A record 48 million Americans were enrolled in Medicaid last year, which "underscores the growing role of the government in healthcare, a polarizing issue in this year's midterm congressional elections," the Associated Press reports.
Public Health
After months of negotiations, Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta has arranged treatment for 38 end-stage renal patients, mostly illegal immigrants, to receive free dialysis, according to a report by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has announced more than $32 million in funds have been released to increase access to healthcare in rural areas.
Bruce Siegel, MD, was recently named the new CEO of the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, an organization that represents the interests of safety net hospitals and health systems and the underinsured. Dr. Siegel comes to NAPH…
Mark Stensager is CEO of Guthrie Healthcare System, a three-hospital system in Sayre, Pa. that is integrated with the Guthrie Clinic, a 229-physician group. Here he makes some observations about healthcare reform.
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Arizona has become the 19th state to reject a federal invitation to set up a high-risk pool to cover patients with pre-existing medical conditions under health reform, according to a report by the Arizona Republic.
To survive health reform, public hospitals will have to start operating more like private hospitals or else dramatically cut costs, according to a report by the Texas Tribune.
State budget cuts are impeding the goal of a 2009 federal law to provide health insurance coverage to 4 million more low-income children, according to a report by USA Today.
Even though health reform will allow 32 million previously uninsured Americans to get regular care from physicians, many of these patients are expected to continue crowding into emergency departments.
Insured people under age 65 were as likely to visit an ED in a 12-month period as uninsured individuals in the same age group, according to a report by the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.