Month: October 2012

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has released a list of about 3,000 hospitals, medical facilities and pain centers - including 81 in Wisconsin - that were shipped products from the drug manufacturer at the center of a deadly nationwide meningitis outbreak. The FDA is warning medical professionals not to use any products made by the drug manufacturer. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 10/25)

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele shifted course Wednesday, retracting his announcement from five days earlier that the medical director at the Mental Health Complex was leaving his job after a patient death there. Thomas Harding no longer will retire immediately, contrary to the county executive's Friday night announcement of a shake-up of several staffers at the complex. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 10/25)

Aurora Health Care and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Wisconsin have won their first large employer for a new health plan that guarantees savings if employees and family members use Aurora hospitals and doctors for most of their care. Roundy's Supermarkets Inc. has opted for the new plan for its roughly 8,000 employees and family members in eastern Wisconsin where Aurora provides services. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 10/24)

Tommy Thompson is open to raising the age at which people receive Medicare and offering less of a benefit to those who have more money, introducing another stark distinction between the candidates in Wisconsin's U.S. Senate race. The Thompson campaign said all of the changes would be for future beneficiaries. Thompson's challenger, Democratic U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin of Madison, opposes both ideas, saying she wants to keep Medicare benefits intact. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 10/24)

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele's plan to deny health benefits to part-time workers unless they work at least 30 hours a week would result in an exodus of part-time nurses at the county's Mental Health Complex, nurses and their supporters said Monday. The change would trigger an immediate staffing crisis at the complex, nurses' union president Candice Owley said at a news conference at the courthouse. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 10/23)

UnitedHealthcare lost its role as sole health-benefits provider to General Electric employees in southeast Wisconsin but United’s UMR unit gained a contract. (MILWAUKEE BUSINESS JOURNAL, 10/22)