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OMAHA—About 20 percent of the federal stimulus dollars allotted to Nebraska have been spent.
A report posted on the state’s stimulus
Web site on Monday says about $272 million has been spent. Nebraska got more than $1.5 billion in federal stimulus dollars meant to jolt the economy.
Some of the lag in spending is due to the timing of programs.
The stimulus package contains $234 million in state aid for schools, for example, yet only about $8 million has been spent because the dollars are for both this school year, and next. By far the biggest chunk of the stimulus money spent so far—$132 million—has gone to Medicaid.
State agencies estimate that about 3,300 jobs were created or retained using stimulus money the last three months of 2009.
— Omaha World-Herald, January 26, 2010
American Hospital Association (AHA) members and others can access a free Webcast on the association's 2010 Environmental Scan, which provides insight and information about critical issues, key trends and market forces that have a high probability of affecting the health care field. In the Webcast, available at
www.aha.org AHA President & CEO Rich Umbdenstock and Vice President of Strategic & Business Planning Gene O'Dell discuss the Scan, which was released in September and provides the foundation for the AHA's three-year strategic plan.
— AHA News Now, January 27, 2010
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) budget report says the growth in Medicare and Medicaid spending during the next decade "will be somewhat slower than the average rate seen over the past 10 years." However, its cost estimates build in savings that are planned under current law. In the case of Medicare, CBO's calculation of a slowdown in Medicare growth includes a substantial 21
percent cut in payments to doctors now slated to go into effect in March. Both political parties have said they want to block the planned pay cuts to doctors, the
Wall Street Journal Health Blog reports.
Read more.
— Wall Street Journal Health Blog, January 27, 2010
LINCOLN—Saint Elizabeth Regional
Medical Center has
just received the Silver Plus
Performance Award by the
American Stroke Association
(ASA)/American Heart
Association (AHA). The
ASA/AHA's "Get With the
Guidelines" awards are based on a medical center's commitment and success
in implementing a higher standard of
stroke care by ensuring that
stroke patients receive
treatment according to nationally-accepted standards and recommendations.
Read more.
—
Lincoln Journal Star, January 25, 2010
OMAHA—The University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) has set a goal to raise $100,000 for the UNMC Haitian Relief and Outreach Fund through the University of Nebraska Foundation.
The fund—which to this point has raised about $10,000—supports relief missions such as the one undertaken by 13 medical center volunteers who arrived in Haiti last weekend.
Read more.
—
UNMC press release, January 26, 2010
HASTINGS—“Mikey” is a cloth doll the size of a big kid, with dark brown yarn for hair and a chest that opens up, layer by layer, to show his bones, muscles and organs at work.
When Audrey Peterson, a registered nurse at Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital, pulled up Mikey’s hospital gown to show Hawthorne Elementary School first-graders his stomach, Peterson found little green, cloth butterflies there. Mikey was nervous, she said, to meet all these new people.
Read more.
—
Hastings Tribune, January 22, 2010
LINCOLN—This year won't be the first that Jon Borton, NHA Vice President,
Education, will jump into bone-chilling water for a good cause. He's
participated in the
Polar Plunge for four years.
Participants, also known as plungers, collect pledges from friends and family for plunging into the icy waters
on February 27 in Omaha, Lincoln and Kearney. All of the proceeds from this
event will help support the more than 4,000 intellectually
disabled athletes who are a part of Special Olympics Nebraska.
"This is a very special year because the National Special Olympic Games will be held here in Lincoln this summer, and our youngest son, Trevor, and our nephew participate as athletes in the games," stated Borton.
With a goal of $6,000 this year, $1,000 over last year's goal, Borton will dive into the frigid water at Holmes Lake in Lincoln. Individuals wishing to
learn more or
make a contribution can visit his site at
http://www.firstgiving.com/jon-plunge.
—
Nebraska Hospital Association, January 28, 2010
LINCOLN—The Judiciary Committee offered an amendment, replacing the bill that would limit the scope of the bill: it would allow an 18-year-old to consent to medical treatment if the parent or guardian gives consent through power of attorney and enter into binding contracts or leases.
Read more.
— Unicameral Update, January 26, 2010
WASHINGTON—After spending 2009 emphasizing that a health care overhaul was his top domestic priority, President Obama gave it much less prominence in his State of the Union address Wednesday the
New York Times reports. In the last week, Democrats have debated among themselves how to salvage the legislation. Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested that the Senate would have to take the next step and make substantial changes in its bill before the House would act again. Senate aides said the changes recommended by Pelosi could add $300 billion to the cost of the legislation, the
Times reports.
Read more.
— New York Times, January 28, 2010
WASHINGTON—Senator Ben Nelson said Wednesday he'd not be reluctant to vote for a health care reform bill he could support just because it was presented to the Senate through a process that required only 51 votes. Democratic congressional leaders have discussed the possibility of considering health care reform legislation through the budget reconciliation process, lowering the threshold in the Senate from the 60 votes required to break a filibuster to the simple majority required for passage.
Read more.
— Lincoln Journal Star, January 27, 2010
WASHINGTON—Touching on health reform last night in his State of the Union
address, President Obama urged Congress to "find a way to come together and finish the job for the American people."
As expected, Obama also called for a bipartisan fiscal commission to address the federal deficit and said his administration is prepared to freeze discretionary government spending for three years starting in 2011. "Spending related to our national security, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security will not be affected," he said. "But all other discretionary government programs will."
Commenting on the president's remarks, AHA President and CEO Rich Umbdenstock said, "We believe there are still real issues with our health care system—the need to expand coverage to more people, make coverage more affordable and put in place important delivery system reforms—and look forward to seeing what Congress and the President come up with."
— AHA News Now, January 28, 2010
Rural
Nebraskans will feel the pinch of
fewer doctors within a decade, and the
shortage will quickly grow critical if something
isn't done. The University of Nebraska Medical
Center (UNMC) and the University of Nebraska at Kearney
are not waiting for the worst to happen.
Officials from the two universities announced a
major expansion of the Rural Health Opportunities
Program, which already sets up cooperative efforts
between UNMC and Chadron State College and
Wayne State College to encourage rural high school students to get medical degrees, then enter rural practices.
Read more.
— Omaha World-Herald, January 22, 2010
Join us for 2010 NHA Advocacy Day
March 9, 2010 – Lincoln
Reporting Sentinel Events and the Method of Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
February 2, 2010 – Webinar
Preparing for the Four Vulnerabilities in The Joint Commission Survey for the Environment of Care, Emergency Management and Life Safety Standards
February 4, 2010 – Webinar
A Benefit Concert for The Returning Veterans Resource Network
February 6, 2010 – Omaha
Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) Seminar
March 11, 2010 – Grand Island
SAVE THE DATE:
2010 Lifespan Health Services Conference
May 11-12, 2010 – Kearney
Click here
for a list
of upcoming NHA audio-conferences 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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