Nebraska voters overwhelmingly support a strong Medicaid program in Nebraska
In the winter of 2005 a group of organizations concerned about the direction of Medicaid reform efforts in Nebraska commissioned a public opinion poll to gauge Nebraska voters’ attitudes about the Medicaid program. The Medicaid program in Nebraska provides medically necessary health care benefits to over 200,000 individuals who are primarily senior citizens, children and the disabled.
The poll was conducted by the University of Nebraska Bureau of Sociological Research as part of the 2005 Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey (NASIS) and they sampled 1,700 registered voters across the state of Nebraska. The results clearly illustrate that Nebraska voters support the Medicaid program and do not want to see major changes to the current benefits provided. Here is a sampling of the results:
- 72% of Nebraska voters believe the state of Nebraska is not doing enough to help people obtain and pay for health care.
- 97% of Nebraska voters believe it is important for the State to provide Medicaid benefits to people who cannot afford health care coverage on their own.
- A clear majority of 54% of Nebraskans oppose restricting access to medically necessary services in the Medicaid program.
“Our state policymakers now have clear evidence from Nebraska voters that continuing to invest in the Medicaid program is one way Nebraska can continue to help people get and pay for health care they need,” stated Roger Keetle, Nebraska Hospital Association.
“It is crucial that Gov. David Heinemann and all of the Nebraska state senators know that voters want them to ensure our Medicaid program remain an important safety net that prevents over 200,000 Nebraskans from joining the 11% of Nebraskans who are uninsured,” said Milo Mumgaard, Nebraska Appleseed.
“Protecting Medicaid is critical to ensuring poor families can continue their path from welfare to work while having the piece of mind that their children’s basic health care needs are addressed,” added Beatty Brash, Center for People in Need.
For more information on Medicaid Reform in Nebraska, please contact Roger Keetle, senior vice president, advocacy, at 402/458-4906 or
rkeetle@nhanet.org.
NHA adds Grant Resources page to Web site
Finding sources of financial support is vital to hospital operations. Now, you can quickly find a variety of grant information and resources on the NHA Web site in the Members Only section:
http://www.nhanet.org/members/grants/grant_resources.htm.
From national, regional and state foundations, to one-of-a-kind program grants, you can access a variety of helpful grant opportunities on the Grant Resources page.
For more information, please contact Carly Runestad, health policy specialist, at 402/458-4915 or
crunestad@nhanet.org.
LB1199 includes $5.5 million for Norfolk Regional Center
LINCOLN — Norfolkans had more than a passing interest in an appropriations bill that received first-round approval from state senators Monday.
Attention across the state focused on lawmakers’ vote to advance Legislative Bill 1199 – a measure aimed at strengthening Nebraska’s sex offender law. But an accompanying bill to pay for the changes called for in LB1199 was what many Norfolkans were attuned to.
That’s because the appropriations bill included about $5.5 million specifically for the Norfolk Regional Center.
“If LB1199 and the appropriations bill pass, it guarantees funding for 206 staff members at the regional center and to cover the use of 206 beds,” Sen. Mike Flood of Norfolk said.
Read the complete article by Kent Warneke online at http://www.norfolkdailynews.com/headline.html.
— Norfolk Daily News, March 29, 2006.
Living a Good Life … at the End of Life
The NHA is once again a partnering sponsor of “Living the Good Life … at the End of Life” conference being held April 11-13, 2006, at the Embassy Suites in Lincoln, NE. This conference provides the latest developments in hospice and end-of-life care.
For complete information and registration, please visit http://nncf.unl.edu/eldercare/events/endoflifeconference.pdf.
NE Dept. of Insurance issues warning to Medicare recipients
Medicare beneficiaries should be aware of increased marketing of Medicare Advantage plans across Nebraska this spring.
According to officials at the Nebraska Department of Insurance, many Medicare recipients are enrolling in Medicare Advantage plans without a complete understanding of the structure and guidelines of these programs.
Beneficiaries who enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan are no longer covered under original Medicare.
Please see the news release from the Nebraska Department of Insurance for complete details.
Grant for language access at hospitals
“Speaking Together: National Language Services Network (NLSN)” is a new Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) national program that will support hospitals to improve the quality and availability of health care language services for patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). The core component of Speaking Together: National Language Services Network is a 16-month-long hospital learning collaborative that will foster shared learning and innovation among all program participants. Sites selected to participate in the collaborative will receive grants of up to $60,000, as well as technical assistance and training using measures developed by the National Program Office (NPO).
http://www.speakingtogether.org/.
Congress is hearing a lot about hospitals … but are they hearing from YOU?
The White House wants to cut hospital Medicare and Medicaid funding … some in Congress are questioning hospitals’ tax-exempt status … “60 Minutes” aired a powerful committee chair questioning hospitals’ treatment of the uninsured. Is any good news coming out of America’s hospitals?
Of course there is! But do your legislators know about it? Do they know how your hospital serves the community and finds ways to care for the poor and uninsured … the untold stories of the work you do every day over and above delivering patient care? Community Connections can help you share the specifics of how your hospital improves the health, safety and strength of the community. But we need your participation.
You may already prepare a report summarizing the many ways you serve your community. Share it with your legislators. Please forward your summary to us as well, because the better armed we are with hospitals’ stories, the more effective our advocacy message will be!
Please fill out and fax back to us the attached form so we know where you stand in your efforts to tell legislators about your Community Connections. We want to put together a state-by-state Community Connections Leadership Circle of hospitals that have shared their stories with legislators … your story could be included in the next Community Connections case studies booklet, like the one we recently sent you.
See “Community Connections” at www.aha.org.
AHA news release, March 23, 2006.
New Orleans health care system remains in shambles
WASHINGTON (AP) - New Orleans has only 456 staffed hospital beds, compared with 2,269 before the city was struck by Hurricane Katrina, according to government auditors who say rebuilding the health care system will be vital for bringing people back.
Although emergency care is available, the auditors' report noted that patients at two hospitals waited up to two hours to be unloaded from ambulances. They also found that patients were being kept and treated in the emergency room because beds weren't available.
The Government Accountability Office said several planning efforts are underway about how to rebuild that system, but no clear consensus has emerged.
Read the complete article online at http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1642&u_sid=2141771
(free registration required).
— Omaha World Herald, March 29, 2006.
The Wal-Mart Effect: Why Corporate Wellness Could Be a Golden Opportunity for Hospitals
Health care leaders should realize that the current debate about employers’ responsibility for health care benefits could point to a ripe opportunity for hospitals to fulfill their wellness mission and expand their brand, say contributors Anthony Cirillo and Kathy Cirillo.
Maryland has passed the Fair Share Healthcare Act requiring companies that have more than 10,000 employees and are governed by Maryland law to spend at least 8 percent of their payroll on worker health care or pay the difference to a state medical assistance fund. Thirty other states are trying to follow suit. Inevitably, taxpayers will wind up footing the bill, either through higher retail prices, jobs lost to other states or by absorbing the medical costs of the uninsured or underinsured workers. But an important point is being missed. Health care leaders should realize that the current debate about employers’ responsibility for health care benefits is actually a ripe opportunity for organizations to benefit while fulfilling their mission and extending their brand.
Read the complete article online at http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/view_feature.cfm?content_id=78485.
— Modern Healthcare’s Daily Dose, March 28, 2006.
Faith Regional’s need for expansion is focus of news series
The Norfolk Daily News recently ran a two-day series of articles about Faith Regional Health Services’ need for expansion to meet increased numbers of patients and demand for a broader array of services.
“There’s not much room to get around,” said former Faith Regional patient Mike Ingalls. “They’re plenty crowded, especially when you get family in here and nurses come in, too. There’s nowhere for them to work.”
The hospital plans to build a multi-story addition on its west campus, providing an additional 100 to 110 beds.
Read the series of articles:
Norfolk Daily News, March 14,
2006.
Norfolk Daily News, March 15, 2006.
Thomas calls for OIG to finalize rule on reasonable Medicare charges
The movement toward making health care prices more transparent to consumers is bound to fail unless the OIG establishes a benchmark for reasonable charges that hospitals and suppliers can submit to Medicare and Medicaid, says Bill Thomas (R-Calif.), chairman of the House's Committee on Ways and Means, in a recent letter to HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt. Thomas is calling for the OIG to finalize a rule it proposed in 2003 that would penalize providers who bill "an excessive level of charges" with ouster from Medicare and Medicaid programs.
Read more.
— HFMA Weekly News, March 24, 2006.
Get more information on price transparency from the hfm magazine collection
Pricing: Creating Rational, Defensible, Transparent
Prices.
More charity care from not-for-profits not the answer for the uninsured, says HFMA's Clarke
Requiring not-for-profit hospitals to provide more charity care, as increasingly demanded by lawmakers and state attorneys general, "would still leave us with the same root problem: an unacceptable number of uninsured people," wrote HFMA president and CEO Richard L. Clarke, DHA, FHFMA, in a letter to the editor of The New York Times, in response to a story on Sunday about lawmakers' efforts to set standards for hospital community benefit. A better way to approach the problem, Clarke suggested, is to "set an ambitious national goal with a deadline, appoint a senior official who is very competent and respected, identify the barriers, and encourage public/private partnerships to address them."
Read more.
— HFMA Weekly News, March 24, 2006.
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