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In the health care industry, buttons can be a great way to spread motivation, identify people, and help with the healing process. There are many different uses and fun projects that hospitals can do with buttons and badges.

The cost of health insurance continues to climb unabated. As the number of uninsured in America swells to 45 million people, many look to our political leaders for answers and relief.

The cost of providing employees with health insurance coverage continues to increase at a double-digit rate. We've read a lot about cost drivers in health care - exorbitant hospital charges, rising prescription drug costs, expenses associated with developing new technologies and treatments, an aging population and litigation. Nurturing these factors is an environment in which the demand for health care seems to be increasing.

Dr. Buckalew was named one of the Leading Physicians of the World

Mr. Cofrancesco serves as president, chief financial officer and treasurer of All Around Town Home Care, Inc.

Both employees and company senior executives are struggling to understand how to handle the projected 40 percent increase in health care costs over the next eight years.

Dr. Spenard will lead the company's clinical excellence and quality improvement initiatives.

Richard Bohmer, physician, Harvard Business School professor, and author of "Designing Care: Aligning the Nature and Management of Health Care."

Dr. Thomas Lee, network president of Partners HealthCare System and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Robert S. Kaplan, Harvard Business School professor and coauthor of the HBR article "How to Solve the Cost Crisis in Health Care."

Regina Herzlinger, Harvard Business School professor, talks about how to dismantle the barriers to innovation in care delivery.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is changing the way organizations do business, including health care organizations. To help you prepare for the changes and take advantage of new benefits, the Anders Health Care Group has compiled a chart on the most important provisions for the industry. Complete the form below to download the Tax...

The post Tax Reform: Impact on Health Care Organizations appeared first on Anders CPA.

The health care industry is one of the biggest targets for cybersecurity attacks. In 2018 alone, nearly 300 data breaches affected 11.5 million patients, according to a Bitglass report. Cybercriminals see health care organizations as the perfect victim due to… Read More

The post Data Breaches in Hospitals are on the Rise – How Health Care Organizations Can Prevent Cybersecurity Attacks appeared first on Anders CPAs.

The owner of a Detroit-area physical therapy clinic was sentenced to 11 years in prison today for his role in a drug diversion scheme.

A federal jury sitting in Houston, Texas, found a pharmacist guilty Tuesday of charges related to health care fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.

On March 18, a federal court ordered El Mundo Feliz, a Partnership (El Mundo), and Daniel Martinez Jr. to begin paying employment taxes to the United States on a timely basis, the Justice Department announced today.

In the midst of school closures and a sudden need for child care among the families of medical professionals, a group of University of Minnesota students saw an opportunity to put their passion to work. The non-profit MN CovidSitters offers child care and assistive services for free of charge and has grown to over 300 volunteers since its inception in early March. The organization has since inspired others to do the same internationally and across the United States.

The Minnesota National Guard conducted statewide flyovers on Wednesday in recognition of those on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic response.

The Minnesota National Guard conducted flyovers across the state to recognize the frontline health care workers of the COVID-19 pandemic response. A pair of F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft from the 148th Fighter Wing out of Duluth flanked a C-130 Hercules aircraft from the 133rd Air Wing out of Fort Snelling floew over downtown Minneapolis Wednesday morning, May 6, 2020.

Washington, D.C.—March 2, 2020— Patient and health advocacy groups representing millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions are applauding the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to hear arguments in the case of Texas v. United States this term. The...

  WASHINGTON, D.C., March 30, 2020 — As longstanding organizations representing and supporting those on the front lines who are risking their lives caring for the world’s most vulnerable patients, we stand united in voicing our concern over the ...

AHA COVID-19 newsroom DALLAS, April 10, 2020 — Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association, the world’s leading voluntary organization focused on heart and brain health, joined the chief executives of other leading national public...

DALLAS, April 3, 2020 — With the COVID-19 pandemic, more patients are having difficulty breathing and requiring ventilators to help them breathe. As hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) volumes increase with COVID-19 patients, health care ...

Several hundred cars were parked outside a food bank in San Antonio on Good Friday — the food bank fed 10,000 people that day. Such scenes, increasingly common across the nation and evocative...

In response to the coronavirus, Americans were told by their federal and state governments to shut down their businesses, stop going to church, work, school or out to eat, travel only when necessary and hunker down at home. Originally, Americans were led to believe this was for a two- or three-week period, in order to flatten the curve and not overwhelm our health care system.

At seven weeks and counting, with staggering economic loss that will leave families and thousands of small businesses and farmers with profound devastation, the question must be asked, are we trying to flatten the curve or flatten our country?

The initial models that pointed to staggering loss of life from the coronavirus have proved wildly inaccurate. As of May 2, the CDC placed the number of deaths in the U.S. from the virus at 66,746. While all loss of life is deeply regrettable, these numbers cannot be considered in a vacuum. For perspective, deaths from pneumonia in the U.S. during the same period were 64,382, with average yearly deaths from influenza in the same range.

The original goal of closing much of the U.S. economy and staying at home was to flatten the curve of new coronavirus cases so that our hospital systems would not be overwhelmed. Hospitals built by the Army Corps of Engineers to handle the increased volume have mostly been taken down. Except for a few spots in the U.S. the health care system was not overwhelmed. As the medical models of casualties from the coronavirus continue to be adjusted down, it is clear the curve has been flattened, so why do we continue to stay closed and worsen the economic devastation that tunnel vision has thus far kept many of our leaders from acknowledging?

Many health experts say 80 percent of Americans will get the coronavirus and experience only mild symptoms. The curve has been flattened. Our health care system is not overwhelmed. Why is our economy, for the most part, still closed?

A University of Washington study recently revised the projected number of deaths from the coronavirus in Iowa from 1,367 to a much lower estimate of 365. While all loss of life is horrific, we must also consider the devastation being done to our economy, our families and our way of life by actions taken to combat the coronavirus.

It must be noted that 578 Iowans died from the flu and pneumonia in 2017, a greater number than are likely to pass away from the coronavirus. We also know that many who die from the virus are elderly with underlying health conditions, increasing the likelihood that any serious illness could result in their death. Are draconian government restrictions in response to the coronavirus still needed and economically sustainable? The data shows that the answers to both questions is no. We are no longer flattening the curve; we are flattening our state and nation.

We have seen the medical data. What has been less visible in news conferences and in the overall reporting of the coronavirus and our response to it, are the economic and human costs of what we are doing:

• 30 million Americans are out of work and the number grows daily.

• Dairy farmers are pouring out milk they have no market for.

• Pork producers are euthanizing hogs they have no market for.

• According to a study by Iowa State University, the losses to Iowa Agriculture are at a staggering $6.7 billion and growing, with the largest losses in pork production and ethanol.

• In Iowa, the economic loss for corn is estimated to be $788 million, $213 million for soybean and $34 million for cattle.

• The Iowa Restaurant Association estimates that between 10 & 25% of Iowa’s restaurants will not reopen.

• Iowa’s public universities are predicting a $187 million loss.

• Iowa is spending $200 million or more per month on unemployment claims, with over 171,000 Iowans unemployed.

• 29 percent of the U.S. economy is frozen as a result of government action, with U.S. economic output down 29 percent.

• U.S. unemployment could soon hit 47 million.

• Losses to U.S. tourism are predicted to top $910 billion.

• Retirement plans for millions of Americans are being decimated, with recent reports projecting the average 401(k) loss at 19 percent.

• Drug and alcohol addiction and relapse are increasing.

• Testing for chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease are being delayed, which could lead to increasing health problems and life-threatening illnesses in the future.

• Economic damage to rural hospitals could lead to hospital closures and less access to health care in some areas.

• Warnings of a possible meat shortage in the U.S. have been issued by executives of Farmland and Tyson, with reports that the food supply chain is under stress. Several grocery store chains are now limiting meat purchases and some national restaurant chains are no longer offering certain meat products on their menus. Higher meat prices are almost certain in the months to come.

• Huge U.S. debt increases unlike anything seen since World War II, to the tune of over $3 trillion and counting, are adding to the already monstrous $22 trillion in U.S. debt. This does not bode well for our children or future economic stability.

The list of consequences goes on and on, and behind each of the statistics is a family struggling to survive, a father and mother fearful of how they will care for their children, a small-business owner seeing their dreams and hard work destroyed overnight by draconian government mandates, a restaurant owner deciding never to reopen, a dairy farmer throwing in the towel and a business owner postponing indefinitely plans for expanding.

Behind these numbers is an economy greatly impacted by the government response to the coronavirus, with implications for our economic well-being profound and long lasting. Expansion projects delayed, business closures, layoffs and contraction for many businesses will likely keep unemployment numbers high and depress economic expansion for an unknown amount of time.

Let us be clear, it grows worse every day we remain closed.

Steve Holt represents District 18 in the Iowa House.

Canusa Street in Vermont is the border between the United States and Canada. Roughly 200 years ago, when the border was decided, no one could have imagined that breaking your leg on one side of that street would have vastly different consequences than breaking it on the other.

I’m Kimberly Graham. I’m an advocate and attorney for abused kids and for parents in Iowa’s juvenile courts. I’m also a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Iowa.

On one side of Canusa Street, that nation has a universal single-payer health insurance system. For 20 years, I’ve been friends with an international circle of moms who met in an online mommies group when our kids were infants. Some of us have had medical events requiring expensive care.

To this day, my Canadian (and Australian and British) friends are shocked when we American moms talk about $5,000 or $10,000 deductibles, plus astronomical premiums. We talk about medical debt and how we put off or avoid medical care. We talk about how our child’s broken leg and the resulting deductible has set us behind financially and will take years to pay off.

A poll commissioned in 2018 by West Health Institute and the University of Chicago showed that 40 percent of Americans are more frightened by the cost of health care than getting sick.

Are Canadians, Brits and Australians more deserving of health care without premiums, copays and deductibles than Americans?

Of course not.

In a moral and wealthy nation, health care should be a fundamental human right.

Human rights are not for sale.

Human rights are not commodities to be marketed, bought and sold.

We need a universal, single-payer health care system (Medicare for All) that covers everyone. It should work like a public library. We value libraries and all of us can use them. But libraries aren’t free, so we all pitch in and pay for them. When I want a book, I go to the library, hand them my library card, check out the book and never hand them a debit card or receive a bill in the mail.

Health care should work like that in a moral and wealthy nation. Please join me in working for the day when all of us truly have the health insurance system we deserve. You can learn more at www.kimberlyforiowa.com Onward to justice for all, Kimberly

Kimberly Graham is a candidate in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate.

Several hundred cars were parked outside a food bank in San Antonio on Good Friday — the food bank fed 10,000 people that day. Such scenes, increasingly common across the nation and evocative of loaves and fish, reflect the cruel facts about the wealthiest nation in the world: 80 percent of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, and 100 percent of Americans were unprepared for the COVID-19 pandemic. People are hungry due to macroeconomic and environmental factors, not because they did something wrong. Although everyone is at risk in this pandemic, the risk is not shared equally across socioeconomic classes. Universal basic health care could resolve this disparity and many of the moral and economic aspects associated with the pandemic.

Increases in the total output of the economy, or the gross domestic product (GDP), disproportionately benefit the wealthy. From 1980 to 2020, the GDP increased by 79 percent. Over that same time, the after-tax income of the top 0.01 percent of earners increased by 420 percent, while the after-tax income of the middle 40 percent of earners increased by only 50 percent, and by a measly 20 percent for the bottom 50 percent of earners. At present, the top 0.1 percent of earners have the same total net worth as the bottom 85 percent. Such income inequality produces poverty, which is much more common in the U.S. than in other developed countries. Currently 43 million Americans, or 12.7 percent of the population, live in poverty.

At the same time, 30 million Americans are uninsured and many more are underinsured with poorly designed insurance plans. The estimated total of uninsured and underinsured Americans exceeds 80 million. In addition, most of the 600,000 homeless people and 11 million immigrants in the U.S. lack health care coverage. Immigrants represent an especially vulnerable population, since many do not speak English and cannot report hazardous or unsafe work conditions. Furthermore, many immigrants avoid care due to fear of deportation even if they entered the country through legal channels.

Most people in poverty and many in the middle class obtain coverage from federal programs. On a national level, Medicaid is effectively a middle-class program and covers those living in poverty, 30 percent of adults and 60 percent of children with disabilities as well as about 67 percent of people in nursing homes. In Iowa, 37 percent of children and 48 percent of nursing home residents use Medicaid. Medicaid also finances up to 20 percent of the care provided in rural hospitals. Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Hospital Insurance Program (CHIP) together cover over 40 percent of Americans.

In addition to facilitating care, health care policy must also address the “social determinants of health,” since the conditions in which people live, work, and play dictate up to 80 percent of their health risks and outcomes. This means that health care reform requires programs in all facets of society. Winston Churchill first conceptualized such an idea in the early 20th century as a tool to prevent the expansion of socialism, arguing that inequality could persist indefinitely without social safety nets. Since that time most developed countries have implemented such social programs, but not the US.

All developed countries except the U.S. provide some type of universal basic health care for their residents. Universal basic health care refers to a system that provides all people with certain essential benefits, such as emergency services (including maternity), inpatient hospital and physician care, outpatient services, laboratory and radiology services, treatment of mental illness and substance abuse, preventive health services (including vaccinations), rehabilitation, and medications. Providing access to these benefits, along with primary care, dramatically improves the health of the community without imposing concerns regarding payment. Perhaps not coincidentally, the U.S. reports a lower life expectancy and higher rates of infant mortality, suicide and homicide compared to other developed countries.

Countries such as Canada, Great Britain, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, and Japan all produce better health care outcomes than the U.S. at a much lower cost. In fact the U.S. spends about twice the percentage of its GDP on health care compared to these countries. With that being said, the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA), which facilitated a decrease in the rate of the uninsured in the U.S. from 20 percent to 12 percent, also decreased the percentage of the GDP spent on health care from 20.2 percent to 17.9 percent in just 10 years. For this reason, most economists agree that universal basic health care would not cost more than the current system, and many would also argue that the total costs of the health care system cannot be further reduced unless everyone has access to basic care.

Achieving successful universal basic health care requires a serious long-term commitment from the federal government — contributing to Medicaid and financing its expansion are not enough. It requires courage from our elected leaders. The ACA took several important steps toward this goal by guaranteeing coverage for preexisting conditions, banishing lifetime maximums for essential services, and mandating individual coverage for everyone, though Congress repealed this final provision in 2017. At present, the ACA requires refinement and a public option, thereby preserving private and employer-based plans for those who want them.

Without universal basic health care the people living at the margins of society have no assurances that they will have access to basic health care services, especially during times of pandemic. Access to food and medications is less reliable, large families live together in small spaces, and public transportation facilitates frequent exposure to others. Childhood diseases such as asthma, chronic diseases such as diabetes, and diseases related to smoking such as COPD and cancer are all likely to worsen. Quarantine protocols also exacerbate the mental health crisis, further increasing rates of domestic violence, child abuse, substance abuse, depression, and suicide. In the last six weeks over 30 million Americans have applied for unemployment benefits, and as people become unemployed, many will lose health insurance.

Access to basic health care without economic or legal consequences would greatly enhance all aspects of pandemic management and response, from tracing contacts and quarantining carriers to administering tests and reinforcing supply chains. The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected minorities and the impoverished in both mortality and livelihood. Universal basic health care helps these vulnerable populations the most, and by reducing their risk it reduces the risk for everyone. In this way, universal basic health care supports the best interests of all Americans.

Like a living wage, universal basic health care aligns with the Christian tradition of social justice and is a moral and economic imperative for all Americans. Nurses, doctors, and other health care providers often observe a sharp contrast between the haves and have-nots when seeing patients. The homeless, the hungry, the unemployed, the working poor, the uninsured; people without families, patients with no visitors, those who live alone or lack support systems; refugees and immigrants — all of these people deserve the fairness and dignity provided by universal basic health care and programs which improve the social determinants of their health. The ACA moved U.S. toward this goal, but now it requires refinement and a public option. The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the urgency of this imperative by demonstrating how universal basic health care could decrease the risks to those less fortunate, thus significantly decreasing the risks to everyone.

James M. Levett, MD, serves on the board of Linn County Public Health and is a practicing cardiothoracic surgeon with Physicians’ Clinic of Iowa. Pramod Dwivedi, MS, DrPH (c), is the health director of Linn County Public Health.

Marc Lipsitch, a professor of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, answers questions about access to testing for COVID-19, false-negative results and the challenges of mass testing.

Marc Lipsitch, a professor of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, answers questions about access to testing for COVID-19, false-negative results and the challenges of mass testing.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST: Nurses and doctors have been at the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. And yet even as health care workers fight back against the virus, the health care industry is crumbling around them. Today we learned that of the more than 20 million jobs that vanished last month, nearly 1 1/2 million were in health care. AILSA CHANG, HOST: And despite this dismal news for American workers, we heard a more optimistic message from the president today, who spoke about his belief that the country may soon turn an economic corner. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: So we're looking at the transition to greatness, and I think it's starting right now. CHANG: Meanwhile, the virus is inching closer and closer to the president, with another White House aide testing positive today for COVID-19. All right. To talk more about all of this, we're joined now by NPR chief economics correspondent Scott Horsley, science

Marc Lipsitch, a professor of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, answers questions about access to testing for COVID-19, false-negative results and the challenges of mass testing.

The company's chief technology officer says early detection of underlying health conditions could not only help treat patients and prevent the spread of future pandemics, but also reduce care costs for Americans

The health care sector has cut 1.4 million jobs in April. And as COVID-19 has consumed health care resources, other essential routine procedures — like screenings for strokes — have gone down.

Marc Lipsitch, a professor of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, answers questions about access to testing for COVID-19, false-negative results and the challenges of mass testing.

Marc Lipsitch, a professor of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, answers questions about access to testing for COVID-19, false-negative results and the challenges of mass testing.

Wes Borg and Maddy Kelly strike a chord with their North Vancouver audience over playing in a band. Then, Sean Lecomber and DeAnne Smith fit the billing for their debate on Canada’s health care system.

Co-founder of Partners in Health Dr. Paul Farmer says the COVID-19 pandemic offers many lessons and opportunities for the world, including a chance to reorient how we think about who deserves access to a high standard of health care.

Official data indicates no Aboriginal people in the NT have tested positive to COVID-19, and as restrictions start to ease, health leaders say it's time to address some of the fundamental holes in Aboriginal health care.

(United States Supreme Court) - In a class action under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) against church-affiliated nonprofits that run hospitals and other healthcare facilities, brought by current and former employees of the hospitals, alleging that the hospitals' pension plans do not fall within ERISA's church-plan exemption because they were not established by a church, the Seventh Circuit's judgment affirming the District Court's decision that a plan must be established by a church to qualify as a church plan, is reversed where a plan maintained by a principal-purpose organization qualifies as a 'church plan,' regardless of who established it.

(California Court of Appeal) - Affirmed. Plaintiff sued medical providers for birth injuries that were paid for through Medi-Cal. The Department of Health Care Services put a lien on the monies recovered from the medical providers. Plaintiff sought to remove lien. Court held that Medi-Cal was entitled to repayment and upheld the lien.

(United States Supreme Court) - In an insurance class action arising in the context of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Act of 1959 (FEHBA) authorization of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to contract with private carriers for federal employees' health insurance, 5 U.S.C. section 8902(a) and (d), the Missouri Supreme Court's decision, preventing federal employee insurance carries from seeking subrogation and reimbursement if there is a conflicting state law, is reversed where, because contractual subrogation and reimbursement prescriptions plainly 'relate to . . . payments with respect to benefits,' section 8902(m)(1), they override state laws barring subrogation and reimbursement.

(California Court of Appeal) - Affirmed. Plaintiff sued medical providers for birth injuries that were paid for through Medi-Cal. The Department of Health Care Services put a lien on the monies recovered from the medical providers. Plaintiff sought to remove lien. Court held that Medi-Cal was entitled to repayment and upheld the lien.

(California Court of Appeal) - Affirmed. Plaintiff appealed from order of the probate court denying their request that special needs trust be distributed to them rather than Department of Health Care Services. Appeals court found Department was entitled to reimbursement for Medi-Cal expenses.

California moves toward Phase 2 in changing its stay-at-home rules. We check in with businesses who could soon reopen their doors. A Sutter Health sleep expert talks odd dreams and interrupted sleep, and an anthem to healthcare workers.

(United States First Circuit) - Reinstated a lawsuit alleging that a health insurance company improperly denied coverage for in-patient mental health services. After several unsuccessful administrative appeals, the insured sued the insurance company under ERISA, claiming that all of her time spent at a mental health residential treatment facility was medically necessary and thus should have been covered under an employer-provided healthcare plan. On appeal, the First Circuit vacated an order granting summary judgment for the insurance company, holding that the district court should have allowed the insured to supplement the administrative record.

Ted Shin, the chair of the Department of Industrial Design at Metropolitan State University of Denver, could see coronavirus coming, first in China, then in Italy.

Brooklyn For Life! buys meals from neighborhood restaurants.

The hip-hop producer is going through his nonprofit.