|
In The News is a concise digest of health care news in Vermont and the nation. VMS is not responsible for the content of the articles.
VERMONT NEWS
VERMONTBIZ: Scott names Mark Levine Health Commissioner
Wednesday, Governor-elect Phil Scott announced more extended cabinet appointments. Mark A Levine, MD, has been named Commissioner of Health. Before joining the Governors-elect’s Administration, Levine was a Professor of Health Medicine at the University of Vermont, the Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education and Designated Institutional Official at the College of Medicine and the UVM Medical Center. Levine also served as the Vice Chair for Education in the Department of Medicine. Levine obtained his BA in Biology from the University of Connecticut and received his MD from the University of Rochester. At the nexus of Levine’s clinical, education, public health and advocacy efforts, is his heightened interest in improving health at the population level. More »
VTDIGGER: 2017 Legislative preview: Medicaid, mental health and Vermont Health Connect
When lawmakers begin the legislative session Wednesday, they will be dealing with many of the perennial issues that stem from the ever-rising cost of health care. The Joint Fiscal Office projects that lower-than-expected Medicaid funding from the federal government will be a factor in an estimated $55 million to $75 million gap in the upcoming fiscal year 2018 budget. Specifically, the Legislature will need to begin planning for long-term changes in its mental health care system because in 2021 it will start losing Medicaid as a funding source for the Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital in Berlin, the Brattleboro Retreat and several substance abuse treatment centers. More »
VERMONTBIZ: Brattleboro Memorial Hospital plans $22 million Modernization Project
Brattleboro Memorial Hospital (BMH) has submitted to the Green Mountain Care Board (GMCB) a Certificate of Need (CON) application for a Modernization Project. The project includes the construction of a four story building to house replacement for the three existing operating rooms and support areas, two floors for medical offices, and expansion of cardiopulmonary rehabilitation services. The project also includes upgrading the hospital’s power plant. More »
VALLEY NEWS: D-H Hospital Hit With 1% Medicare Penalty
Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital will be penalized by having its Medicare reimbursements cut by 1 percent during the current fiscal year under a program that aims to reduce injuries and illnesses acquired in hospitals. Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s flagship hospital ranked in the lowest quartile, or 25 percent, of U.S. hospitals in Medicare’s computation of the rate at which patients suffered certain infections as well as blood clots, bed sores and falls, according to the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program is one of several Medicare programs aimed at improving quality and reducing costs. In fact, Mary Hitchcock scored well over a five-year period under another of those programs that looked at a different aspect of quality of care. The penalty related to infections and injuries could result in about a $1.4 million reduction in D-H’s annual revenue, according to health system spokesman Rick Adams. In the fiscal year that ended June 30, Mary Hitchcock and its clinic system posted total revenue of about $1.5 billion, according to its audited financial statement. More »
NATIONAL NEWS
NY TIMES: After Obama, Some Health Reforms May Prove Lasting
The Affordable Care Act is in extreme peril, and Mr. Obama will meet with congressional Democrats at the Capitol on Wednesday to try to devise a strategy that can stave off the quick-strike repeal of the health law that Republicans plan for the opening months of the Trump administration. But the transformation of American health care that has occurred over the last eight years — touching every aspect of the system, down to a knee replacement in the nation’s heartland — has a momentum that could prove impossible to stop. Expanding insurance coverage to more than 20 million Americans is among Mr. Obama’s proudest accomplishments, but the changes he has pushed go deeper. They have had an impact on every level of care — from what happens during checkups and surgery to how doctors and hospitals are paid, how their results are measured and how they work together. More »
WASHINGTON POST: More evidence that we need to stop sitting so much — especially men
In a study published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers looked at the amount of time 4,486 men and 1,845 women spent sitting during work, school and at home. They examined obesity among participants, ages 20 to 79, by measuring the size of their waistlines and percentage of body fat. No matter the metric, the more men sat, the likelier they were to be obese. More »
KEISER HEALTH NEWS: Leading Republicans See A Costly Malpractice Crisis — Experts Don’t
As top Republicans see it, a medical malpractice crisis is threatening U.S. health care: Frivolous lawsuits are driving up malpractice insurance premiums and forcing physicians out of business. Doctors and hospitals live in fear of litigation, ordering excessive tests and treatments that make health care unaffordable for Americans. That’s why Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan and Rep. Tom Price, tapped to be the nation’s top health official by President-elect Donald Trump, are vowing to make tort reform a key part of their replacement plan for the Affordable Care Act. But, according to researchers and industry experts, the reality doesn’t match the GOP rhetoric. They say the nation’s medical malpractice insurance industry is running smoothly and the last crisis dates back more than a decade. More »
THE HILL: Doctors group warns against loss of coverage from ObamaCare repeal
The country’s leading doctors group is urging Republicans to take steps to ensure that people do not lose their health insurance once ObamaCare is repealed. The American Medical Association (AMA), wrote a letter to congressional leaders on Tuesday calling for the gains in coverage from ObamaCare, which has expanded insurance to 20 million people, to be preserved. “In considering opportunities to make coverage more affordable and accessible to all Americans, it is essential that gains in the number of Americans with health insurance coverage be maintained,” AMA CEO Dr. James Madara wrote leaders in both parties. More »
|
