Health Care Access in the News:  Sunday, February 24, 2008
Consumer Health Coalition (CHC) has highlighted major news headlines and studies related to health care access from the past week. We hope you find this information INTERESTING AND useful!

HEALTH CARE QUALITY

NO-PAY MOVEMENT FOR SERIOUS HOSPITAL ERRORS GAINING STEAM
Monday, February 18, 2008
By Lauran Neergaard, The Associated Press, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"It's a new way to push for patient safety: Don't pay hospitals when they commit certain errors. Beginning Oct. 1, Medicare no longer will pay those extra-care costs for eight preventable hospital errors, including catheter-caused urinary tract infections, injuries from falls, and leaving objects in the body after surgery. Nor can hospitals bill the injured patient for those extra costs. Next year, Medicare will add three more errors to the no-pay list; ventilator-caused pneumonia and drug-resistant staph infections are top candidates. Medicare, which insures about 44 million elderly and disabled people, estimates the move will save the government about $190 million over five years. It also sparked a movement: Private insurance giants such as Aetna are moving to make hospitals absorb the cost of serious errors. Pennsylvania last month said it would follow Medicare's example and stop Medicaid payments, too. The American Hospital Association is urging members to voluntarily quit billing for treatment of serious errors, and hospitals in a number of states, from Minnesota to Vermont, have announced they will."

INSURANCE FEARS LEAD MANY TO SHUN DNA TESTS
Sunday, February 24, 2008
By Amy Harmon, The New York Times

"The first, much-anticipated benefits of personalized medicine are being lost or diluted for many Americans who are too afraid that genetic information may be used against them to take advantage of its growing availability. In some cases, doctors say, patients who could make more informed health care decisions if they learned whether they had inherited an elevated risk of diseases like breast and colon cancer refuse to do so because of the potentially dire economic consequences. Others enter a kind of genetic underground, spending hundreds or thousands of dollars of their own money for DNA tests that an insurer would otherwise cover, so as to avoid scrutiny. Those who do find out they are likely or certain to develop a particular genetic condition often beg doctors not to mention it in their records."

GOOGLE PLAN FOR MEDICAL INFO RAISES PRIVACY ISSUES
Friday, February 22, 2008
Janet Kornblum, USA Today

"Thousands of patients at the Cleveland Clinic will be able to turn to Google (GOOG) to access their medical records online — everything from their prescriptions to diagnoses — in a pilot program announced Thursday that has some privacy advocates worried. The Google pilot will start with 1,500 to 10,000 patients. "As the user, it's only you who controls access to your health information," says Google spokesman Gabriel Stricker. Having a centralized system where doctors can access data instead of relying on myriad paper records and sometimes faulty memories will save patients, says C. Martin Harris of the Cleveland Clinic. The clinic already keeps records online in a private system. But having a system on Google will allow other medical providers, including doctors outside the clinic and pharmacies, to add data about patients, he says."

ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

'COMPETITIVE BIDDING' RULE FOR MEDICAL GOODS MEETS SOME OPPOSITION
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
By Bill Toland, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"With a slug of heavy sarcasm, John Tague said he's looking forward to the day when he has to call an 800 number, talk to a computer and wait for days until somebody comes out to repair his motorized wheelchair. He's not, of course. But Mr. Tague, policy expert for United Cerebral Palsy of Pittsburgh, said that the imaginary scenario could come to pass if Medicare allows a new "competitive bidding" procedure on durable medical goods -- wheelchairs, beds, oxygen equipment -- to take effect in Pittsburgh and elsewhere this summer. Medicare says the new procedure, which forces suppliers large and small to bid on the chance to supply equipment to users, could cut the cost of these goods by up to 20 percent (overall, durable medical goods account for 1.4 percent of total Medicare spending). Losing bidders will be left off the new list of certified suppliers and wouldn't be eligible for Medicare funds. That's different from the current set-up, where any supplier is free to work with Medicare, as long as it meets the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' price restrictions. Economist Brian O'Roark, one of the two authors of the study, said the new rules could create an oligopoly, eliminating the competition that is created by consumer choice. And there's also the chance that companies will under-bid -- that is, submit a bid that's lower than reasonable, then make up the difference either by cutting costs and quality, or petitioning for high reimbursements down the road."

SELF-SUFFICIENT AND GOING STRONG AT 77, WITH SPINA BIFIDA
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
By Tina Calabro, for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"Spina bifida, Latin for "split spine," is a birth defect in which the embryonic neural tube is not fully closed, resulting in an incompletely formed spinal cord. Individuals with the condition experience some degree of dysfunction in the spinal cord and the nerves associated with it. Worldwide, spina bifida is one of the most common birth defects, affecting one to two live births per 1,000. In the United States, the rate is lower -- 7 out of 10,000 live births. In recent years, studies have shown that taking folic acid supplements prior to conception decreases the incidence of spina bifida by 75 percent. The very existence of a spina bifida clinic for adults is a new development. Not so long ago, spina bifida was considered a pediatric illness, and patients would simply continue to see their pediatric physicians into adulthood. The average life span for an individual with the condition was 30 to 40 years, with renal failure as the most typical cause of death. Because of improved medical care, especially urologic management, people with spina bifida are living long lives and changing the way medical professionals think about the condition, said Dr. Dicianno. Older people with spina bifida are now experiencing many of the same problems as the rest of the aging population -- heart disease, obesity, certain cancers."

GROUPS OFFER 'LIFELINE' WHEN CHILDREN HAVE EPILEPSY
By Laura Urbani, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Monday, February 18, 2008

"Mucci has worked with the Pittsburgh-based Epilepsy Foundation of Western/Central Pennsylvania to begin parent support groups throughout the region. She will host the Greensburg area group, and other meetings will be held in the Monroeville area and at three other sites in Allegheny County. "One of the main requests we get is that (callers) want to make connections with another family," said Kathi Finch, director of communications for the Epilepsy Foundation office in Pittsburgh. "The compassion can be there. The willingness to help can be there, but there's that extra level of understanding that can't be bought." It has been a few years since the foundation sponsored support groups. Now Finch believes it has found the right mix of parents to restart this vital network."

PUBLIC HEALTH/HEALTHY COMMUNITIES

PITTSBURGH SCHOOLS TOLD TO DESTROY RECALLED BEEF
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
By Tim Puko, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture will reimburse Pittsburgh Public Schools for the 323 cases of beef it has to destroy as part of a national recall, school spokeswoman Ebony R. Pugh said. At least 175 schools in the state received the beef that was recalled yesterday because some cattle were not fully inspected, state Department of Agriculture spokesman Chris Ryder said. Government agencies have been contacting local schools to give instructions on discarding the beef, Pugh and Ryder said. North Hills School District officials said they had yet to get the instructions, but added that any communication delays are unlikely to cause problems. They have only six cases of the recalled beef, which were all quarantined weeks ago when the meat was put on hold."

ENVIRONMENTALISTS DEFEND COUNTY'S AIR PROGRAM
Thursday, February 21, 2008
By Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"Local environmental groups have asked Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato for a pledge to continue the health department's Air Program and provide it with adequate funding and staffing to enforce air pollution regulations. Clean Water Action and the Group Against Smog and Pollution delivered a letter to Mr. Onorato yesterday morning, asking that he commit to the Allegheny County Health Department-run program, which he has criticized for being too tough on industry. GASP Executive Director Rachel Filippini said the work of the Air Program has been "stymied" by political interference in recent months, and the lingering threat of moving the program to the state "is not helping Allegheny County residents breathe easier." "Residents deserve to be able to have their opinions heard on an issue that will affect their health, and their families' health," said Kathy Lawson, Western Pennsylvania director for Clean Water Action. 'This should not be a decision made solely behind closed doors.'"

HIV/AIDS IN BLACK AMERICA: WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW CAN KILL YOU
Thursday, February 21, 2008
By Tuala Williams, New Pittsburgh Courier

"Despite the widespread fear of transmission and the report of AIDS among a wide demographic, Americans would continue to consider it primarily a disease of gay white men and drug addicts. This perspective allowed Blacks to believe it was not their problem and allowed many religious organizations to attach a judgment to the disease, believing that AIDS was caused by immoral behavior and the sufferers brought it on themselves. In essence, many believed it to be “their” problem. However, in reality, HIV/AIDS was rapidly becoming a Black problem. According to the Black AIDS Institute, in 2004, 70 percent of teens testing HIV-positive were Black. Today, the CDC reports, HIV/AIDS is the number one cause of death among African-American women aged 25-34. It is the second leading cause of death for African-American men ages 35 to 44. Many have asked why the numbers of new HIV/AIDS cases continue to grow among African-Americans despite the increase in prevention information and why the Black community seems so unmoved by this fact. “The Black church in America continues to be the most important, trusted, and influential institution in the African American community,” writes Pernessa C. Seele, founder of the Balm In Gilead. '...The reluctance of the Black church to address HIV/AIDS is both a manifestation of and contributes to the widespread stigma associated with the disease and thus the AIDS epidemic continues to rage within our communities today.'”

HEALTH CARE POLICY & MARKETPLACE

WITH HEALTH CARE COSTS ON THE RISE, WORKERS WILL HAVE TO SHELL OUT
Friday, February 22, 2008
By Kris Mamula, Pittsburgh Business Times

"Employees will be reaching deeper in their pockets this year to pay for health insurance as businesses look for ways to reduce spending by shifting costs, according to a survey by Mercer Health & Benefits. Cost-shifting was among several cost-saving measures Mercer identified in a survey of 3,000 employers to explain the third consecutive year of single-digit increases for health insurance. Health care costs are expected to rise 6.8 percent this year for western Pennsylvania businesses, continuing a moderating medical cost trend and up from a 6.1 percent increase in 2007, according to Mercer. But cost-shifting to employees and other strategies are expected to trim that increase to just 4.6 percent, Tomczyk (Mercer) said."

HEALTH PLANS PUT ONUS ON INSURED
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
By Reed Abelson, The New York Times

"Let the patient beware. Going outside your insurer’s network of preferred doctors or hospitals could be even more hazardous to your financial health than you suspected. Of the estimated 54 million Americans who are covered by their employers’ health plans, about three of four are in plans that give them the option of going out of network. And while most people covered under such plans probably understand that out-of-network services will cost them more, they may be startled to find out just how much more they may end up spending. When people do seek out-of-network care, it is typically because their doctors refer them or because the patients themselves want to go to a doctor or hospital they think has special expertise in a particular illness, said Kevin Flynn, the president of Healthcare Advocates, a Philadelphia-based company that works with consumers when they have a billing dispute with their insurance companies. Even if someone does go to a doctor or hospital within the plan’s network, not everyone who becomes involved in the case may be in network."

STATES LOOK TO INCREASE NUMBER OF INSURED YOUNG ADULTS BY ALLOWING THEM TO STAY ON THEIR PARENTS' HE
Thursday, February 21, 2008
By Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report

"Some states looking to reduce the number of uninsured residents have passed laws that allow young adults to stay on their parents' coverage longer, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports. Nearly all states, when regulating insurance plans for small- and medium-sized companies, set a maximum age for coverage of dependent children -- usually 19 for non-students and 23 for full-time college students. However, in the past two years, 11 states have passed laws allowing young adults to remain on their families' policies up to age 25, according to the Commonwealth Fund. Delaware, Indiana and South Dakota also passed laws allowing young adults up to age 24 to remain on their parents' coverage, and the limit has been increased to 30 years old in New Jersey. The Commonweath Fund estimates that if all states extended dependent coverage to at least age 23, an additional 1.4 million people would have health insurance."

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