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LINCOLN—Department of Veterans Affairs
health care officials have something
to tweet about.
They are using a Twitter account
to help veterans and their families
learn about benefit eligibility and services.
The official VA Nebraska-Western
Iowa Health Care System page
is at www.Twitter.com/VANWIHCS.
Officials will share information
about health care services, health
and wellness tips, and events or
meetings for veterans and their
families. Veterans also will see
advice about and help for suicide
prevention, depression, other mental
illnesses and other health information.
Veterans will see information and
links to VA benefits pages and learn
about health fair events.
The account also links to other
veteran services.
— Omaha World-Herald, December 4, 2009
WASHINGTON—At Thursday's meeting in Washington, DC, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission considered a draft recommendation to Congress that would provide a full “market basket” update for fiscal year 2011 outpatient and inpatient hospital payments.
The market basket update is used to adjust hospital payments for inflation. The draft recommendation would provide hospitals with a full Medicare payment update that would take effect along with adoption of a quality incentive program. MedPAC staff project that overall Medicare margins will be a negative 5.9
percent in FY 2010. The commission also reported that hospitals’ Medicare margins dropped to a negative 7.2
percent in 2008, from negative 6 percent the previous year.
The data “reinforces our concerns about the Medicare buy-in proposal that’s currently part of the Senate health reform bill,” said AHA President and CEO Rich Umbdenstock. “For the majority of America’s hospitals, Medicare payments cover less than the cost of care for hospital services to seniors, making it more difficult to make ends meet.” MedPAC’s draft recommendations may be revised before the commission votes on them in January.
— AHA News Now, December 10, 2009
YORK—The York
General Health Care Services
(YGHCS) Auxiliary
has kicked off its 2009 Star
of Lights campaign.
Star of Lights is one of
the Auxiliary's main
fundraising projects. The
Auxiliary is a non-profit
organization that works to
enhance both patient and
resident care at YGHCS facilities.
Read more.
—
York News-Times, November 28, 2009
OMAHA—Teams from Omaha and Boca Raton, Florida, placed first in Creighton
University’s Third Annual EMS Competition, held November 21 on the Creighton
campus. Twenty-one teams from Nebraska, Iowa, Florida and New York participated
in the disaster simulation in which teams had 15 minutes to respond to an
accident where a car plunged into a river on an icy day.
The five passengers in the automobile accident spoke Spanish only. One of the rescuer divers developed barotraumas deep into the scenario, complicating the triage and rescue efforts. A panel of impartial judges scored participants on how well they assessed the scene and the patients as well as their treatment decisions.
Read more.
—
Creighton University press release, December 3, 2009
OMAHA—They say it’s the most wonderful time of the year—but for many, the holidays are also the most stressful. From a never-ending shopping list to entertaining house guests and preparing a large holiday meal—it’s no wonder one study found 61
percent of people report feeling stressed at some point around the holidays. Add to that a mid-December blizzard, and 2010 is shaping up to be one of the most stressful holiday seasons in recent history.
Alegent Health invites individuals to join Psychiatrist and Board Certified Family Physician Katherine Hankins, M.D. in an online conversation about stress
on Wednesday, December 16, 2009 at 12:00 p.m. CST at
www.alegent.com/mentalhealth. Questions will be accepted the day of the chat through a module posted online.
Submit questions prior to December 16 via Twitter using tag tweets with #AlegentChat.
The chat will be archived at www.alegent.com/mentalhealth, allowing individuals
to replay at any time.
—
Alegent Health press release, December 11, 2009
WASHINGTON—Senate Democrats have provided few details about their latest health care proposal, but this much seems clear: Anyone who wants to buy the same health benefits as members of Congress, or to buy coverage through Medicare, should be prepared to fork over a large chunk of cash.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, a family of four earning $54,000 in 2016, when the health legislation is fully in effect, would be eligible for a subsidy of $10,100 to help defray the cost of insurance under the health legislation being debated by the Senate. By then, one of the most popular federal plans, a nationwide Blue Cross and Blue Shield policy, is projected to cost more than $20,000. That could leave the family earning $54,000, slightly more than the current median household income, with monthly premium costs of more than $825.
The Democrats' proposal would also allow some people ages 55 to 64 to "buy in" to Medicare, starting in 2011. That could cost about $7,600 a year per person or $15,200 for a couple, according to a budget office analysis of an earlier version of the concept. No subsidies would be available until 2014.
Read more.
— New York Times, December 11, 2009
WASHINGTON—House Speaker Nancy Pelosi endorsed a proposal Thursday that would
allow people in late middle age to buy insurance through Medicare, helping to
sustain an idea that sprang unexpectedly from the Senate this week. But the
California Democrat reiterated that she would prefer to create
government-sponsored coverage for Americans of all ages, and questions linger in
the Senate about the politics and policy of expanding Medicare by allowing
people ages 55 to 64 to buy into the federal insurance program for the elderly.
The speaker stopped short of embracing the broader contours of a fragile
compromise worked out by liberal and moderate Senate negotiators in an effort to
nudge forward broad changes to the health care system. Still, she said: "There's
certainly a great deal of appeal" to expanding Medicare.
Read more.
— Washington Post, December 11, 2009
WASHINGTON— Expanding access to low-cost prescription drugs from overseas might look like a sure winner in the effort to make health care more affordable. President Obama supports the idea, as do many Democrats and several Republicans. But the seemingly popular proposal brought the Senate health care debate to a standstill Thursday, as Democrats divided over whether they should bow to the drug industry's fierce opposition. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) temporarily halted consideration of the health
care bill after three days of inconclusive debate on an amendment by Senators Byron L. Dorgan (D-ND) and John McCain (R-AZ).
The provision would allow pharmacies and wholesalers to import drugs from countries with safety standards comparable to America's. Despite Obama's support for importation, the White House fears that if the amendment is approved, the drug industry will oppose the bill. Industry support is considered a key to passage. That is why the White House negotiated a controversial deal to limit the financial effect of the overhaul on the industry in exchange for its support.
Read more.
— Los Angeles Times, December 11, 2009
CHICAGO—The flu in the United States is on track to bottom out by the end of the year, returning to levels seen nine months ago, before the first case of H1N1 hit the U.S. That forecast is from three University of Chicago professors who have created a new method for predicting the spread of the disease. The professors, Nicholas Polson and Hedibert Lopes at the university's Booth School of Business and Vanja Dukic in the Department of Health Studies, are using data from Google Flu Trends, which tracks the flu, and applying a mathematical model that aims to do the one thing Google can't yet do: predict what will happen next. The same modeling approaches, with minor alterations, could be applied to other infectious disease epidemics, such as avian flu, SARS or measles. Google created its Flu Trends tool after it discovered that the searches people conduct when they are sick with the flu can be mathematically tied to the actual spread of the flu.
Read more.
— Chicago Tribune, December 11, 2009
Outpatient & ED Case Management Webinar (CL)
December 17, 2009 – Webinar
Understanding the Provider-Based Rule Webinar (CL)
December 18, 2009 – Webinar
Using Electronic Health Records to Document and Improve Quality of Ambulatory Care
January 19, 2010 – Webinar
SAVE THE DATE:
NHA Advocacy Day
March 9, 2010 – Lincoln
SAVE THE DATE:
2010 Lifespan Health Services Conference
May 11-12, 2010 – Kearney
Click here
for a list
of upcoming NHA audioconferences and Webinars.
Visit the
Events page on the NHA Web site for more information on any of the events.
If you have an event you would like listed in Newslink or on the NHA Web site,
submit it to Heather Bullock, Marketing and Events Coordinator, at
hbullock@nhanet.org. Send news items to Kelley Porter, Director of
Communications, kporter@nhanet.org.
NHA Newslink is published by the Nebraska
Hospital Association, 3255 Salt Creek Circle, Suite 100, Lincoln, NE 68504-4778.
Phone 402/742-8140, Fax 402/742-8191. Contact Kelley Porter, Director of
Communications, at 402/742-8151, or email,
kporter@nhanet.org.
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