Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Boston Children's Hospital Hit With Harassment Over Trans Care For Kids
The Boston Globe: Right-Wing Groups Hit Boston Children’s With Barrage Of Threats Over Trans Health Program
The hospital, which in 2007 established the nation’s first pediatric and adolescent transgender health program, issued a statement late Tuesday saying that it “has been the target of a large volume of hostile internet activity, phone calls, and harassing emails including threats of violence toward our clinicians and staff.” “We are deeply concerned by these attacks on our clinicians and staff fueled by misinformation and a lack of understanding and respect for our transgender community,” the statement said. (Freyer and Lazar, 8/17)
In news about health care personnel —
Modern Healthcare: New Jersey Hospital, Anesthesia Group Sue Over Staffing
Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center, an RWJBarnabas Health hospital in Livingston, New Jersey, alleges that American Anesthesiology of New Jersey “chronically” understaffed the facility, forcing delayed and canceled surgeries and blaming it on industry-wide workforce shortages. The hospital's lawsuit in state court accuses North American Partners in Anesthesia, the private equity-owned parent company of American Anesthesiology, of prioritizing profits over patient care. (Christ, 8/17)
Connecticut Public: Hartford HealthCare Charged Workers For Meals Never Provided
Hartford HealthCare made a big promise back in 2019. Officials at the multi-billion dollar company said every employee would begin making at least $15 an hour starting in March 2019. (Thomas, 8/17)
The Boston Globe: Hospitals Furloughed And Laid Off Hundreds. Some Executives Still Saw Pay Increases
Hospitals furloughed and let go of hundreds of employees during the height of the pandemic in 2020, when forced shutdowns in elective surgeries decimated hospital revenues. But that didn’t stop some hospital executives from receiving compensation increases, new filings show. (Bartlett, 8/17)
Becker's Hospital Review: With Workplace Violence On The Rise, Some Health Systems Are Hiring Experts To Address It
Amid increased calls to address workplace violence, some health systems are hiring personnel specifically to focus on the issue. The directors often oversee areas of the organization related to safety and security. Take Chicago-based UI Health, which is recruiting for a director of hospital safety and workplace violence prevention. (Gooch and Schoonover, 8/17)
More from the health care and insurance industries —
Modern Healthcare: Practice Resources Reports Breach Affecting 942k Patients
A ransomware attack at Practice Resources possibly exposed data on hundreds of thousands of consumers. The Syracuse, N.Y.-based revenue-cycle management company was hit by a ransomware attack in April, according to a notice detailing the incident and submitted to the California Attorney General’s Office. The company said it engaged third-party experts to secure its systems and investigate the scope of the incident, and in June determined the patient data of its provider customers may have been breached. (Kim Cohen, 8/17)
Becker's Hospital Review: How Big Tech Is Reinventing Healthcare
The Big Four tech companies — Alphabet, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft — are accelerating their pursuits of the healthcare market, and they're starting to hone their strategies and stake corners within the industry. Here is how these tech giants are ramping up their investments and collaborations in the healthcare space. (Diaz, 8/17)
KHN: Some Rural Hospitals Are In Such Bad Shape, Local Governments Are Practically Giving Them Away
Kyle Kopec gets a kick out of leading tours through the run-down hospitals his boss is snapping up, pointing out what he calls relics of poor management left by a revolving door of operators. But there’s a point to exposing their state of disrepair — the company he works for, Braden Health, is buying buildings worth millions of dollars for next to nothing. At a hospital in this rural community about a 90-minute drive northwest from Nashville, the X-ray machine is beyond repair. (Farmer, 8/18)
On medical debt and health care costs —
KHN: Upended: How Medical Debt Changed Their Lives
Some lost their homes. Some emptied their retirement accounts. Some struggled to feed and clothe their families. Medical debt now touches more than 100 million people in America, as the U.S. health care system pushes patients into debt on a mass scale. Debtors are from all walks of life and all corners of the country. Here are their stories ― how they got into debt, what they’ve given up for it, and how they’re living with the burden. (Levey and Pattani, 8/18)
KHN: Sleepless Nights Over Her Children’s Future As Debts Pile Up
Jeni Rae Peters’ budget has always been tight. But Peters, a single mom and mental health counselor, has worked to provide opportunities for her children, including two girls she adopted and a succession of foster children. One of her daughters had been homeless. Then two years ago, Peters was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. (Levey, 8/18)
KHN: Haunted For 13 Years By Debt From Childbirth, Then Rescued By A Nonprofit
Two months ahead of her due date with her second daughter, Terri Logan felt weighed down by stress. She was a high school math teacher in Union City, Georgia, and was ending her relationship with the baby’s father. One day the baby stopped moving. Logan went to the hospital, where her blood pressure spiked, her head throbbed, and she blacked out. Hours later, her daughter was born by cesarean section, weighing only 3 pounds. Logan had health insurance through work, but she was responsible for out-of-pocket charges. She and her baby were in a health crisis, so the issue of money didn’t come up: “That conversation just wasn’t had in that moment.” (Noguchi, 8/18)
KHN: Her Brother Landed In A Nursing Home. She Was Sued Over His Bill.
Lucille Brooks was stunned to discover a nursing home in Monroe County, New York, was suing her. She had never been a patient there. Nor had her husband. “I thought this was crazy,” she said, figuring it had to be a mistake. The bill was for care her brother, James Lawson, received in summer 2019. He’d been hospitalized for complications from a diabetes medication. The hospital released him to the county-run nursing home, where Brooks had visited him a few times. No one ever talked to her about billing, she said. And she was never asked to sign anything. (Levey, 8/18)
