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Category Archives: Health Care

EYVoice: Connected Health Care: More Than Just Patient Safety

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By Jaimy Chadam and Stephan van Rhee, EY

Pressured by an aging population that increasingly suffers from chronic diseases, the health care sector is turning to technology to provide the building blocks for better care at lower costs. The technology sector has gratefully accepted this invitation and has begun bringing solutions to the market that will change the way healthcare is delivered.

Big tech and startups are turning out products that will offer caregivers and patients better monitoring solutions, better means of communication and a better way to treat illnesses. Wearables and connected devices can measure blood pressure, heart rate, glucose levels or pulmonary profiles, allowing for better preventative care to reduce doctor visits.

The collection of large amounts of clinical data in combination with analytics software will lead to improved diagnosis. Personalized patient files and digital assistants will give doctors easier access to the information needed to provide effective treatment. All of these benefits are facilitated by cloud technology and the use of smartphones and tablets in health care settings.

But before we see full-scale acceptance of these new technologies, four concerns need to be addressed:

1. Doctors and most patients are not IT specialists nor should they be. Easy application interfaces are needed for them to adopt the use of advanced technologies.

2. Health-related information is very personal people worry about privacy and data security when it comes to their health profiles.

3. System availability and data accuracy can be a matter of life and death when dealing with clinical data. Any solution needs to be flawless before it can be rolled out. A beta version that may contain bugs is unacceptable. 4. Data and solutions need to be interoperable. Only the combination of all inputs will guarantee the best outcomes and achieve the full benefit of connected health care.

Of course, several of these are competing concerns. Technological innovation usually isnt stimulated by regulation and extreme sensitivities around data security and privacy. And the responsibilities of health care providers toward their patients will make them reluctant to implement solutions that arent clinically tested and free of risks.

These concerns can be addressed through strategic partnerships health care organizations will help technology companies interpret the needs of health care providers. But that is not enough.

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EYVoice: Connected Health Care: More Than Just Patient Safety

Fighting words in Legislature's health care battle

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The Florida House and Senate are locked into a $4 billion battle over health care funding.

It will be resolved, although it is looking ever more likely that it will push the 2015 Legislature beyond its May 1 deadline into an extended or special session.

But the real significance of this policy fight is that House leaders are signaling that they are prepared for a long-term engagement over changing many aspects of Floridas health care system. One leader called it a war. A more fitting name may be a revolution given the scope of what House leaders want to achieve.

House Appropriations Chairman Richard Corcoran, R-Land OLakes, said the problem with Floridas health care system is the status quo and all the people who profit from the system.

Come to war with us. Ill fight. And if it costs me my political career, or yours, so be it, Corcoran told House members.

Those are significant comments coming from the House budget chairman who will be the next House speaker following the 2016 elections.

That was followed up this week at the end of what is likely to be the last meeting of the House Health and Human Services Committee. Rep. Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford, re-emphasized the Houses commitment to bringing more competition and free-market ideas into the health care system.

We know that there is a health care problem in Florida. And we know every time government tries to solve something, we typically (are) a little worse off than had we let some other things happen, Brodeur said.

Brodeur outlined an ambitious set of proposals for the 2016 session, including advancing a plan to curb the number and cost of medical malpractice lawsuits.

Brodeurs comments were bolstered by the appearance of Rep. Jose Oliva, R-Miami Lakes, who will be the House speaker following Corcoran. He emphasized his commitment to changing the health care system.

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Fighting words in Legislature's health care battle

Health care challenges still ahead

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Federal law added to Oregon recipients, workforce; future private, public costs at issue.

The national health-care overhaul has dramatically reduced the share of Oregonians without insurance coverage, but it also has posed new challenges.

State Insurance Commissioner Laura Cali and Peter Graven, a health economist at Oregon Health & Science University, discussed the wide-ranging effects of the Affordable Care Act at a Salem City Club luncheon Friday.

What we have is a result of a lot of competing interests, Cali says.

While Cali declined to speculate what changes in the 2010 law might occur in the future, you learn things along the way as you implement it and you make adjustments.

Graven says Congress isnt likely to change it anytime soon. The original 2010 law squeezed by with a 60-39 vote in the Senate 60 is the minimum required to avert a filibuster and 219-212 in the House. Both votes took place when Democrats had majorities in both chambers.

Since 2011, Republicans who have controlled the House have taken 56 votes, most recently on Feb. 3, to repeal it. However, President Barack Obama says he will veto any repeal.

Graven says a single-payer system, under which the government pays all health care similar to what Canada does, is also unlikely.

More to the point, Graven says, is what states such as Oregon do to extend coverage through private insurance and state-supported care known as the Oregon Health Plan and how to keep that coverage affordable, such as the 16 coordinated-care organizations that oversee care for almost 1 million low-income recipients under the plan.

Its good to keep an eye on Oregon, he says.

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Health care challenges still ahead

Stanford Health Care-ValleyCare merger approved

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California Attorney General Kamala Harris issued the final approval Tuesday needed for Stanford Health Care to proceed with its acquisition of ValleyCare Health System (VCHS) and its medical center in Pleasanton.

Harris' approval ends a nearly year-long effort by the governing board of directors of ValleyCare to find a partner as the health system plunged deeper into debt.

While allowing Stanford Health Care to acquire ValleyCare, Harris also ruled that the Pleasanton-based health system must continue providing medical services here for at least five more years, including its 24-hour emergency medical operation and most other services now available.

The current ValleyCare board of directors and CEO Scott Gregerson apparently will remain in place for now with some consolidation, along with "substantially all of the employees employed by VCHS," Harris said in a 21-page letter and "Conditions to Change" packet.

"We are very encouraged by the report," Gregerson said. "The work of the Attorney General was thoughtful and considered, and the community will be well served by her decision."

"This decision validates the work of the (ValleyCare) board of directors and honors the will of our corporate membership many of whom supported this hospital for over 50 years."

He said Stanford will now review the terms as proposed.

"ValleyCare is a great hospital and is now poised to be far better than it has ever been," Gregerson added. "I would be remiss if I didn't thank the employees and physicians for their unyielding efforts to serve this community during a challenging time and we are awed by the potential this partnership will bring."

As part of the merger agreement, Stanford will provide a capital commitment of $50 million during the first three years and will be co-obligated on, or guarantee, ValleyCare's $85 million revenue bonds in order to resolve the current bond covenant compliance issues.

Although ValleyCare will remain in existence as a nonprofit, public benefit corporation, it will operate as a subsidiary of Stanford. ValleyCare's corporate members, including some still active who paid as little as $50 to help build Valley Memorial Hospital in 1961, will be terminated as Stanford assumes full operating and management control over ValleyCare.

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Stanford Health Care-ValleyCare merger approved

Health-care an utmost concern

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Omar Mosleh

omar.mosleh@sunmedia.ca

Sharon Smith says shes always loved what the Alberta Wildrose embodies, as its presence is seen in nearly every part of Alberta.

She even named her horse Wildrose before the political party even existed.

So its safe to say the defection of her former colleagues to the Progressive Conservative (PC) floor and the election of a new leader for the party arent her concerns in the upcoming spring election.

Rather, the Wildrose candidate is concerned about the perceived entitlement of the government, as well as their approach to tackling health care, education and infrastructure challenges.

I keep going back to this nothings changed for me, I didnt run for the Wildrose because of (former leader) Danielle Smith, she said.

Instead, she ran because she wants to provide an alternative as a representative to the people of Leduc-Beaumont, regardless of whos leading her party.

In fact, she believes the change could be for the better. She said newly-elected leader Brian Jean has shown strong leadership skills, and at the leadership convention, there was a sense of renewal and rebirth.

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Health-care an utmost concern

Home health care workers sue employers for back pay

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In a class action lawsuit, filed in the D.C. Superior Court, the workers claim they were not paid the hourly wage they were entitled to and were denied overtime and sick days in violation of the law.

It's the second in a series of lawsuits against home care agencies.

The lawsuit alleges that Capitol View, Human Touch, T&N Nursing Care and VMT Home Health violated local labor laws over a period of three years.

"For years, these home care agencies flouted the District of Columbia's basic wage and hour protections for workers," said Greg McGillivary, the D.C. attorney representing the home care workers.

Related: Why Grandma's aide earns so little

Home health care workers are notoriously underpaid and labor activists have been pushing to increase their wages.

It is also one of the nation's fastest growing professions, and demand is expected to skyrocket as America's population ages.

The home care workers argue that the agencies violated a 2006 D.C. law, which requires companies with federal contracts to pay a "living wage" of at least $13.60 per hour, pay overtime and give employees paid time off when they're sick.

The companies were reimbursed by Medicaid, but paid workers around $10 an hour, refused to pay overtime and denied workers the sick time they were entitled to under the law, according to the lawsuit.

"The actual laws around living wage for home care workers are strong, but the law is not being enforced in a way that is holding these agencies accountable," said Lisa Brown, a union leader representing home care workers, in a statement.

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Home health care workers sue employers for back pay

D.C. home health-care workers file class-action suit alleging wage theft

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D.C. home health-care workers filed a class action lawsuit against four agencies Wednesday, alleging that they were cheated out of wages and denied overtime and sick pay.The suit againstfour local agencies Capitol View Home Health Agency, Human Touch, T&N Nursing and VMT Home Health comes a week before home health-care workers and other low-wage workers across the country are expected to rally for a $15 wage on April 15 as part of the Fight for 15 movement.

The suit, filed in D.C. Superior Court, argues theagencies violated labor laws over a span of three years, paying workers below D.C.s living wage, which was $13.60 in 2014. Employees of D.C. government contractors are required to earnthis living wage a wage thats considerably higher than the citys minimum wage of $9.50 per hour.

This is the second lawsuitof its kind. In December, D.C.s health-care workers filed suit against three other home-care agencies, similarly alleging that workers werent paid for all of their time and were not provided sick days.

T&N Nursing and VMT Home Health both were part of a federal investigation thatdiscoveredthat D.C. operators of home-care agencies and personal assistants were operating a Medicaid scheme, stealing tens of millions of taxpayer dollars. Because of the revelations, these twoagencies were cut off from Medicaid funding and its during this time that many home health-care workers say they werent paid.

I cant pay rent and support my family when my employer is stealing my already-meager wages,plaintiff Stephanie Johnson, an employee of VMT Home Health, saidin a press release. For too long weve been taken advantage of by these agencies, and its time that we receive the pay that weve worked hard for.

Capitol Home Health Agency declined to comment. The other agencies did not return requests for comment.

Claims lodged by home health care workers are growing acrossthe country. Thedemand forhome health-care workersis fast growing as baby boomers grow older. The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects the country will need an additional 1 million such workers by 2022. According to a recent reportfrom the National Employment Law Project, the nations 2million home health-care workers had an average annual salary of $18,598 in 2013, compared to the nationalaverage of $46,440 for salaried workers that year.

With help from theService Employees International Union 1199, D.C.s home health care workers are in the process of trying to organize. U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez spoke to hundreds of the citys workers at a town hall style rally last month, urging them to fight for higher wages.

There are an estimated6,000 home health care workers working in D.C. and advocates say they could be owed up to $150 million indamages.

Perry Stein covers the happenings in D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

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D.C. home health-care workers file class-action suit alleging wage theft

Do I Need to Report My Health Care Coverage on My Taxes? – TurboTax Tax Tip Video – Video

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Do I Need to Report My Health Care Coverage on My Taxes? - TurboTax Tax Tip Video
http://blog.turbotax.intuit.com For the first time, taxpayers will be required to report their health care status when they file their taxes. TurboTax CPAs Dirk Reschly and Lisa Greene-Lewis...

By: TurboTax

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Do I Need to Report My Health Care Coverage on My Taxes? - TurboTax Tax Tip Video - Video


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