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Monday, April 26, 2004
As the House Finance Committee prepares to vote on legislation allocating Ohio's share of the national tobacco settlement, some lawmakers are pushing to divert funds proposed for tobacco prevention and cessation uses.
House Bill 434, sponsored by Rep. Chuck Calvert (R-Medina), chairman of the Finance committee, outlines how Ohio will spend the $480 million it will receive over the next two years as a result of the national tobacco settlement reached in 1998. The bill proposes $107.5 million be transferred to the Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Foundation (TUPCF), created by the legislature in 2000 to develop and implement programs and campaigns to decrease tobacco use in Ohio.
A few lawmakers are eyeing the TUPCF dollars for other purposes. Rep. Jim Trakas (R-Independence) has indicated he will offer an amendment to transfer 20 percent of the proposed TUPCF funds, or $21.5 million, to the state's Medicaid program. Trakas says he opposes using TUPCF funds on advertising campaigns, as they are not proven to help reduce tobacco use, and that he arrived at the 20 percent figure because it is the amount of TUPCF funds spent on television and radio advertising. The amendment would also divert all of TUPCF's biennial allocation, $107.5 million, if the foundation did not discontinue advertising by 2006.
Rep. Tim Grendell (R-Chesterland) has indicated he will offer an amendment diverting $50 million of TUPCF funds to help physicians with skyrocketing medical malpractice insurance premiums. While details of the proposal are still being worked out, Grendell has indicated his amendment would steer $50 million toward patient vouchers that could be used to offset insurance premiums for expensive medical procedures.
OHA historically has supported using significant portions of Ohio's tobacco settlement dollars for prevention and cessation purposes and has opposed previous attempts by the legislature to divert dollars that were originally proposed for the TUPCF trust fund. The bill is scheduled for a committee vote Wednesday, and is expected to clear the House and Senate and be ready for final approval of the governor before the legislature recesses in late May. TUPCF is holding a rally at the statehouse tomorrow, inviting participants to attend the Finance committee’s hearing to show support for Ohio’s tobacco prevention and cessation programs including the stand campaign. (Jeff Klingler, jeffk@ohanet.org)
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
Critical Access Hospitals (CAH) will be allowed to operate inpatient psychiatric and rehabilitation units of up to 10 beds each beginning Oct. 1, under instructions issued last week by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services implementing a provision of the Medicare Modernization Act. The psych and rehab beds would not count toward the CAH's 25-bed maximum. Inpatient rehab units operated by CAHs would be separately reimbursed under the inpatient rehab prospective payment system. CAH psych units will be reimbursed using a reasonable cost basis, until a new prospective payment system for inpatient psychiatric facilities is implemented. The American Hospital Association pushed for this provision, which will help assure that beneficiaries in small rural communities continue to have access to these necessary medical services. Find a CMS press release at www.cms.hhs.gov/media/press/release.asp?Counter=1021. For a list of Ohio CAHs, visit www.ohanet.org/about_oha/cah.asp. (David Hendershot, davidh@ohanet.org)
Enrollment Begins for Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit
Next Monday, May 3, enrollment will begin in a Medicare prescription
drug discount card program. This program will provide prescription help
until 2006, when these benefits are added to Medicare under the Medicare
Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 passed at
the end of last year. U.S. Senator George Voinovich and Gov. Bob Taft
applauded the drug help at a recent Ohio Department of Insurance
training session for the volunteers statewide who will offer free
information and services to Medicare beneficiaries.
Participation in the program is voluntary, with cards costing up to $30 annually and providing eligible Ohioans with 10-25 percent discounts on certain prescription drugs. Low-income seniors may also qualify for a $600 credit to help pay for prescriptions. The full drug benefit option under Medicare will be available in several years as the federal government works out the details. For more information, visit www.medicare.gov/. Other options for Ohio seniors include the Golden Buckeye Card and the Ohio Best Rx program, which will be rolled out this summer. (Jonathan Archey, jonathana@ohanet.org)
Wednesday,
April 28, 2004
Leapfrog Group Unveils New Survey
The Leapfrog Group will release a new hospital
quality survey next Monday based on the 30 patient safety practices
endorsed by the national Quality Forum. The survey will supplement the
group’s original three patient safety measures for hospitals: the use of
computerized physician order entry, staffing of intensive care units
with intensivist specialists, and referral of patients for certain
high-risk procedures based on volume.
The survey will recognize quality and patient safety improvement are processes made up of various stages. Results from the new survey will be online in July at www.leapfroggroup.org. Early next month, the American Hospital Association will invite members to participate in the first of a series of conference calls with the survey’s developer.
Hospital CEO Retires
Southeastern Ohio Regional Medical Center this
week announced the retirement of Phillip Hearing, president and CEO.
Hearing will conclude his 34-year career in health care administration
with his retirement, effective April 30. Hearing began his tenure at the
hospital in 1970 and has been president and CEO since 1995. Replacing
Hearing is James Keller, M.D. Keller will assume the duties of president
and CEO in addition to continuing as the hospital’s chief medical
officer. For more, find a news release at
www.seormc.org/news_releases.htm.
Hearing will also retire as a member of the OHA Board of Trustees and as a member of the board and past chair of OHA's Foundation for Healthy Communities.
Thursday,
April 29, 2004
Physicians and some hospitals may soon receive notice from their medical liability insurer that their policies will not be renewed when they expire in July. The Ohio Department of Insurance requires that insurers give 60-day non-renewal notices instead of 30 days to allow more time for securing coverage with an alternative carrier. Because July is the renewal date for a large percentage of Ohio physician policies, notices may be mailed shortly. ODI states that if a notice is sent less than 60 days before the expiration of a policy, the policy should remain in effect for 60 days after the notice is mailed. View an ODI memorandum at www.ohioinsurance.gov/forms/memomedmal11.doc for additional information.
For more information on the current medical liability insurance crisis and links to the major insurers writing in Ohio, visit www.ohanet.org/med-mal/. Visit www.ohainsurance.com/ to learn about OHA Insurance Solutions, a corporation created by OHA last year to provide an option for Ohio physicians and hospitals seeking medical liability insurance. (Rick Sites, ricks@ohanet.org)
Berger Boosts Nurse Training With $200,000 Grant
Berger Health System in Circleville is among 19 organizations nationwide
to receive federal funds to train health care workers through the
President’s High Growth Job Training Initiative. Berger’s $200,000 grant
is part of $24.3 million for health care industry workforce solutions
developed under the initiative, a strategic effort to prepare workers
for job opportunities in high growth sectors of the economy. Health care
is the first series of industry grants under the initiative.
With the grant, Berger will work with Ohio University to enable 30 incumbent employees and non-traditional students to become registered nurses, helping meet the health care challenges of rural communities in Ohio. Berger will provide instructors, space for training and clinical experiences. Ohio University will supply faculty and curriculum for a three-year, university-based associate degree nursing program. Berger and OU will provide a combined $405,939 in in-kind contributions to the project. Visit www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/opa/OPA2004655.htm for a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) news release and complete list of grant recipients. More information about DOL grant opportunities can be found at www.dol.gov/dol/business.htm. (Jean Scholz, jeans@ohanet.org)
Center for Education
Don’t miss the upcoming OHA seminar, Partnership and Privileges With
Advanced Practice Nurses, May 21 in Dublin. Call the Center for
Education at 614.221.7614 or visit
www.ohanet.org/education/education_programs.asp for more
information.
Friday, April 30, 2004
Physicians Make Plea for Med Mal Relief
Physicians, office staff, patients and others will participate in an 11 a.m. rally on the West Plaza of the State Capitol next Tuesday, May 4, to raise awareness of the medical liability insurance crisis in Ohio and the need for action in confronting it. Physicians will meet individually with select legislators before the rally and a town hall meeting will follow the rally in the Ohio Theatre at 12:30 p.m. The upcoming rally follows an April 21 event in which the chiefs of staff of 16 hospitals and approximately 150 physicians marched down High Street in Columbus to demand relief from the effects of the malpractice crisis. They are seeking legislative action before legislators recess for the summer. These events are organized by the Cleveland-based Physician Advocacy Group (PAG). For more information on PAG, visit www.pagohio.com.
Among the physicians demands are the passage of legislation to revise the legal procedure for handling malpractice actions
. They also seek the investigation of insurance companies, the freezing of malpractice premiums and other relief measures. OHA supports various efforts to relieve the crisis but opposes the freezing of premiums given a rate freeze could undermine the stability of the fragile Ohio market if Ohio’s major med mal insurers pull out of the state. For more information on the medical malpractice environment in Ohio, visit www.ohanet.org/med-mal/.