to provide modest health coverage to kids with autism, the working poor and small businesses. Read More
Florida governor praises budget, while Democrats grimace
As Gov. Charlie Crist praised the Legislature for its "great work" Friday night, his own human services secretary, Bob Butterworth, stood a few feet away and gave a very different critique of the 2008 session. Read More
Lawmakers OK health-care plan for uninsured
State legislators approved a plan to provide basic health insurance Friday for nearly 4 million Floridians who can't afford coverage, calling it "a giant step" toward protecting the poor and working poor. Read More
Rubio leaves mixed record
His last moments in power ticking away, House Speaker Marco Rubio kneaded his forehead with his hands and turned his back to the rest of the chamber. It had happened again. Read More
It came down to money -- and there wasn't enough
Republicans at the helm kept one eye on a fuel gauge that showed tax collections on fumes and another on the approaching storm of the November elections. The result was a $66.2-billion budget with more than $4 billion in spending cuts targeted largely at school children, the sick and the elderly. Read More
Florida lawmakers lament lack of money
While the budget is the only thing lawmakers must do, they tackled other issues as well, ranging from deadly serious programs to expand insurance coverage of autism, the issue that brought the session to an emotional, last-minute climax to the seriously absurd: the short-lived ban against displaying bull genitalia on bumpers. Read More
Necessity, not politics, ruled '08 session
A souring economy and a worrisome election year forced Florida's Republican-led Legislature to moderate its politics in the session that ended Friday because it had no other choice. Read More
State shifting funds for disabled from institutions toward care within community
MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. -- There was clearly so much wrong with the young man. The nurses at Central State Hospital said he was 16. He had a tube sticking out of his neck, and his arms were bent at unnatural angles. Read More
Bill limits cigarettes to fire-safe versions
By 2009, smoking in your home might get a little safer after state lawmakers passed a bill requiring only fire-safe cigarettes be sold in Hawaii. Read More
Iowa JEL representatives to attend tobacco company meeting
State officials are spending some of the state's anti-smoking money on a trip for five Iowa high schoolers and their adult mentor. Read More
Hospitals cautious when seeking to build
About 95 percent of all Iowa hospitals that apply for state approval to relocate or expand their facilities are granted permission. But that does not mean approval is easy to get. Read More
Legislator -- Keep new law quiet
Iowa lawmakers quietly passed a bill in the final hours of the 2008 legislative session that would allow most of the state's hospitals to bypass public approval for the construction of new facilities. Read More
Schellinger, Long Thompson trade jabs over their TV ads
One features grainy, washed-out images of Jim Schellinger and tells viewers he opposes cutting gasoline taxes and that he favored raising property taxes to build the "expensive schools" he designed as an architect. Read More
Records show Kline didn't drop efforts
Phill Kline didn't abandon attempts to prosecute Wichita abortion provider George Tiller after leaving the attorney general's office, recently unsealed court records show. Read More
Medical funds added to budget
House lawmakers may have found an additional $8.6 million to help train doctors in Wichita -- though not how people originally envisioned. Read More
Supreme Court unseals records in abortion cases
The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday unsealed two lawsuits demanding that Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline return abortion records to Planned Parenthood. Read More
Doctor training gets funding
Rural rotations by doctors who get specialized training in Wichita will be funded by $1.5 million included in a health care reform package sent to the governor Saturday. Read More
Enduring cancer without coverage
When Tracie Revis started her fight against cancer more than two years ago, she didn't expect to take on a health care system ill-equipped to handle an uninsured 20-something. Read More
Inmates exposed to 'superbug,' lawsuits say
Lonnie Napier says he was infected with the flesh-eating bacteria at the Laurel County Detention Center, and that his wound grew so gangrenous that a portion of his scrotum had to be removed. Read More
In teen's memory, a mental health push
The teenager spoke so eloquently about the wild cycles of bipolar disorder that she drew tears from a State House audience last May. Read More
Michigan governor released from hospital after surgery
LANSING, Mich. - Gov. Jennifer Granholm has been released from a hospital four days after emergency surgery for an intestinal obstruction. Read More
State cash to boost city nursing care
The Michigan Department of Community Health plans to announce today a $1.7 million investment into Detroit nursing homes to improve the quality and skills of the staff serving a population of low-income, minority residents with chronic and mental health issues. Read More
Granholm released Saturday after surgery
Gov. Jennifer Granholm left Sparrow Hospital on Saturday, four days after undergoing surgery to repair an intestinal blockage. Read More
House committee won't vote on Insure Missouri until hospitals sign off on regulation changes
Gov. Matt Blunt's Insure Missouri plan for expanding government-funded health care has become a hostage in a fight about government regulation of medical facility expansion. Read More
Four groups make deadline to file initiative petitions
Supporters angling to get their initiative petitions on the November ballot dropped off boxes filled with petitions and tens of thousands of signatures Sunday. Read More
Springfield nursing home cited after resident dies
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - A Springfield nursing home was cited after investigators determined employees had not adequately addressed the needs of a patient who later died. Read More
Study finds 1 in 5 babies lags on shots
Nearly one in five North Carolina toddlers fails to get properly vaccinated against childhood diseases, says a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Read More
Smokers feel like tax targets
Ernie Jones of Boscawen has been smoking cigarettes for about 20 years, but he may be ready to quit. That'll depend on whether lawmakers back Gov. John Lynch's proposed 25 cent hike in the cigarette tax. Read More
Corzine fulfills vow to himself
He went out a little fast, but then again, he'd been looking forward to this for a long time. Read More
Workers comp, hospital funding on legislature's agenda
The Legislature returns to Trenton today with a slate of more than a dozen Senate and Assembly committees taking on issues from workers' compensation to monitoring the fiscal health of hospitals. Read More
eadly exposure: Plutonium-related cancers plague children of the Manhattan Project
On its unclassified surface, the quiet mountain town of Los Alamos seemed an idyllic place to raise children in the 1940s and 1950s. Read More
State wants input at health meetings
FARMINGTON, N.M. - The New Mexico Department of Health is hosting meetings Wednesday and Thursday to collect local input on the state's strategic health plan Read More
$147M in pork headed home
Lawmakers are showering $147 million in pork-barrel spending on 10,000 programs, agencies and charities back home this election year. Read More
Ohio project works to educate Amish on breast cancer
A statewide project to encourage Amish and Mennonite women to undergo regular breast exams is working to overcome cultural and transportation issues to reduce the high number of deaths from breast cancer in the two populations. Read More
Agency studies court decision affecting thousands of workers
The state insurance fund for injured workers is trying to figure out the impact of a court ruling that in theory could allow hundreds of thousands of previously settled injured workers claims to be reopened. Read More
Official says Oklahoma's addiction treatment services fail to meet needs
Terri White, commissioner for the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, said Friday that although the state was gradually increasing its level of services to those suffering from drug and alcohol addiction, many adults and adolescents are still not receiving timely or adequate treatment. Read More
Nursing home sex harassment case settled
Wildwood Care Center and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission have settled a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former employee of the Tulsa nursing home, EEOC officials announced Friday. Read More
Budget, health care high on agenda as lawmakers return
When legislators return to the Capitol today, they will face a jam-packed agenda that includes Gov. Ed Rendell's proposals to help people without health insurance and develop alternative fuels. Read More
More members of R.I. General Assembly paying part of health cost -- voluntarily
The public spotlight placed on their free health-care benefits has prompted several more state lawmakers to offer to pay 10 percent of the cost of the premiums costing up to $16,233 a year for family coverage. Read More
Reports show systemic abuse at Texas' psychiatric hospitals
Patients with severe mental illness are committed to Texas' state psychiatric hospitals to be protected from themselves. Instead, some are suffering vicious abuse from the very caregivers hired to look after them. Read More
For the elderly, being heard about life's end
HANOVER, N.H. - Edie Gieg, 85, strides ahead of people half her age and plays a fast-paced game of tennis. But when it comes to health care, she is a champion of "slow medicine," an approach that encourages less aggressive - and less costly - care at the end of life. Read More
Fiscal pressures lead some states to free inmates early
NEW YORK - Reversing decades of tough-on-crime policies, including mandatory minimum prison sentences for some drug offenders, many cash-strapped states are embracing a view once dismissed as dangerously naive: It costs far less to let some felons go free than to keep them locked up. Read More
Utah's 300 new laws to take effect today
Friends will gather today to raise a glass and bid farewell to a dear friend, the Long Island Iced Tea, the potent concoction of five different liquors that has been the source of countless hangovers and untold regrets. Read More
State hopes to reduce unintentional prescription drug overdoses
Shane Player, 26, was badly injured in a head-on car crash in 2006. His ear was torn off, he had 64 stitches on his face and he suffered extensive nerve damage. Read More
Proposed special-ed changes opposed
Parents and their advocates are mobilizing against proposed changes to the state's special-education regulations that they fear would rupture carefully forged working relationships and minimize parental input. Read More
Officials agree on health care deal
Lawmakers reached a compromise late this week on an omnibus health care bill that will allow some Vermonters with pre-existing conditions to receive coverage under Catamount Health. Read More
Teacher pension transfer faces several hurdles
Members of West Virginia's only public 401(k)-style retirement plan face several hurdles in their quest to join another state-run pension program. Read More
Rally for health-care reform draws 200 people to Capitol
More than 200 people from a diverse coalition of groups rallied Saturday at the Capitol to call for "health care for all." Read More
Teacher pension transfer plan hits key date today
Today marks D-Day in the campaign to allow teachers and others to leave West Virginia's only public 401(k)-style retirement plan for another state-run pension program. Read More
Parents turn to states for autism help
(UPDATED 4 p.m. EDT, Thursday May 1) One of the toughest problems facing autism patients, their families and policymakers is paying for treatment. Families are increasingly relying on states to help them cope with the financial, medical and educational needs. Read More
Legislators prod Congress on Medicaid, Real ID
As some states tumble into what they fear is a recession, state lawmakers from across the country are pushing Congress for relief from impending federal rules that would force states to pick up more Medicaid costs and spend billions to make drivers’ licenses more secure. Read More
More states offer choice in long-term care
More states are poised to offer a successful alternative to traditional Medicaid plans that allows elders and the disabled to avoid moving to a nursing facility by hiring friends, neighbors or family members to look after them in their own homes. Read More
Medicaid: Biggest insurer is a budget buster
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