• Uninsured trauma patients are much more likely to die, By Karen Kaplan, November 17, 2009, Los Angeles Times: “Patients who lack health insurance are more likely to die from car accidents and other traumatic injuries than people who belong to a health plan — even though emergency rooms are required to care for all comers regardless of ability to pay, according to a study published today. An analysis of 687,091 patients who visited trauma centers nationwide from 2002 to 2006 found that the odds of dying from injuries were almost twice as high for the uninsured than for patients with private insurance, researchers reported in Archives of Surgery. Trauma physicians said they were surprised by the findings, even though a slew of studies had previously documented the ill effects of going without health coverage. Uninsured patients are less likely to be screened for certain cancers or to be admitted to specialty hospitals for procedures such as heart bypass surgery. Overall, about 18,000 deaths each year have been traced to a lack of health insurance…”
• Study: Injured uninsured more likely to die in ER, By Carla K. Johnson (AP), November 16, 2009, Idaho Statesman: “Uninsured patients with traumatic injuries, such as car crashes, falls and gunshot wounds, were almost twice as likely to die in the hospital as similarly injured patients with health insurance, according to a troubling new study. The findings by Harvard University researchers surprised doctors and health experts who have believed emergency room care was equitable. ‘This is another drop in a sea of evidence that the uninsured fare much worse in their health in the United States,’ said senior author Dr. Atul Gawande, a Harvard surgeon and medical journalist…”

• Indiana trims Medicaid payments to hospitals, By Mary Beth Schneider, November 10, 2009, Indianapolis Star: “Hospitals would get 5 percent less money from the state for caring for Medicaid patients under cuts announced today by the state. Gov. Mitch Daniels last week called for emergency budget cuts as the state’s revenue continues to fall short of projections. State tax collections already are a half-billion dollars short of what was collected at this time last year. To make the cuts, Daniels said state employees would not be getting pay raises, and asked agencies to come up with cuts, including the Family and Social Services Administration which administers Medicaid in Indiana…”
• Pain of budget cuts is hitting home, By Mary Beth Schneider, November 11, 2009, Indianapolis Star: “State budget cuts will begin to take a tangible toll on Hoosiers, from the pay in prison guards’ pockets to possibly the level of service people receive at hospitals. Faced with withering revenues, Gov. Mitch Daniels last week ordered state agencies to slash their expenses by 10 percent this fiscal year, on top of 10 percent cuts made last year. On Tuesday, the Family and Social Services Administration announced that it will reach some of its goal by cutting the amount it pays hospitals for caring for Medicaid patients by 5 percent beginning Jan. 1, a move that will save the state $10.6 million in this fiscal year…”
• Ind. budget cuts include $34 million in social services, By Ken Kusmer (AP), November 10, 2009, Louisville Courier-Journal: “Indiana’s human services agency said Tuesday it will slice $34 million from its budget by paying hospitals less to treat Medicaid patients, renegotiating contracts with most of its vendors, moving some offices and leaving about 400 jobs unfilled. However, the Family and Social Services administration will not reduce its Medicaid payments to doctors or cut ‘vital services’ to the young, elderly, disabled and needy Indiana residents who receive social safety-net benefits, agency officials said…”

Hospitals cite worry on fees in health bill, By Anemona Hartocollis, November 2, 2009, New York Times: “As Congress struggles to rein in health care costs as part of its sweeping reform efforts, hospitals in New York City and other urban areas that provide some of the most expensive care are among the primary targets. The issue pits hospitals in more rural states like Iowa and Minnesota, where spending tends to be lower, against those in areas like New York and Los Angeles, and revolves around a question that has bedeviled the medical establishment for decades: How much money do hospitals need to provide adequate care for patients, especially poor people who have not had regular access to health care…”

Will safety net hospitals survive health reform?, By Carla K. Johnson (AP), September 3, 2009, San Jose Mercury News: “Janie Johnson has no health insurance, so when she cut her toe while giving herself a pedicure, she limped to the emergency room at one of Chicago’s safety net hospitals and waited her turn. ‘I’m 44, but I probably look about 55 right now,’ Johnson joked in Stroger Hospital’s emergency department where more than 100 patients sat waiting. Urgent cases, from chest pains to gunshot wounds, are rushed to doctors first. Johnson was glad to have somewhere to go for health care. ‘I don’t know what I would do’ without the hospital, she said. ‘My health would probably get worse.’ To all the knotty issues involved in health care overhaul, add one more: The proposals in Congress may threaten the funding and future of the nation’s already-struggling safety net hospitals…”

La. Health department cuts Medicaid providers, By Melinda Deslatte (AP), August 3, 2009, Baton Rouge Advocate: “Louisiana will start paying less money Tuesday to many private health care providers for taking care of Medicaid patients, a move the state health department estimates will save $86 million this year.  Health and Hospitals Secretary Alan Levine said he also is weighing whether to require adults in the Medicaid program to pay a ‘very small co-pay’ if they use emergency rooms for non-emergency care…”