GOP in Charge, Eager to Move on Keystone XL, Taxes
Republicans #39; resounding victory gives them an opportunity to push legislation that #39;s been bottled up in the Democratic Senate, from targeting elements of President Barack Obama #39;s health care...
By: KSTP
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Boehner: House Will Continue to Vote on Obamacare Repeal
Speaker John A. Boehner said Thursday that regardless of its prospects of passage in the Senate, the House would continue to vote to repeal President Barack Obama #39;s signature health care law...
By: Roll Call
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Boehner: House Will Continue to Vote on Obamacare Repeal - Video
Stocks historically rise after mid-term elections, and yesterday was no different. The major indices closed at record highs, and with the S&P 500 surging an average of 16% following mid-term elections since 1950, more gains could be ahead as well.
Any Changes?
The GOP will no doubt take a hard look at health care related issues now that they are the majority in both houses of Congress. Republicans have been actively opposing the implementation of cuts to medical payment insurers such as Humana ( HUM ), and lawmakers could be looking to restore some of those parts in the programs.
Medical hardware companies can see reductions in tax rates will allow them focus on growing their business such as Boston Scientific ( BSX ) and Stryker ( SYK ). Restructuring the Affordable Care Act will also be one of the leading topics on the Republicans Agenda and companies such as Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ) could benefit in a significant way.
Let's take a closer look at some of these companies and their prospects following this electoral shift:
Humana ( HUM )
Humana, Inc. is a health services company that facilitates the delivery of health care services through networks of providers to its medical members. The company's products are marketed primarily through health maintenance organizations and preferred provider organizations that encourage or require the use of contracted providers.
The company also offers various specialty products to employers, including dental, group life and workers' compensation, and administrative services to those who self-insure their employee health plans. The stock has been very volatile this week during mid-term elections and is currently trading up about .53% on Thursday at $139.92 per share.
Some analysts predict that Humana will be the highest correlate company in terms of benefiting from direct measures the GOP enacts in the near future. Humana is the second-largest insurance company that handles Medicare Advantage, right after UnitedHealth Group, and this area could be a target by the GOP.
Humana contracts with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in a program called Medicare Advantage. Often called Medicare's HMOs, Advantage is an optional program in which the federal government pays private insurance companies a set rate to treat Medicare beneficiaries. The program was conceived as a cost-containment measure on the theory that competition among private plans would drive down costs.
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2 Health Care Stocks to Watch on GOP Congressional Takeover - Stocks in the News
The solution to transparency in health-care pricing would be solved in totality if the insurance companies were required to publish their negotiated rates to all providers ["State should follow Everett Clinics lead and create transparency in health-care prices," Opinion, Nov. 3]. Without that information, institutional and office pricingrates are of limited value.
Of course, Premera Blue Cross opposedHB 2572, possibly the firststepin leading to that requirement. The insurance industry hassuccessfully lobbied in Washington state in preventing theOffice of Insurance Commissioner frombeing able to evaluatecash reserves (which are in the billions)of their companies when accepting or rejectingannual premium rate changes.
The focusshould be on reducinghealth-care costs, yet Premera has taken an active role in increasing costs toconsumers. Their action of reducing by 15 percent the previous negotiated rate for office visits toemployed independent primary care nurse practitioner providers in our state has forced practices out of business or to sell out to large hospital organizations.
Beside reducing access to care, Premera has now ensured the consumer will pay a facility fee (often double to triple the office visit costs). Yes, the consumer can benefit from seeing the billed costs for health-care, but their real costs are tied to the rate of reimbursement.
Linda van Hoff, Redmond
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Health-care prices: Real costs are tied to the rate of reimbursement
By Chelsea Rice
Boston.com Staff
November 6, 2014 11:48 AM
The Boston Globe
Steward Health Care System announced today that it will be closing Quincy Medical Center by the end of the year. Steward plans to replace the financially struggling 196-bed hospital with an outpatient urgent care center.
While Quincy Medical Center earns top quality and safety ratings, competition from Boston-area medical centers, significant cuts to Medicare reimbursements, continued Medicaid underfunding, continued rate disparity, and precipitously declining inpatient volume have made QMC unsustainable, Dr. Mark Girard, president of Steward Hospitals, a for-profit company, said in a statement. On an average day, only one fifth of all beds are occupied and it has become abundantly clear that local residents no longer seek inpatient services from Quincy Medical Center.
Dr. Girard told The Boston Globe that there has been a 19 percent decline in Quincy Medical Centers emergency room visits since 2012 that has been progressively getting worse. The Boston Globe reported that this is the states largest hospital closure in a decade.
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The closure will affect 680 employees and specifically the jobs of 221 registered nurses at the hospital, according to David Schildmeier, spokesperson for the Massachusetts Nurses Association.
The MNA is committed to working with all the stakeholders to make sure the needs of the community and employees impacted by this decision are met, Schildmeier said in an interview. Its been a shock. Weve known they were in trouble for a while, but they informed us yesterday of the closure. With Radiuss closure and now this, its a lot for the community to absorb.
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Steward Health Care Plans to Close Quincy Medical Center by End of Year
Meditation for Cellulite - How To Meditate for Beginners - You Have 4 Minutes - BEXLIFE
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Meditation for Cellulite - How To Meditate for Beginners - You Have 4 Minutes - BEXLIFE - Video
Health Care in the United States and HIV/AIDS Patients: Activist (1998)
Mary Fisher (born April 6, 1948) is an American political activist, artist and author. After contracting HIV from her second husband, she has become an outspoken HIV/AIDS activist for the preventio...
By: The Book Archive
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Health Care in the United States and HIV/AIDS Patients: Activist (1998) - Video
Basic Home Health Care - Afisem (4-11-14)
Basic Home Health Care.
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Health care costs: Do some research
Experts say you can take action to help keep the costs of your health care procedures down. (Nov. 4, 2014)
By: WOOD TV8
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Spanish Ebola survivor thanks God for #39;bringing me back to life #39;
An emotional Teresa Romero thanks God and health care workers for saving her life as she is released from Madrid #39;s Carlos III hospital after spending a month there, most of it in quarantine...
By: The Telegraph
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Spanish Ebola survivor thanks God for 'bringing me back to life' - Video
3rd Annual Inspired Excellence in Health Care Awards Gala | Las Vegas HEALS pt. 6
Las Vegas HEALS honored six local physicians for their outstanding contributions to the community as Las Vegas continues to position itself as a world-class destination for health care services....
By: Las Vegas Heals
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3rd Annual Inspired Excellence in Health Care Awards Gala | Las Vegas HEALS pt. 6 - Video
The public small-business exchanges, however, are the only way employers can now avail themselves of the tax credits available, and a recent analysis of the plans by Mr. Gabel of NORC showed them to be less expensive, on average, than the ones available outside of the exchanges.
And some employers say they have clearly benefited. Robert S. Jaffe, president of Consensus Systems Technologies, in Shenorock, N.Y., was able to save about $32,000 by going through the exchanges to buy coverage for six employees. He chose Health Republic Insurance, a new co-op plan created under the law, for people who lived in the area. While he was initially concerned about the insurer, he says he was reassured by the care it gave a worker needing a liver transplant.
But some employers have been unimpressed with the options available through the marketplaces. "What I see on the exchange is junk," said Bill Frerichs, the owner of Frerichs Freight Lines in Belleville, Ill., a trucking business. He opted to stay with the coverage he had from Coventry Health Care, owned by Aetna.
Read More These common insurance myths may be costing you money
But even some of those who have taken advantage of the law to continue providing coverage say they worry about the future. Annie Grove, who along with her husband, Matt, owns Bagel Grove in Utica, N.Y., has about 20 employees, some of whom are covered under Medicaid. She offers a high-deductible plan to six of them, including herself, and uses the tax credit to help pay for about half of the cost. Ms. Grove says she is still unsure how long she will be able to pay for coverage, especially when the tax credits expire after two years and she can no longer use the money for premiums.
"My biggest concern is when the tax credits go away," she said.
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Daniel Bausch has come to dread the words an abundance of caution.
In the context of the response to the current West African Ebola crisis, Bausch knows if he hears that phrase hes not going to like the rest of the sentence.
Public health officials saying Were doing things out of an abundance of caution that usually means is Were doing something that has no scientific basis whatsoever, but were going to do it anyway, says Bausch, an Ebola expert at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans, La.
Public health experts and scientists point to a variety of measures that have been taken in the worlds response to the Ebola outbreak where it seems an abundance of caution some call it politics have trumped science.
They include: Entry screening at airports half a world away from the countries in the grip of the outbreak. Closing borders to millions of West Africans from three affected countries because 13,000 people have been infected. Trying to force into mandatory quarantine health-care workers who have risked their lives to volunteer in Ebola treatment centres.
The latter example has received the most public attention, thanks to two nearly back-to-back developments. Dr. Craig Spencer, a New York City resident who had volunteered with Medecins Sans Frontieres, tested positive for Ebola six days after returning to the United States from Guinea. Spencer had been out jogging and had eaten in a restaurant before he realized he was ill. When he spiked a fever, Spencer called MSF and the citys public health department.
A couple days later nurse Kaci Hickox, an MSF nurse returning from West Africa, found herself quarantined in a tent in a parking lot in New Jersey after that state decided all returning health-care workers would face mandatory quarantine regardless of whether they have symptoms. Hickox had flown into Newark en route to her home in Maine.
She went public with her strenuous objections. When she was released and allowed to travel home, Maine also tried to quarantine her until a court ruled against the state.
These events, plus an earlier case where an American nurse coming down with Ebola travelled on a plane, have raised questions about whether returning health-care workers pose a risk to the societies they are rejoining. But as elected officials deliberate on the right course to take, public health leaders warn that treating returning health-care workers like pariahs could hamstring Ebola control efforts by dissuading doctors and nurses from volunteering.
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Is quarantine merited for Ebola-exposed health-care workers? The science says no
Nursing home workers at several St. Louis area facilities are attempting to organize and have turned to the health care arm of Service Employees International Union in recent months.
On Monday, SEIU Healthcare of Missouri and Kansas filed petitions with the National Labor Relations Board seeking representation elections at two area facilities, the Crestwood Health Care Center in Florissant and Ackert Park Skilled Care Community in University City.
The employees seeking SEIU representation include certified nurse assistants, medical technicians, dietary aides, and laundry and housekeeping staffers. About 80 workers at Crestwood and 70 at Ackert are affected.
Officials with Crestwood and Ackert could not immediately be reached for comment.
Crestwood is operated by Maryland Heights-based Reliant Care Management Company LLC, which operates 15 nursing homes in Missouri and Illinois, according to its website. Ackert is owned and operated by Future Focus of U-City LLC, according to its website. Future Focus parent company is St. Charles-based Focused Senior Communities, which operates as a consultant for other nursing homes in addition to developing and operating facilities, its website states.
Bryan Evans, collective bargaining and representation coordinator for SEIU, said the workers were looking to improve wages, working conditions, and quality of care.
If the union wins the elections, it would begin bargaining on behalf of its members for a contract.
The petitions are the latest of several organizing efforts at area nursing homes.
In August, SEIU Healthcare successfully organized about 120 service workers at The Cedars of Town and Country in Chesterfield.
Also in August, a petition was filed on behalf of staffers at Green Valley Nursing Home & Rehabilition Center in Spanish Lake. But the petition was later withdrawn, according to the NLRB.
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Reflections on Leadership: 21st U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services | Kathleen Sebelius
Kathleen Sebelius, the 21st U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, spoke at the Harvard School of Public Health as part of the Voices in Leadership series on October 21, 2014. Watch the...
By: Harvard Public Health
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Hadley Heath Manning discusses role of health care in midterm elections
CCTV America interviewed Hadley Heath Manning, director of health policy for the Independent Women #39;s Forum about the role health care will play in the U.S. m...
By: CCTV America
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Hadley Heath Manning discusses role of health care in midterm elections - Video
Stree Shatru - Health Care Tips, Women #39;s Health - Tv9
TV9 - Stree Shatru - Health Care Tips, Women #39;s Health Subscribe to Tv9 Kannada: https://youtube.com/tv9kannada Circle us on G+: https://plus.google.c...
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Pathetic state of the Primary Health Care Centre at Melur
Pathetic state of the Primary Health Care Centre at Melur CLICK THE LINK BELOW FOR LATEST NEWS UPDATES http://puthiyathalaimurai.tv/
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Pathetic state of the Primary Health Care Centre at Melur - Video
Health Care Careers: Physicians
Learn about what it takes to be a physician. This video has been brought to you by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Career Services.
By: UWEC Career Services
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Health Care Careers: Physicians Assistant
Learn about what it takes to be a physician #39;s assistant. This video has been brought to you by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Career Services.
By: UWEC Career Services
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