Amount of free hospital care continues to skyrocket / Obama introduces health care reform team

[CAL/AAEM News Service]

Data indicate amount of free hospital care continues to
skyrocket. 


Source: The Orlando Business Journal (http://orlando.bizjournals.com/orlando/)

Date: December 19, 2008



 

The Orlando Business Journal 
(12/19, Azam) reports that data indicate that the "amount of free
hospital care provided to needy patients locally skyrocketed by 41.6 percent in
the past three years, from a combined $431.1 million in 2005 to a whopping
$610.4 million in 2007." Nationally, "the amount of charity hospital
care provided grew by eight percent in third-quarter 2008 when compared to the
same period last year." Hospital officials "expect the situation to
worsen in 2009 as the recession deepens and unemployment grows." In fact,
"every one percentage point increase in unemployment leads to a loss of
employer-sponsored health coverage for an estimated 2.5 million employees and
dependents," according to an American Hospital Association report.
Moreover, "many people lacking health insurance turn to the emergency
[department] as a last resort," and to "make matters worse,
uncompensated care costs typically get shifted to the amount billed to private
insurers, which drives up insurance premiums for employers and their
workers." The culmination of all these events can put "the squeeze on
hospitals, which are looking for a variety of ways to cut costs." 

 --------------------------------------------------------


 

Obama introduces health care reform team

 

Source: The American Hospital Association (http://www.aha.org)

Date:  December  10, 2008 

 

 

President-elect Barack Obama today officially introduced former
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle as his nominee for Health and Human Services
secretary, an appointment that must be confirmed by the Senate. Daschle also
will oversee the administration’s health care reform efforts as director of a
new White House Office of Health Reform, assisted by deputy director Jeanne
Lambrew, currently an associate professor of public affairs at the University
of Texas’ Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and senior fellow at the
Center for American Progress. Lambrew served during the Clinton administration
as program associate director for health at the Office of Management and Budget
and as senior health analyst at the National Economic Council. AHA President
and CEO Rich Umbdenstock called Daschle a “thoughtful leader” who “brings a
wealth of knowledge and experience to the issue of reforming our nation’s
health system.” He noted, “America’s hospitals stand ready to offer our ideas
and energy as we work for better health and health care for our nation.”

 

For more information, please visit:

http://change.gov/newsroom/entry/daschle_nominated_to_head_hhs_appeals_for_american_input/







Abid Mogannam &
Brian Potts MD, MBA
Managing Editors, CAL/AAEM News Service
University of California, Irvine

The CAL/AAEM Archives are available at: http://maillists.uci.edu/mailman/public/calaaem/

CAL/AAEM, a nonprofit professional organization for emergency physicians, operates the CAL/AAEM News Service solely as an educational resource for physicians. Dissemination of an article by CAL/AAEM News Service does not imply endorsement, agreement, or recommendation by CAL/AAEM News Service, CAL/AAEM, or AAEM.  


      
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