If chicken sandwiches can become political, how can health care be immune?

Last week, I wrote about Susan, a divorced woman in Ladue who decided to go back to school and become a teacher. To comply with student teaching requirements, she quit a nonteaching job with the Clayton School District. That job had provided her with health insurance.

So she got health insurance through COBRA, a program that requires employers with group health insurance to offer former employees the opportunity to buy insurance through the group plan for up to 18 months.

Susan figured she would get a teaching job before the 18 months were up.

That has not worked out. She graduated this spring but has been unable to find a position.

As I mentioned in the column, the job market is tight and nobody was willing to take a chance with a first-time, 50-year-old teacher.

She has decided to work as a substitute teacher. Maybe that experience will help her get a job.

But her 18 months of COBRA will run out in December. She tried to get an individual policy, but because of pre-existing conditions scoliosis and a mild blood disorder she was turned down.

Susan told me she doesn't know what she will do. She said she won't be eligible for pool insurance until she has been without insurance for six months.

She said she is waiting to see what happens with Obamacare. Under the new law, insurance companies would not be allowed to deny coverage because of pre-existing conditions.

See original here:

McClellan tries to make sense of health insurance

The following error was encountered while trying to retrieve the URL: http://www.tahoebonanza.com/article/20120731/NEWS/120739989/1001&parentprofile=1287

Access Denied.

Access control configuration prevents your request from being allowed at this time. Please contact your service provider if you feel this is incorrect.

Your cache administrator is webmaster.

Generated Sun, 05 Aug 2012 16:31:09 GMT by swsquid01 (squid/3.0.STABLE18)

Excerpt from:

Guest Column: The financial impact of the Affordable Care Act

Cash-strapped California is aggressively moving its poorest residents to managed health care, whether they're seniors, rural residents or people with disabilities.

So, when Gov. Jerry Brown proposed earlier this year to transfer the nearly 900,000 poor children in the Healthy Families insurance program into Medi-Cal, he saw it as another opportunity to reduce costs by expanding dental managed care.

But something happened between then and now, and that something was Sacramento County.

Sacramento County's poorly performing Medi-Cal dental managed care program foiled Brown's plans, legislators say.

"That failure certainly has stopped the expansion of dental managed care," said Assemblyman Richard Pan, a Sacramento Democrat who also is a pediatrician. "Hopefully, we as a state have learned from that failure, and not only on the dental side. Hopefully, we can apply those lessons on the medical side."

Sacramento and Los Angeles are the only two counties with Medi-Cal dental managed care.

Their lackluster performance getting poor children to dentists made legislative leaders balk at adding Healthy Families kids to Medi-Cal dental managed care.

Instead, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento and Assembly Speaker John A. Prez of Los Angeles negotiated a deal to move Healthy Families kids into the more flexible and potentially more expensive fee-for-service dental care model under Medi-Cal.

"We want to ensure that the challenges in certain counties are addressed before we contemplate a major expansion" of Medi-Cal dental managed care, said John Vigna, a Prez spokesman.

Medi-Cal, the state's version of Medicaid, is a public health insurance program for the lowest-income Californians. Healthy Families covers children in families with incomes too high to qualify for Medi-Cal, up to 250 percent of the federal poverty level.

Read this article:

State heeds county woes

Single-payer health care advocates hold house parties to recruit supporters for their cause

On a recent Wednesday night in Corvallis, a dozen people sit around Nadine Grzeskowiaks living room sipping organic lemonade and munching gluten-free pie while video images flickered on a screen.

But theyre not watching the London Olympics. Theyre viewing a Power Point presentation on Americas health care crisis.

After a series of statistics detailing soaring insurance premiums, worsening health problems and widespread medical bankruptcies, up pops a slide on the benefits of single-payer health care.

Its not a government takeover of private medical care, Grzeskowiak tells the intimate gathering of friends and neighbors. Its simply a rational response to a national emergency.

People in this country dont want anybody to take their freedoms away, she says. The thing is, we actually lost our freedom in this country a long time ago when it comes to health care.

Statewide push

House parties like this one are being organized all over Oregon by reform advocates like Grzeskowiak, a registered nurse whose struggles with undiagnosed celiac disease soured her on a system she believes puts profits before patients.

Why should I look for celiac disease, she said one doctor asked her, when theres no treatment I can bill for?

Grzeskowiak is the vice chair of Mid-Valley Health Care Advocates, one of several regional organizations working under the umbrella of Health Care for All Oregon in a statewide push to declare health care a human right.

The rest is here:

Reform party

Patients beginning to reap benefits of advanced care

More than 60,000 people have visited ORMC's expanded emergency department in the Town of Wallkill during the past 12 months. It's just one of the hospital's services that are remaking health care and supporting businesses in the mid-Hudson.DOMINICK FIORILLE/Times Herald-Record

Published: 2:00 AM - 08/05/12

The new Orange Regional Medical Center has not only changed the face of health care in the region since it opened exactly one year ago today, it's begun to change the region itself.

From the 1,500 new customers per week at the Quick Chek next to the hospital, to the scores of new doctors and nurses who will train, work and raise families here, ORMC means more than a gleaming new intensive care unit for babies, private rooms for all of its patients and a new lease on life for its new partner, Catskill Regional Medical Center in Harris.

"It just changes everything," says David Broder, president of the New York Colleges of Osteopathic Medical Education Consortium, referring to the many new students who will study at the planned new medical college in Middletown, and ultimately practice at ORMC and Catskill.

More than 20,000 inpatients have been treated at ORMC.

It's delivered more than 1,700 babies.

More than 60,000 people have visited its emergency department.

Source: Orange Regional

Read more:

Hospital anchoring dramatic expansion of health services

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama, emboldened by the Supreme Court's affirmation of his health care overhaul, is now embracing the law while campaigning for re-election, just as Republican rival Mitt Romney steps back from it.

Read more:

Obama embraces health care law after Supreme Court ruling while Romney inches away from issue

Goal is to reduce costs, improve outcomes

Ned Helms, director of the New Hampshire Institute for Health Policy and Practice at UNH

While the general public knows little about accountable care organizations, health care policy leaders and the federal government believe they may be one of the keys to transforming the medical and financial dynamics of the country's $2.6 trillion health care system.

"I get frustrated by too much talk about how the Affordable Care Act doesn't deal with health care costs," said Ned Helms, director of the New Hampshire Institute for Health Policy and Practice at the University of New Hampshire. "That's not the case. We have three programs in the state doing innovative work to deliver better care and cut costs. The goal of ACOs is to develop and replicate the best performing systems in this country not in England or France, but here."

In theory, ACOs are systems of health care providers hospitals, primary care doctors, specialists and others that assume accountability for both the costs and the quality outcomes for a defined population. They have been developing slowly over the past decade but Helms believes they are ready to take off locally and nationally.

For example, a $250,000 private foundation grant led to the launch last year of the N.H. Accountable Care Organization Pilot, a five-year project at five sites throughout the state: Exeter Health Resources, Central New Hampshire Health Partnership in Plymouth, Southern New Hampshire Health System in Nashua, Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center Keene, and a North Country consortium of Cottage Hospital, Littleton Hospital and Ammonoosuc Community Health Services.

Helms said the pilot program is focused on a multifaceted approach of changing the way health care is delivered and paid for by moving away from the traditional "fee-for-service," which contributes to the most expensive health care system in the world and with quality and quantity outcomes that do not match the money spent.

"Our system for financing and delivering health care is seriously flawed," Helms said. "It is tremendously important and encouraging that these five systems have decided to work together to make a concerted collaborative effort to reform and improve the system."

Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in Dover belongs to another ACO development organization, the Granite Healthcare Network, which also includes Concord Hospital, Elliot Hospital in Manchester, LRGHealthcare in Laconia and Southern New Hampshire Medical Center in Nashua.

Helms says collaboration and cooperation are the keys to maximizing the strengths of each hospital, clinic and health care provider as they share costs, treatments and a focus on overall healthier outcomes.

Read the original here:

Providers group as Accountable Care Organizations

WASHINGTONPresident Barack Obama, emboldened by the Supreme Court's affirmation of his health care overhaul, is now embracing the law while campaigning for re-election, just as Republican rival Mitt Romney steps back from it.

Obama sees a second chance to sell voters on the issue despite deep skepticism about it from many people. Romney is avoiding answering hard questions about how he would tackle health care, and thus missing the chance to energize voters who oppose the law.

Democrats say the president always planned to stress health care if the court upheld the law. A month after the ruling, he and his team are focused on promoting individual parts of the law that have proved more popular than the sum. The campaign is targeting its efforts on important groups of voters, including women and Hispanics, who, Obama aides say, will benefit greatly once the law takes full effect.

Before the decision, Obama did mention the law in campaign events. But the case he made to voters was hardly vigorous, especially considering the amount of time he dedicated to overhaul during his first year in year in office.

The primary focus of his campaign speeches remains the economy, the race's dominant issue. But the Supreme Court's favorable ruling appears to have freed Obama to speak about the health law more passionately and emphatically than before the case was decided.

His campaign also is running a television advertisement in eight of the most contested states that criticizes Romney for opposing mandatory health insurance coverage for contraception; that provision is in Obama's overhaul. A health care-focused Spanish-language ad is running in Nevada, Colorado and Florida.

"The Supreme Court has spoken," Obama told a cheering crowd at a recent fundraiser in New Orleans. "We are going to implement this law."

During an event near Seattle, Obama said passing the law was "the right thing to do" and he highlighted specific parts of the overhaul that his campaign believes resonate well with voters.

"Young people will be able to stay on their parents' plans till they're 26 years old," Obama said. "Women won't be getting charged more than men, and you'll be getting free preventive care. Seniors will see the cost of their prescription drugs go down. If you don't have health insurance we're going to help you get it."

His campaign has been aggressive in selling the health overhaul to women.

Read the rest here:

Obama embraces health care law after court ruling

Though Houston boasts an esteemed medical center, the city is also home to a large low-income population with limited access to health care.

Brent Benoit, the new president of the Houston Bar Association, hopes to tackle the issue with the creation of a legal clinic for those whose legal problems complicate their getting health care.

Benoit recently talked to the Chronicle about the planned clinic, which will be run through the association's Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program and offer assistance with everything from settling insurance disputes to securing proper legal documentation.

Edited excerpts follow.

Q: What prompted the creation of this clinic?

A: I think it was just an appreciation that we have individuals that are falling between two communities, medical and legal. We have individuals who aren't able to get care occasionally because they have these issues. For example, they have Medicare, Medicaid or insurance issues. I have had conversations with in-house lawyers in the medical center hospitals who have expressed that this problem occurs at various hospitals. They have individuals who come with legal issues that are complicating their access to health care. Of course, hospitals are not situated to provide that kind of legal assistance. The clinic will be designed to try to help individuals who are impoverished, who are having some legal obstacle to accessing the health care system.

Q: What types of cases do you envision taking?

A: Those obstacles could be anything from insurance reimbursement or eligibility issues, anything from Medicare and Medicaid eligibility issues or other issues with those programs. It could be legal documentation problems. For example, somebody goes to the hospital and they have a procedure done, and there is some dispute about whether the procedure is covered or whether there is coverage for a specific aspect of their care, or they need to have it covered in order to be able to do it because they don't have means to pay for the procedure absent that. Another thing is, for example, someone has a very serious health issue that requires a serious procedure and, in order to feel comfortable doing it, needs to have someone able to make decisions for them should they become incapacitated. They really need a physician's directive. That normally requires the assistance of an attorney, and they may not have access or ability to pay an attorney to draft such a document. Or we may have someone who is terminally ill that does not have estate-planning documents. We would use this clinic to help them deal with that aspect of their illness by providing estate planning documents.

Q: When will the clinic open?

A: We are in the process of trying to figure that out. One of our challenges is we need to find the right space where we can have the clinic. Right now the Medical Center space is at a premium, so we are trying to work that out right now. We hope to finalize that in the near future. We wanted to be near or in the medical center or near a place where people access health care because we would like for them to be able to not have to go to wildly different places to get the assistance they need.

Read the rest here:

Q&A: Bridging legal-health care gap

More soldiers seek treatment for behavioral health issues Posted On: Saturday, Aug. 4 2012 11:02 PM By Rose L. Thayer Killeen Daily Herald

Demand for outpatient behavioral health care has more than doubled at Fort Hood in the past five years, according to information from Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center.

Data comparing fiscal year 2007 to 2011 show that across the board, demand has risen and Darnall is looking into a variety of programs and expansions to meet the need, said Lt. Col. Sharette Gray, chief of behavioral health for the hospital.

"We're continuing to expand," she said. "We are definitely expanding more because of the need and because of soldiers being back."

Between the many different programs, the department of behavioral health, which includes social work, is averaging 3,000 patient encounters a week, she said, with the department of social work seeing the biggest rise. In-patient beds show the slowest increase numbers, rising 46 percent.

This increase is reflective of the entire military. The Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center reported the number of visits for outpatient mental health treatment almost doubled, from just under 1 million in 2007 to about

1.89 million in 2011.

Gray said most of the soldiers at Fort Hood seeking help have been deployed between three to five times and have a wide range of behavioral issues for which they are seeking help.

Easier access

To meet the growing demand, Darnall is hiring providers, as well as integrating new care models across post, such as the Embedded Behavioral Health Model, which attaches providers to units at the brigade level.

Read the original post:

By Rose L. Thayer Killeen Daily Herald

The debate over the health care law passed in 2010 remains as contentious as ever, producing a deep split between liberals and conservatives and emerging as a major issue in Ohios U.S. Senate race between Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Republican challenger state Treasurer Josh Mandel.

It comes down to this simple fact: Brown likes the law and Mandel wants to repeal it.

Brown, who voted to move the bill through the Senate, argues that the new law would dramatically shrink the pool of uninsured people in Ohio while simultaneously allowing millions of women and seniors to have access to mammograms or prostate screenings without co-pays or deductibles.

They want to take all these benefits away, Brown said of the Republicans. And thats what they would do if this is repealed. Ill have that debate any day.

Mandel contends the law imposes high costs on state government and small businesses and says that it features new taxes that can damage the Ohio economy.

I agree with the majority of Ohioans that we need to repeal it and work together to replace it with something better, Mandel said.

Rarely in American history has a law remained so divisive after being signed. But unlike the Social Security Act of 1935 and the Clean Air Act of 1970, which both swept through Congress with strong bipartisan majorities, the 2010 health law squeaked by as Democrats barely overcame adamant Republican opposition.

The health care issue is very important among some voters, particularly among voters who are going to vote Republican anyway, said Paul Beck, a professor of political science at Ohio State University. Is it going to make a difference for voters who are genuinely on the fence? Maybe not as much as it would have six months ago.

Brown, in an interview in his Senate office, said there a number of people who hate anything associated with Obama. Dont be dismissive of that, but thats a part of it. But Brown asserted that opponents have absolutely lied about what is in the law, citing false claims that the Internal Revenue Service can come in and remove money from private bank accounts.

Barry Bennett, a Republican consultant in Washington and a supporter of Mandel, said Sherrod has got some explaining to do. There is no doubt that there are people in Ohio who like it, but there are a lot more who dont.

View original post here:

Health care key issue in Ohio’s U.S. Senate race

John Paul is putting the band back together.

As Highmark Inc. goes about building a billion-dollar hospital and health care network to take on UPMC, Mr. Paul -- the leader of Highmark's new health care provider wing and UPMC's chief operating officer before departing the system in 2003 -- is relying on several former UPMC executives to build and run the new Highmark network.

That he has turned to former UPMC personnel reflects not only his own three decades of familiarity with the system, but also UPMC's dominance -- if you want to hire a health care executive with knowledge of the Pittsburgh-area business landscape, there's a good chance that he or she is with the UPMC network, or has at least passed through it.

And if you want talent with experience in a vertically integrated health system -- that is, a health system with both an insurance arm and a hospital arm -- there are only a few such major systems in the country, UPMC being one of them.

"It used to be a joke in town that every third person in business was a U.S. Steel refugee," said Jim McTiernan, a principal with Triad USA, a Pittsburgh benefits firm that was bought last month by Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. of Illinois.

Now, the same joke applies to UPMC -- which, as it happens, now has its name on the top of the U.S. Steel Tower and is now the largest employer in the Pittsburgh region.

"Because of the size of UPMC and the success of UPMC," he said, "it's an obvious place to find talent."

Today, the talent in Highmark's provider wing -- which will supervise physician and outpatient clinics, medical supply firms and other subsidiary entities, as well as West Penn Allegheny Health System and Jefferson Regional Medical Center, once all of the hospital affiliations are formally approved -- numbers about four dozen employees.

The executive and management team now includes:

Patricia Liebman, an executive vice president of Highmark's "Integrated Delivery System" -- Among her many health industry jobs over the last three decades, she was CEO of the fledgling UPMC Health Plan. She also has experience in the Blue Cross Blue Shield network, working with Highmark predecessor Blue Cross of Western Pennsylvania.

See the article here:

Highmark chief builds staff with former UPMC colleagues

Log in to manage your products and services from The New York Times and the International Herald Tribune.

Don't have an account yet? Create an account

E-Mail or Member ID

Password

Remember Me Log In

Link:

Massachusetts Takes on Health Costs

August 04, 2012 08:43 am

Tracey Petersen,MML News Reporter

Sacramento, CA - A California Field Poll study found a majority or 53% of California voters report difficulties paying for their health care costs. This includes 27% who say their health costs are very difficult and 26% who say they are somewhat difficult to afford. There are big differences across voter subgroups, with uninsured, lower income and Latino voters more likely than others to report difficulties.

Among voters who reported difficulty paying for their health care costs, 39% say the cost of insurance premiums is the most difficult part of their health care expenses to pay.

Another 31% mention out-of-pocket expenses for deductibles, co-pays, and limits to their insurance coverage as being the hardest to afford.

Nearly half or 46% say they have delayed seeking one or more health services in the past year due to its cost. 34% cite delaying dental care most often.

In addition, majorities of California voters say they are very concerned about the personal risks associated with the health care system. For example, 54% express great concern about the possibility of facing financial hardships due to the cost of health treatments and 52% are very concerned about going without health coverage or going without care or medicines because of its cost.

Another 51% report a high degree of concern about the possibility of being denied payment or coverage for a needed treatment.

Written by Tracey Petersen

For the complete coverage of California State News on myMotherLode.com visit our State News Page

View post:

Voters Health Care Costs Concern

TO THE POINT

Pregnancy among young women highlights the complexities of the new Affordable Care Act.

AT A GLANCE

The health care law was recently upheld by the Supreme Court. Most of its provisions will take effect by 2014. Here are examples of what the ruling means for the middle class, according to the White House:

Insurance companies no longer have unchecked power to cancel your health insurance policy, or deny you coverage.

Soon, no consumer will ever again be denied care or charged more due to a pre-existing condition, such as cancer, or even asthma.

Preventive care still will be covered free of charge by insurance companies -- including mammograms for women and wellness visits for seniors.

6.6 million young adults still will be able to stay on their family's plan until they're 26.

Other provisions in the Affordable Care Act that will affect millions of people across the

5.3 million seniors will continue to save $600 a year on their prescription drugs.

Read the original:

Some young pregnant women denied coverage

02-08-2012 13:40 Watch: Follow Rep. Tim Huelskamp, a Kansas Republican, claimed the measure reintroduced "anti-Catholic bigotry" to American life. Though churches and houses of worship are exempt from the mandate, 24 lawsuits have been filed against it, and it remains one of the most contentious aspects of President Obama's Affordable Health Care Act. Calling the contraception mandate an act of war on America may win support from religious conservatives, but GOP men may also be opening another can of worms.... accusations they are waging a war on women.

Read the original post:

GOP Lawmaker Compares Free Contraception to 9/11, Pearl Harbor Attacks - Video

02-08-2012 17:16 New health care law goes into effect |

Here is the original post:

New health care law goes into effect - Video

Get Spotted

Please Note: You may have disabled JavaScript and/or CSS. Although this news content will be accessible, certain functionality is unavailable.

Skip to News

back

next

Grape Escape at TPAC The London Olympics Hattie Mitchell Swearing in Ceremony Sunflower State Games: Darts 2012 Shrine Bowl Shawnee County Fair Parade of Champions Shawnee County Fair Saturday Events Sunflower State Games: Bocce Ball Sunflower State Games: Junior Rodeo

Read more:

Letter: Health care law has benefits

The anticipated takeover of Passaic Countys three hospitals by the nations first for-profit Catholic health care system fell apart on Friday after the board of trustees representing two of the hospitals rejected a proposal from Ascension Health Care Network.

The vote by St. Josephs Healthcare Systems board, which controls hospitals in Paterson and Wayne, also derailed the sale of St. Marys Hospital in Passaic, raising questions about the future of the sole hospital serving a city of 70,000. Although St. Marys had previously approved its sale, Ascension did not want the Passaic hospital without the Paterson hospital.

The surprising developments, after months of negotiations, left officials in Passaic scrambling and some hoping that St. Josephs board would reconsider its decision.

The finances at St. Marys are precarious, with less than a weeks cash on hand, according to several sources. The hospital emerged from bankruptcy just two years ago, and received $9.5 million in state aid this year. One-third of its patients have no insurance or are underinsured.

State health officials will meet with St. Marys soon to discuss their options as they work to address the health care needs of their community, according to a statement from Dawn Thomas, a spokeswoman for the department.

Assemblyman Gary S. Schaer, a Democrat representing the city of Passaic, who is also its City Council president, said he was concentrating on getting this deal done, and hoped the St. Josephs board would reconsider its unfortunate decision.

I do believe its to St. Josephs benefit, as it is to St. Marys benefit to recognize the advantages of partnership under the Ascension banner, he said. This will be better for everyone. In the long term, this is a necessary step.

Ascension had hoped to create a network of seven for-profit Catholic hospitals in New Jersey, and planned to start with St. Josephs Regional Medical Center in Paterson, St. Josephs Wayne Hospital and St. Marys. It had promised in its presentations to the boards at St. Marys and St. Josephs to pay off the bonds of both institutions, totaling more than $278 million. It had also pledged to fully fund their underfunded pension liabilities and invest hundreds of millions of dollars in their physical plants, sources said.

Tax revenue

The change to for-profit status would have brought millions in new tax revenues to Paterson, Passaic and Wayne, as well as the Passaic County government.

Go here to read the rest:

Future uncertain for St. Mary’s Hospital after deal falls through

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN--(Marketwire -08/03/12)- Announced today, Extendicare Health Services, Inc. received three 2012 American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living's (AHCA/NCAL) Silver - Achievement in Quality, National Quality Awards in recognition of outstanding performance in the health care profession. The three health centers awarded this recognition include Tendercare Mt. Pleasant Health and Rehab Center in Mt. Pleasant, MI, Cedar Springs Health and Rehabilitation Center in Cedarburg, WI and Medco Center of Hardinsburg in Hardinsburg, KY. These centers are three of only 52 centers to receive this prestigious award this year, joining the only 232 across the nation to have been awarded this achievement since the program's inception.

"This award is a benchmark of distinction in the journey to providing high quality care," said Governor Mark Parkinson, President and CEO of AHCA/NCAL. "The long term and post-acute care community applauds these three centers and Extendicare on this great achievement."

The AHCA/NCAL Quality Awards - comprised of three levels, Bronze - Commitment to Quality award; a more rigorous Silver - Achievement in Quality award; and a comprehensive Gold - Excellence in Quality award - are an independently judged, criteria-based, award program considered to be the most prestigious recognition of quality within the long-term and post-acute care profession. This Silver - Achievement in Quality award highlights select centers across the nation that serve as models of excellence for providing high-quality care. Applicants for the award must first receive the Bronze award to become eligible and must demonstrate a level of quality achievement through good performance outcomes that have evolved from the center's ability to embrace the core values and concepts of visionary leadership, a focus on the future, and resident-focused excellence.

"Receiving this award is evidence of the staff commitment and successful leadership at Tendercare Mt. Pleasant, Cedar Springs and Hardinsburg and their ability to apply rigorous standards to operations and service," says Chick Stepahin, Chair, AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award Board of Overseers. "These three centers have been consistent in their performance and dedication to providing high-quality care."

"Extendicare centers across the country are focused on providing high-quality, person-centered care for every person they serve and I attribute the success of these three health centers to their strong leadership team and innovative approach to care. We are very proud of this accomplishment and thank the entire team for their dedication," said Tim Lukenda, Chairman and CEO of Extendicare Health Services, Inc.

A team of trained Examiners reviews each Quality Award application and determines recipients based on a set of rigorous criteria. As recipients of the Silver - Achievement in Quality award, Tendercare Mt. Pleasant, Cedar Springs and Hardinsburg may now move forward in developing approaches and achieving performance levels that meet the criteria required for the Gold - Excellence in Quality award, which requires them to address the Baldrige Program's Health Care Criteria in its entirety. These three centers will be presented with their awards during AHCA/NCAL's 63rd Annual Convention and Exposition, October 7-10, 2012 in Tampa, FL.

Implemented by AHCA/NCAL in 1996, the National Quality Award Program is centered on the core values and criteria of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program and is designed to support both continuous quality improvement efforts in long-term care by promoting quality awareness and education and recognizing quality achievements.

About Extendicare

Extendicare Health Services, Inc. located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin is a wholly owned subsidiary of Extendicare Inc., or Extendicare, (TSX symbol "EXE"). Extendicare is a leading North American provider of long-term and short-term senior care services through its network of owned and operated health care centers. We employ 36,100 qualified and experienced individuals dedicated to helping people live better through a commitment to quality service that includes post-acute care, rehabilitative therapies and home health care services. Our 244 senior care centers in North America have capacity for approximately 26,500 residents.

Here is the original post:

Three Extendicare Health Centers Earn National Recognition for Providing High Quality Care in 2012