Patients undergoing surgeries that don’t require an overnight stay in the hospital will have their procedures performed in the new Surgery Center starting Monday, Jan. 17, at Luther Midelfort. (PRESS RELEASE, 1/12)
Read MoreLawyers are often paid to predict outcomes. Charles Stevens, an employee benefits specialist attorney with Michael Best and Friedrich, however, admits he’s not sure how health care reform will eventually all play out. (WHN, 1/12)
A broad coalition of health care providers and purchasers support the Quality Improvement Act. The Act is included in Governor Scott Walker’s law suit reform legislation and will allow, according to supporters, providers to improve health quality and avoid improper utilization. (PRESS RELEASE, 1/12)
Read MoreThe Alzheimer’ s Association is against Governor Scott Walker’s lawsuit reform bill because it believes it “will have unintended consequences that will seriously impact the health, safety and quality of life of...
Read MoreCalifornia’s new insurance commissioner has expanded his inquiry into rate hikes by major insurers, calling on them to delay pending increases for 60 days while he examines paperwork submitted to his office.
Commissioner Dave Jones had already urged Blue Shield of California to refrain from raising rates for a third time in five months. The increases would drive up consumers’ bills as much as 59% cumulatively. (LA TIMES, 1/12)
Read MoreEven as states grappled with crippling budget deficits and the political fallout of the deeply divisive health care overhaul, they maintained high rates of coverage for children in low-income families—thanks to enhanced federal Medicaid funding. That’s according to a recently released report by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF). (KAISER HEALTH NEWS, 1/12)
Read MoreGov. Andrew Cuomo says he wants to redesign and shrink the state's Medicaid program by copying a cost-cutting model used in Wisconsin. A review of Wisconsin's efforts to contain Medicaid spending, however, shows little evidence of savings, the Wall Street Journal reports. (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/12)
A proposal that would limit lawsuits against health care providers took center stage Tuesday as debate officially began on Governor Scott Walker’s special session on the economy. The sweeping tort reform bill would, among other things, prohibit the use of "peer review" records of health care providers in civil or criminal cases against those providers. It would also limit non-economic damages against long-term care providers and exempt certain acts or omissions by health care providers from criminal liability. (WHN, 1/11)
A state consumer protection agency is investigating complaints from patients who paid for Allcare Dental & Dentures services they didn't receive. Meanwhile, other dentists continue to step up to work with patients looking for help after the closure last week of Allcare in more than a dozen states, including Wisconsin. (APPLETON POST CRESCENT, 1/11)
Controversial psychiatrist Karl Strelnick sidestepped a hearing Tuesday on whether he should be fired from the Milwaukee County Mental Health Complex by retiring from the job he's held since 1991, the Journal Sentinel reports. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 1/11)
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