Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia and Piedmont Healthcare each said Tuesday that they’re making progress in negotiations to reach a new contract. But major hurdles remain before the insurance giant and the expanding hospital system can reach an agreement. Face-to-face meetings between Blue Cross and Piedmont occurred Monday and Tuesday. The contract stalemate has left tens of thousands…
Gov. Nathan Deal, continuing his public pressure on Piedmont and Blue Cross in their contract stalemate, said Tuesday that the state and University System of Georgia will absorb out-of-network costs for employees for up to 30 days to reduce their potential financial burden. The extraordinary step comes in the wake of Sunday’s lapse of a contract between Piedmont Healthcare…
A legislative proposal that has passed the Georgia House would intertwine hospital finances and individuals’ income tax returns. House Bill 81, sponsored by Rep. Tom McCall, an Elberton Republican, would allow public hospitals to seize patients’ income tax returns over unpaid medical bills. The debt would have to be at least $25 for the hospital…
When President Barack Obama and Congress rammed through the Affordable Care Act eight years ago this month, it was adopted on the premise of bringing down health insurance costs for all Americans. But in reality, this plan, also known as “Obamacare,” transferred much of the skyrocketing cost of health care from providers and insurers to…
Brannen Whirledge was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease, two years ago at age 4. His family tried for months to find an effective medicine for him that didn’t produce unpleasant side effects, such as nausea and fatigue. Finally, they found what his mother, Melissa, calls “a miracle pill,’’ the drug Colazal. His…
The new year is bringing a rash of big hospital deals in Georgia, as health systems look to bulk up in size and add to their medical territory. The first transaction came a week ago, with the completion of Tennessee-based HCA’s acquisition of Memorial Health in Savannah. Still pending are three other major combinations. Piedmont…
Georgia received four F’s and one C grade for its anti-tobacco work in the annual “State of Tobacco Control’’ report, released Wednesday by the American Lung Association. The grades mirror those the group has given to the state for years. The F’s came in categories that included funding for state tobacco prevention programs. Also flunking in the…
The hospital combination game has taken a second turn in less than a week, this time involving two Middle Georgia systems. Navicent Health, based in Macon, said Thursday that it’s exploring a partnership with Houston Healthcare in Warner Robins. The news from Middle Georgia follows an announcement Tuesday in metro Atlanta that Emory Healthcare and DeKalb Medical have started…
In the biggest state health care licensing decision in years, Georgia regulators have approved Lee County’s bid to build a 60-bed, $123 million hospital. The certificate-of-need (CON) decision, announced Wednesday by the Department of Community Health, is being celebrated as a triumph for the southwest Georgia county and a significant setback to Phoebe Putney Health…
Free health insurance? The idea seems like a relic from decades ago, when health care was relatively cheap and big corporations offered rich health benefits to employees. But reports say that for 2018 coverage, there is an increased availability of zero-premium health plans nationally in the insurance exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act. Angela Hutchins…