NOTES ON NURSING
RN Grad Student: “The $4450 Urgent Care Visit “This was one patient on one day in one healthcare facility incurring every form of systemic waste Fineberg puts forth in his article and is also illustrated by Stephen Brill’s lengthy account of overcharging, particularly those who are uninsured or underinsured.”
HEALTH CARE
Fairview-Sanford Merger Talks Bring Scrutiny Fairview Health Services, the Twin Cities’ second-largest hospital and clinic group, is weighing a merger with South Dakota-based Sanford Health in negotiations that have triggered concerns on the part of Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson. Editor’s Note: Nurses, consider adding your thoughts about this merger in the article’s Comment Section. Related: Attorney General Swanson to hold April 7 public hearing regarding Fairview/Sanford Health. Full Story. Click Here for letter announcing hearing.
State Lax in Overseeing MinnesotaCare Eligibility Minnesota has failed to properly vet people enrolling in a $550 million taxpayer-subsidized health insurance program despite a decade of warnings that it was breaking state and federal law, according to the Legislative Auditor.
Mental Health System Feeling the Hard Punch of Sequestration According to the White House, if sequestration is fully implemented 373,000 mentally-ill adults and children across our nation will have to go untreated. Mental Health America reports that over the past three years, states across the country have had to cut approximately $4 billion in mental-health budgets — yet there are more cuts on the way with sequestration.
21 Graphs That Show America’s Health Care Prices are Ludicrous This is the fundamental fact of American health care: We pay much, much more than other countries do for the exact same things. For a detailed explanation of why, see this article. But this post isn’t about the why. It’s about the prices, and the graphs.
LABOR UPDATES
MI Republicans May Slash University Funds in Revenge for Union Contracts
But majority Republicans on the state House’s higher education subcommittee were furious at what they perceived as an attempt to get around the new right-to-work law. So they voted to slash both schools’ state aid by 15 percent.