This week’s Courier Herald column: Georgia makes few apologies about being a “business friendly” state. In fact, it promotes the concept as the “number one state to do business” as publicly as possible. Thus, when powerful organizations popular with Georgia’s governing majority party announce opposition to a proposed merger, it is worth some time understanding
This news dropped just before Senator Isakson’s announcement on Wednesday, and didn’t get the attention it may deserve. While it may seem we do a lot of “study” on healthcare issues, there is one item here that seems to have bi-partisan, bi-cameral support: Price Transparency. Patients are tired of surprise billing, and an inability to
Our U.S. Senators from Georgia issued a press release Thursday applauding a proposed rule change to ‘aid rural hospitals.’ The biggest component of the change is an increased Medicare reimbursement for some facilities, which has advocates of rural healthcare reform all kinds of hot and bothered. As someone who used to live within walking distance
“If you want to keep your doctor, you can keep your doctor.” We now know that was “lie of the year” quality material, but the reason that remains a lie goes much deeper than Washington politics. Many of the reasons are rooted right here at home, with a well funded group of established “non-profits” doing
This week’s Courier Herald column: Reform of Georgia’s healthcare system stalled last week when the Georgia House voted down the most sweeping reforms to Georgia’s Certificate of Need (CON) laws in decades. Certificates of Need are essentially state issued monopoly grants that allow hospitals and some other health care providers to operate in a given
Congratulations to Representative-elect Lucy McBath of Georgia’s 6th District. The 6th District garnered national attention during the special election between Karen Handel and Jon Ossoff. The hotly contested battle was one of the first “test” to the Trump election. Millions of dollars poured into the district as the massive campaign began. Democrats around the Nation
Nothing like learning you’re not going to lose an additional $81 a month on a Friday afternoon. That was the good fortune of Georgia’s state retirees on UnitedHealthcare’s standard Medicare plans last Friday, according to the Department of Community Health. The board had earlier voted to raise the rate, but reversed that decision last week.
Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle and Georgia House Speaker David Ralston issued a joint statement announcing that Georgia’s Rural Hospital tax credit reached its full donation cap for the first time ever. This means that $60 million will be directed to 58 of Georgia’s most distressed rural hospitals. The efforts of former state Representative Geoff Duncan
Most of the time, I find ratings silly. However, one that I like to pay attention to is the Leapfrog Group’s semi-annual survey on hospital safety. In order to get an A rating from Leapfrog, hospitals are reviewed in 27 areas, including physician staffing in intensive care units, proper hygienic methods (think hand washing and
This week’s Courier Herald column: It’s fitting that the first day of the 2018 meeting of the Georgia General Assembly falls on the same day as the Georgia Bulldogs play for a National Championship. The last time UGA won a National title was 1980, and Notre Dame was the superpower program that stood in the
