Health Care Access in the News:  Sunday, March 30, 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

STATE HEALTH COUNCIL CHIEF TO RETIRE
Saturday, March 29, 2008
By Joe Fahy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"Marc Volavka plans to step down as executive director of the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council, a state agency that collects and analyzes data on the cost and quality of health care. The council has gained recognition for its innovative work in the public reporting of health care information, including heart bypass surgery outcomes, hospital-acquired infections and overall hospital performance. In 2006, for example, a council report detailing infection rates in each of the state's hospitals was believed to be the first of its kind in the nation. The council has appointed David Wilderman, vice chairman of the council's executive committee, as acting executive director. He served as legislative director of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO from 1982 through 2005. Mr. Wilderman has named Flossie Wolf, the council's director of health policy research, to a new position of acting deputy executive director."

STUDY FINDS MANY PATIENTS DISSATISFIED WITH HOSPITALS
Saturday, March 29, 2008
By Robert Pear, The New York Times

"The survey was meant to provide a constructive way for patients to complain about arrogant doctors, crabby nurses and dirty or noisy hospital rooms. Medical experts said that some of the complaints bore directly on the quality of care. Many patients reported that they had not been treated with courtesy and respect by doctors and nurses; that they had not received adequate pain medication after surgery; and that they did not understand the instructions they received when discharged from the hospital. Nationwide, in the average hospital, 67 percent of patients said they would definitely recommend the institution where they had been treated to friends and relatives. The new data, part of a survey of patient experiences and perceptions of hospital care, is posted at a government Web site, www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov."

PROMOTING HEALTH CARE DIVERSITY AT UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
Friday, March 28, 2008
By Erin Lawley, Pittsburgh Business Times

"A lack of diversity among medical students could lead to health problems among minority populations in future years, according to Paula Davis. That's why Davis' role as assistant vice chancellor for diversity for the University of Pittsburgh's schools of health sciences is so important. "Data shows underrepresented groups tend to be cared for by underrepresented physicians," she said. 'If we don't train health care professionals to work in that population, it's possible we could see an increase in particular kinds of diseases.'"

CONTROLS CURB ADVANCED MEDICAL SCANS
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
By Linda A. Johnson, The Associated Press, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"Insurance companies are taking a harder look at advanced medical scans like CT scans, citing spiraling costs and safety concerns. And some doctors agree there's emerging evidence that these scans are being overprescribed. Health insurers are requiring more pre-authorizations before patients can receive these scans, and setting other restrictions including mandating that the imaging equipment and medical staff operating it be credentialed in advance. Doctors, too, are concerned about patients getting excessive radiation exposure when they receive scans that aren't needed or are ordered as "defensive medicine" to protect against possible lawsuits. There also is concern that a small number of unscrupulous doctors without adequate expertise are referring patients for tests in their own offices or imaging facilities in which they have a financial interest."

ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

FUNCTIONAL TRAINING GETS THE JOB DONE
Monday, March 24, 2008
By Laura Urbani, for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

"Most people think strength training is just for serious athletes, but functional training -- inspired by hospital-based rehab programs -- aims to change people's perceptions about building stronger muscles. "Functional training is training designed for a specific purpose, a specific function," explained Tony Raineri, who owns New Age Fitness in the Carbon section of Hempfield. "It's not just for athletes. It's for everybody." But as Americans live longer, many are discovering they aren't quite as strong as they need to be. Everyday chores, such as carrying a bag of groceries or hefting a laundry basket, become more difficult as muscles age and weaken. Functional training helps the body remain strong so people can do everyday tasks -- everything from swinging a golf club to getting up off the couch."

THE MURKY POLITICS OF MIND-BODY
Sunday, March 30, 2008
By Sarah Kershaw, The New York Times

"The debate lives on these days in less abstract form in the United States: How much of a difference should it make to health care — and health insurance — if a condition is physical or mental? Decades of culture change and recent scientific studies have blurred the line between these types of disorders. Now a critical moment has been reached in a 15-year debate in statehouses and in Congress over whether treatment for problems like depression, addiction and schizophrenia should get the same coverage by insurance companies as, say, diabetes, heart disease and cancer. This month, the House passed a bill that would require insurance companies to provide mental health insurance parity. It was the first time it has approved a proposal so substantial. The bill would ban insurance companies from setting lower limits on treatment for mental health problems than on treatment for physical problems, including doctor visits and hospital stays. It would also disallow higher co-payments."

PUBLIC HEALTH/HEALTHY COMMUNITIES

GAP IN LIFE EXPECTANCY WIDES FOR THE NATION
Sunday, March 23, 2008
By Robert Pear, The New York Times

"New government research has found “large and growing” disparities in life expectancy for richer and poorer Americans, paralleling the growth of income inequality in the last two decades. Life expectancy for the nation as a whole has increased, the researchers said, but affluent people have experienced greater gains, and this, in turn, has caused a widening gap. The gaps have been increasing despite efforts by the federal government to reduce them. One of the top goals of “Healthy People 2010,” an official statement of national health objectives issued in 2000, is to “eliminate health disparities among different segments of the population,” including higher- and lower-income groups and people of different racial and ethnic background. Dr. Singh said last week that federal officials had found “widening socioeconomic inequalities in life expectancy” at birth and at every age level. In 1980-82, Dr. Singh said, people in the most affluent group could expect to live 2.8 years longer than people in the most deprived group (75.8 versus 73 years). By 1998-2000, the difference in life expectancy had increased to 4.5 years (79.2 versus 74.7 years), and it continues to grow, he said."

CITY POSTPONES CALORIE-POSTING RULE
Friday, March 28, 2008
By The Associated Press, The New York Times

"Health officials have pushed back a deadline for national chain restaurants to put calorie counts on their menus in New York City outlets. The requirement was supposed to take effect Monday, but a restaurant trade group has challenged it in court. The city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said Thursday it was postponing the regulation's start date until April 15 because the court ruling is expected soon. Health officials say the measure will combat obesity by forcing diners to face the caloric consequences of their orders. But the New York State Restaurant Association says the rule violates the First Amendment by forcing businesses to put what amounts to a message on their menus. Still, one major chain -- Starbucks -- says it will meet the original Monday deadline."

CIGARETTE COMPANY PAID FOR LUNG CANCER STUDY
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
By Gardiner Harris, The New York Times

"In October 2006, Dr. Claudia Henschke of Weill Cornell Medical College jolted the cancer world with a study saying that 80 percent of lung cancer deaths could be prevented through widespread use of CT scans. Small print at the end of the study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, noted that it had been financed in part by a little-known charity called the Foundation for Lung Cancer: Early Detection, Prevention & Treatment. A review of tax records by The New York Times shows that the foundation was underwritten almost entirely by $3.6 million in grants from the parent company of the Liggett Group, maker of Liggett Select, Eve, Grand Prix, Quest and Pyramid cigarette brands. Dr. Jeffrey M. Drazen, editor in chief of the medical journal, said he was surprised. “In the seven years that I’ve been here, we have never knowingly published anything supported by” a cigarette maker, Dr. Drazen said."

HEALTH CARE POLICY & MARKETPLACE

TRUSTEES PROJECT SERIOUS FINANCIAL CHALLENGES FOR SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
By Martin Crutsinger, The Associated Press, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"Trustees for the government's two biggest benefit programs warned today that Social Security and Medicare are facing "enormous challenges" with the threat to Medicare's solvency far more severe. The trustees, issuing a once-a-year analysis of the government's two biggest benefit programs, said the resources in the Social Security trust fund will be depleted by 2041. The reserves in the Medicare trust fund that pays hospital benefits were projected to be wiped out by 2019. Both those dates were the same as in last year's report. But the trustees warned that financial pressures will begin much sooner when the programs begin paying out more in benefits each year than they collect in payroll taxes. For Medicare, that threshhold is projected to be reached this year and for Social Security it is projected to occur in 2017."

HEALTH CARE DISPUTE BRINGS PROBLEMS
Friday, March 28, 2008
By Joe Fahy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"Gov. Ed Rendell is telling the state's doctors they will have to pay more for their medical malpractice insurance coverage because no agreement has been reached on legislation to extend health care coverage to the uninsured. Though he has championed payment reductions for doctors through the state's MCare abatement program, Mr. Rendell has refused to approve them again unless progress is made by Monday in reaching an agreement on affordable health insurance. The governor wants action on a bill approved by the House last week that is similar in some ways to his earlier Cover All Pennsylvanians proposal. Among other provisions, the bill would create Pennsylvania Access to Basic Care, a program offering subsidized coverage to adults earning up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. It also would give grants to small employers who already offer health insurance coverage to their low-income workers, provide a health savings account option and phase out the MCare abatement program after 10 years. The plan also would phase out MCare, a state insurance program that provides doctors with catastrophic coverage for medical malpractice, and retire the program's $2 billion unfunded liability, or cost of future claims."

HEALTH CARE COSTS SQUEEZE WAGES
Monday, March 24, 2008
By The Washington Post, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

"Recent history has not been kind to working-class Americans, who were down on the economy long before the word recession was uttered. The main reason: spiraling heath-care costs have been whacking away at their wages. Even though workers are producing more, inflation-adjusted median family income has dipped 2.6 percent -- or nearly $1,000 annually since 2000. Both employees and employers are getting squeezed by the price of health care. The struggle to control health costs is viewed as crucial to improving wages and living standards for working Americans. Employers are paying more for health care and other benefits, leaving less money for pay increases. Since 2001, premiums for family health coverage have increased 78 percent, according to a 2007 report by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Premiums averaged $12,106, of which workers paid $3,281, according to the report. Employers report that the unpredictable and often uncontrollable cost of health care coverage is among their major concerns. Nearly nine out of 10 firms that responded to a National Association of Manufacturers survey last year named the cost of health insurance as one of their top-three worries -- more than named government regulation, competition from imports or finding qualified employees."

COWDEN SURVEY: BUSINESSES DON'T EXPECT TO ADD CONSUMER-DRIVEN HEALTH PLANS
Friday, March 28, 2008
By Kris Mamula, Pittsburgh Business Times

"Businesses may have soured on high-deductible health plans, according to a survey released this week. A survey by Downtown employee benefits consultant Cowden Associates Inc. found that the number of businesses adopting some form of the so-called consumer-driven health care plan more than tripled since last year, but 107 out of 274 respondents, or 62.9 percent, said they were unlikely to offer the coverage in the future. Another 37 respondents, or 21.8 percent, said they had no interest in the plans, which usually incorporate a health reimbursement or savings account. Respondents were for-profit and nonprofit businesses and government agencies in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia."

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