Poor, uninsured hit hardest by closing of trauma centers nationwide, By Ellen Kleinerman, October 5, 2011, Cleveland Plain Dealer: “The shuttering of trauma centers across the country since 2001 has had a greater impact on communities with black, Hispanic, elderly, uninsured and poor people, according to a study released Wednesday. Researcher Dr. Renee Yuen-Jan Hsia said the closings — mostly in urban areas — were due to the high cost of trauma care, rising numbers of uninsured patients and cuts in Medicare payments…”
Study finds nearest trauma center is now farther away for 1 in 4 Americans, Associated Press, October 5, 2011, Washington Post: “One hour can spell the difference between life and death for victims of severe injury, but about a quarter of Americans now have to travel farther to reach the nearest hospital trauma center, a study published Wednesday concludes. The reason: Hundreds of trauma centers have closed over the past two decades. Sixty-nine million people had to travel farther to reach a trauma center in 2007 than in 2001, according a study in the journal Health Affairs…”
Report: Bay Area cost of living up 18 percent since 2008, By Matt O’Brien, October 4, 2011, Contra Costa Times: “By one measure, the cost of living for Bay Area families soared 18 percent since the onset of the recession in 2008. As wages remained stagnant and more residents lost their jobs, the price of rental housing, transportation, child care and other basic needs kept rising, according to an Oakland-based national research group that wants California to overhaul how it measures the economic well-being of its residents…”
Report: Basic cost of living soars in Bay Area, By Carolyn Said, October 5, 2011, San Francisco Chronicle: “Raju and Simmi Kumar were busy Tuesday afternoon arranging multihued shawls, skirts, handbags and tablecloths imported from their native India in their new Mission District store, Simmi Boutique. ‘We want to help the poor people back in India who work for us to make these beautiful things,’ Raju Kumar said. Here in the United States, their family of five – they have three children, ages 13, 14 and 19 – struggles to make ends meet also. ‘It’s very tight, let me tell you,’ he said. ‘We never, ever go out, we always cook all three meals at home. But expenses are going all the way up.’ A report released Tuesday underscored how the Kumar family reflects the realities of the working poor. According to a formula called the Self-Sufficiency Standard, a family of four (with two adults, one preschooler and one school-age child) in the nine-county Bay Area now needs $74,341 a year to get by, compared with $62,517 three years ago…”
High court hears key Medicaid case, By David G. Savage, October 3, 2011, Los Angeles Times: “The Supreme Court justices opened their new term Monday by hearing a major healthcare case that tests whether judges can stop California and other cash-strapped states from cutting their payments to doctors and hospitals who serve low-income patients. The case heard Monday will probably affect how much money is available to pay for medical care for more than 50 million Americans, about half of them children, who depend on Medicaid…”
For justices’ first day back, a knotty case involving Medicaid cutbacks, By Adam Liptak, October 3, 2011, New York Times: “The Supreme Court started its new term on Monday with arguments in a difficult and consequential case over California’s attempt to cut Medicaid payment rates. The justices were not focused on the ultimate question of whether state officials were entitled to address the budget crisis there by lowering payments to medical providers. Rather, they considered the threshold question of whether the providers and Medicaid recipients were entitled to sue over the move…”
