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Monday, March 3, 2003
Tobacco Foundation Offering More Grants
The Ohio Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Foundation (TUPCF) is announcing the availability of an additional $4 million to fund community-based prevention and cessation programs, similar to the grants made last fall to several hospital coalitions. The deadline for letters of intent is March 27. Check TUPCF’s Web site at www.standohio.org for more information.

This request for proposals will NOT require applicants to have a service population of at least 50,000. This requirement change is due in part to past concerns expressed by OHA and rural hospitals.

Those institutions that earlier this year applied for a portion of the $2 million in funding for high-risk, minority and regional populations will be notified of funding decisions in June. TUPCF received 156 letters of intent for requests of more than $25 million. For more information, contact Lynne Ayres at lynnea@ohanet.org.

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(Editor’s note: The news clips are being password-protected on the OHA Web site. OHA members will be notified separately of the password. HEALTH e-NEWS Plus subscribers can still access news clips through the daily e-mail without a password.)

Tuesday, March 4, 2003
Bill Seeks to Unify Ohio Disaster Preparedness Efforts
An Ohio Senate committee heard testimony today in support of Senate Bill 6, legislation that would enact changes to improve Ohio’s response during public health emergencies.

The bill requires the state’s trauma centers to report information describing their preparedness and capacity to respond to disasters, mass casualties and bioterrorist events to the Ohio Department of Health (ODH). It outlines the roles and responsibilities of the state health director and local boards of health, including areas of quarantine and isolation, investigations, vaccinations and exchange of information. The legislation also allows ODH to purchase, store, and distribute drugs, vaccines, antibiotics and other medical resources in preparation for a public health emergency. Ultimately, it moves Ohio toward the development of a unified command system.

OHA’s Director of Emergency Management, Carol Jacobson, told the Finance and Financial Institutions Committee that Ohio’s hospitals are working toward building an infrastructure that will allow them to respond to any emergency or terrorist incident. She encouraged support for this legislation as an important step toward developing a comprehensive plan for a coordinated response to possible health emergencies and bioterrorist events. (Carol Jacobson, carolj@ohanet.org)

Bush Announces Intentions for Health Care Reform
In a Tuesday morning speech before the American Medical Association, President Bush outlined his plans for Medicare reform and other changes to the U.S. health care industry.

Bush spoke on the importance of maintaining the Medicare program and reforming it to give seniors better access, more freedom and increased benefits. He proposed three choices for seniors: remain in the current system with the addition of discounts on prescription drugs; join a private “enhanced Medicare” system with more choices and coverage (available in 2006); choose a managed care option.

He credited the U.S. with the best health care system in the world, including its medical schools and hospitals, then broached the problem of the uninsured, proposing refundable tax credits to help low-income citizens purchase their own health insurance.

Recognizing the necessary expense increases brought on by advancing health care technology, Bush spoke out against other unnecessary cost increases such as those caused by increased skyrocketing liability premiums. Saying he wants to sign medical liability tort reform this year, he suggested that noneconomic damages should be capped at $250,000 and encouraged AMA members to contact their senators. He also proposed a 53 percent increase in funding to help hospitals use information technology to continue improving patient safety and called for the creation of a voluntary, non-punitive medical error reporting system.

To read the full text of the speech, visit www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030304-5.html. (Jonathan Archey, jonathana@ohanet.org)

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Wednesday, March 5 , 2003
Hospitals Think Big for Future
Over 250 nurses, hospital chief executive officers, nursing school deans, lawmakers and physicians came together during a summit yesterday to transform the future of health care through FutureThink, an initiative developed collaboratively by OHA and OONE to end the current health care workforce shortage by redesigning how hospitals provide health care in the future.

During the summit, FutureThink leaders unveiled a model for the future of health care in Ohio. Gleaned from over 1,000 suggestions from more than 300 health care providers and consumers, the model includes notable technology changes such as robots and electronic medical records. It also calls for a fundamental change - patient participation in the health care process.

Check out an OHA news release at www.ohanet.org/media/news_release/ for more on the summit. Learn more about FutureThink at www.futurethink.org. (Jean Scholz, jeans@ohanet.org)

Proposed Bill Offers Aid to Rural Hospitals
A bill was introduced to Congress last week that would give additional support to rural hospitals by enhancing the Critical Access Hospital (CAH) program and supporting other small and rural facilities. The legislation, the Rural Community Hospital Assistance Act (HR 937), has a good chance for passage with Congress looking to improve health care in rural America.

The bill, sponsored by Congressmen Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Jim Turner (D-TX), would reinforce the CAH program, which currently provides additional Medicare reimbursements for rural hospitals with 15 or fewer inpatient beds. The legislation would also allot additional funding for rural hospitals with 50 or fewer inpatient beds, increasing Medicare reimbursement and adding dollars for technology and infrastructure needs. Further details can be found in Rep. Moran's Feb. 26 press release at www.house.gov/apps/list/press/ks01_moran/pr022603RCHBill.html.

Eighteen Ohio facilities are currently designated as Critical Access Hospitals (CAH) and this number continues to grow. The CAH program helps maintain small and rural hospitals in Ohio, ensuring that citizens in these areas have access to essential health care services. A news release on the bill is available at www.aha.org under “Press Room.” A list of Ohio CAHs is available at www.ohanet.org/about_oha/cah.asp. (Jonathan Archey, jonathana@ohanet.org)

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Thursday, March 6, 2003
New Medicaid Cost Report Rule Instituted
The Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review this week passed an amendment requiring that hospitals engage an auditor to perform an official review of their uncompensated care data in conjunction with the filing of the annual Medicaid Cost Report. This data is used to distribute Ohio Hospital Care Assurance Program funds.

Hospitals must employ an outside Certified Public Accountant (CPA) to review the data reported on Schedules E and F of their cost reports. This includes all hospitals’ reports for fiscal years ending on or after July 1, 2002. To ensure consistency among providers, OHA strongly recommends all hospitals adopt a standard data set for both the free care application and for their internal logs of uncompensated patient accounts. Updated hard copy sample applications and logs are available on the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Web site at www.state.oh.us/odjfs/ohp/bhpp/hcap/stm.

A copy of the revised Ohio Administrative Code rule, the new instructions for reviewing Medicaid Cost Report Schedule F and ongoing updates can be accessed at www.ohanet.org/hcap/. A bulletin will also be available to members at www.ohanet.org/bulletins/. (Charles Cataline, charlesc@ohanet.org; Ryan Biles, ryanb@ohanet.org)

HMO Loses Right to Operate
The Ohio Department of Insurance (ODI) this week terminated the certificate of authority (COA) of Canton-based Peoples Health Plan of Ohio, revoking its right to operate as a health insurer in Ohio. Peoples is the fourth Medicaid HMO to be shut down in the Cleveland area in the past five years.

Peoples was placed into supervision last March, not able to meet net worth requirements to conduct business as an Ohio HMO. In November, ODI announced its intention to revoke the company’s COA. Also in November, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services gave notice of its intent to terminate its contract with Peoples, moving its 8,747 Medicaid subscribers to other insurers effective Dec. 31, 2002.

On March 3, Peoples agreed to the termination of its COA and agreed to be placed into rehabilitation by ODI if it fails to abide by the agreed terms. For more information, view an ODI press release at www.ohioinsurance.gov/Newsroom/scripts/NewsRelease.asp. (Mary Gallagher, maryg@ohanet.org)

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(Editor’s note: StateHealthClips.com has gone to a subscription service. Please note that the link to access clips will change daily. If you visit www.statehealthclips.com, you will be required to enter a subscriber password. No password is required for the link published in HEALTH e-NEWS Plus.)

Friday, March 7, 2003
New Bill Would Impose Excessive Regulation
Legislation introduced this week would impose unnecessary regulation on hospitals that provide patients home medical equipment (HME). Introduced by Rep. Thom Collier (R-Mt. Vernon), the bill would require all HME providers, including all HME entities owned or operated by hospitals, to be licensed by the Ohio Respiratory Care Board. In addition to obtaining an initial license, hospitals would also be required to renew the license annually and pay applicable fees.

The proposed regulation is unnecessary for most of Ohio’s HME providers because they are also accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), which enforces stringent standards for HME providers. OHA opposes the duplicative regulation of HME providers that are already accredited by JCAHO. (Jeff Klingler, jeffk@ohanet.org)

Hospitals Asked to Assess Disaster Preparedness
OHA and the regional allied hospital associations are asking Ohio hospitals to participate in a comprehensive needs assessment to evaluate hospital preparedness for bioterrorism and mass casualty emergencies. Completion of the survey is a requirement of the Health Resource Service Administration grant provided to Ohio for preparedness activities. Information from the survey will be used to identify opportunities for regional enhancement, provide readiness reports to local, state and federal government, advise the Ohio Department of Health, and will be used in decisions about federal funding support of Ohio hospital preparedness.

To complete the survey, hospitals are encouraged to immediately develop a team within the facility to review a hard copy of the survey, available on OHA’s Web site, www.ohanet.org in What’s New, or the regional allied hospital association Web sites. A data entry program will be available on the OHA Web site by April 1 to allow one representative from each hospital to submit the information online. (Carol Jacobson, carolj@ohanet.org)

Deadline Approaching for AHA Survey
The deadline to complete the American Hospital Association survey, March 31, is fast approaching. Ohio hospitals are encouraged to participate in the survey. OHA uses the survey data in the association’s advocacy efforts and will also use part of the data for a toolkit coming out this fall to help hospitals communicate their benefit to the community. The survey was sent to hospitals in January and is available online at www.ahasurvey.org. Questions should be directed to Virginia Swan, virginia@ohanet.org, or Dorothy Morgan, dorothym@ohanet.org.

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