Hospitals care for hundreds of Medicaid patients per year others won’t take, By Michael J. Berens, May 11, 2010, Seattle Times: “There are no bars on her window or locks on the door, yet Jeri Ringseth considers herself a prisoner. On Nov. 4, she was admitted to St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma with a diabetic blood-sugar imbalance, a life-threatening condition that over the years has caused both her legs to be amputated. She was well enough within days for release to a nursing home. Instead, she had to wait, and as of Tuesday – after 189 days at St. Joseph – she still waits. ‘Nobody wants me anymore,’ she says. Ringseth, 41, is a low-income patient who suffers from chronic disabilities. She’s too sick to care for herself and not well-off enough to pay for a private nursing home or other facility. She’s one of hundreds of Medicaid patients in Washington state each year who – despite no longer needing hospitalization – have occupied hospital rooms for a month or longer while trying to find a nursing home or other facility to take them in. A Seattle Times investigation has found at least 2,025 such cases from 2000 to 2008. Overall price tag: $461 million. Although written off as charity care, those costs are passed on to those who do pay for their care, according to the Washington State Hospital Association…”
Day: May 13, 2010
State Health Programs – California, Minnesota
- Schwarzenegger’s revised budget plan is expected to eliminate health programs, By Shane Goldmacher and Evan Halper, May 12, 2010, Los Angeles Times: “Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to present a revised budget plan Friday that would dismantle some of California’s landmark healthcare programs after efforts to scale them back have been reversed by federal courts. The rulings, issued mostly over the last two years, have already forced the state to unwind roughly $2.4 billion in cuts approved by the governor and Legislature and have alarmed other financially strapped states seeking ways to balance their budgets…”
- Pawlenty vetoes health bill, By Warren Wolfe and Rachel Stassen-Berger, May 13, 2010, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: “Gov. Tim Pawlenty vetoed a major health and human services spending bill Thursday, just hours after it cleared the House and Senate in a late-night session, but then hinted to reporters that he might be open to negotiations. ‘It is a bill I think we could potentially find some compromise on, and potentially sign into law,’ Pawlenty said. DFL legislators had expected the veto because, although the bill cuts $114 million from current spending in state programs, it also provides health insurance for about 82,000 poor childless adults through the state-federal Medicaid program — a shift the governor opposes. The timing of the Wednesday night votes ensured that lawmakers would have time to attempt a veto override or seek a compromise with the governor…”
After-School Meal Program
Late-day meals fill empty bellies, By Lisa Rathke (AP), May 10, 2010, Boston Globe: “While the other preschoolers were warming up to the vegetable pesto lasagna, Avery Bennett dived in with no hesitation. ‘Can I have some more lasagna?’ the 3-year-old said from her booster seat. ‘I love it.’ She moved on to her seconds, and the other children at the evening-care program were also chomping down on the dish made of spinach, peppers, carrots, tomato, fresh basil, and cheese. More low-income schoolchildren could soon have access to free nutritious dinners like the lasagna that Avery loved. A US Department of Agriculture program in Vermont, 12 other states, and the District of Columbia provides reimbursements for the suppers, served at after-school programs for at-risk children in communities where at least 50 percent of households fall below the poverty level…”