Healthcare Policy

According to state records, major hospital infections broke out eleven times last year in New Jersey. However, unless you're working at the hospitals where it happened, you're not going to find out which ones had the problem. While state officials do disclose the name of the pathogen and the county where a serious hospital infection took place, they don't name the specific hospital where it happen. That practice is drawing fire from critics, who say that such secrecy only makes the …

Last year, New York's hospital and nursing home industries were rocked by legislation which would force many to close, merge or restructure their operations. The recommendations were made by a state body, the Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century, whose word had the force of law under the enabling legislation. When the group made their recommendations last year, it was supposed to be the final ruling on the subject. But now, under fire from hospital leaders, state …

Washington state governor Chris Gregoire (D) has put her John Hancock on a new law which should make some significant changes to the state's health system. Among other things, the measure will boost health coverage for children and young adults, in part by requiring health plans and state employee programs to cover unmarried children up to age 25 on parents' policies. The law will also encourage the use of EMRs. Perhaps most significantly, the bill will set up a pilot program to test a …

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's health system reform proposals hit a snag this week, with the state's medical society announcing that it opposed the plans despite some doctor-friendly concessions. Blagojevich is pushing a plan, known as "Illinois Covered," which would extend Medicaid to all adults below the federal poverty line and offer new state insurance to many working families. It would also subsidize private insurance costs for other families. Insurance companies would have to offer …

Hoping to rebuild services that were cut or reduced after Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana State University officials have asked state legislators for more than $200 million above and beyond the existing state budget. Services went away, in part, because Katrina-related flooding closed New Orleans-based Charity Hospital, which provided a wide range of services to poor and uninsured. More than half of the money, about $122 million, would be used to rebuild the still-devastated New Orleans-area …

As if state healthcare administrators weren't facing enough problems already, they're now battling a lawsuit over free care provided after Hurricane Katrina. Doctors at a New Orleans-area hospital, West Jefferson Medical Center, have sued the state for $100 million. The 381 physicians bringing the suit argue that state officials should reimburse them for treating indigent patients, which they've done since August 2005 in the wake of the hurricane. The physicians estimate that 30 percent …

Doctors and hospital industry groups are fuming over a bill working its way through the Illinois legislature which would expand consumers' ability to sue for wrongful death damages. The bill would allow family members of patients who die to seek compensation for "grief, sorrow and mental anguish" in addition to other forms of damages. The bill, which would extend to both accidental deaths and medical malpractice, has ignited a major controversy in the state, which is still recovering from …

To date, virtually all of the major studies of healthcare quality have focused on care for adults, partly because children aren't prone to chronic diseases like diabetes whose outcomes can be measured easily. The gap in quality measures is particularly large when it comes to inpatient care, according to a study by the National Association of Children's Hospitals. However, a new bill being considered in the Senate would change the equation, budgeting $100 million over the next five years …

An investigation by the Senate Finance Committee has concluded that drug makers are using their financial clout to improperly influence Continuing Medical Education programs. The investigation also found that the pharmas were promoting drugs for off-label uses, an illegal practice which could land them in hot water with federal regulators. The Senate report said that about one-quarter of CME program providers have violated standards set by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical …

Alabama legislators are looking at a new measure which could reshape the way the state handles trauma care. In an effort to streamline the trauma system, a new bill has been filed which would create a 24-hour trauma dispatch center serving the entire state. The bill would also create a trauma registry which would gather information on critical injuries. The center, which would be managed by the state's Health Department, would monitor the status of the state's hospitals and keep …