State Highlights: Detroit-Based Henry Ford Health System Ekes Out Small Profit; Georgia Puts Medicaid Care Coordination On Hold

Modern Healthcare: Henry Ford Ekes Out Positive Margin With Fewer Hospital Stays
Henry Ford Health System, the Detroit-based system that has survived in recent years on a slim margin, largely broke even again last year. It did so with a small positive operating margin, compared with a small loss in 2013. Henry Ford's inpatient admissions dropped 2% in 2014 as the system worked to reduce avoidable readmissions and increasingly delivered care outside its hospitals, the system said in financial statements. Henry Ford reported 3% growth in demand for outpatient care last year. (Evans, 4/14)

Georgia Health News: Medicaid Care Coordination Put Back On Hold
The state has shelved its attempt to coordinate care of Medicaid beneficiaries who are elderly or disabled. The Georgia Department of Community Health said Tuesday that it was not proceeding “at this time’’ with soliciting bids from potential vendors to operate the program. (Miller, 4/14)

The Kansas Health Institute News Service: Kansas Stakeholders Push For Changes To Three-Day Medicare Inpatient Rule
Hospitals and skilled nursing facilities in Kansas are part of an ongoing national conflict over “observation stays” that can leave the facilities and Medicare patients on the hook for uncovered rehabilitation costs after they leave the hospital. The conflict revolves around Medicare’s three-day rule, which requires a person to be admitted to the hospital on an inpatient basis for at least three days in order to qualify for inpatient rehabilitation at a skilled nursing facility, covered by Medicare, after they’re discharged. (Marso, 4/14)

The Associated Press: NC Alcohol, Drug Abuse Center To Withdraw From Medicaid
A Greenville substance abuse center run by the state will no longer get Medicaid and Medicare funds for inpatient drug and alcohol treatment because of rules preventing such billing. The state says the center could not receive federal funds as a psychiatric hospital under U.S government standards if it served patients with substance abuse as their primary diagnosis. The change will result in a loss of $55,000 monthly at the 66-bed facility. DHHS says it's found savings at the center to make up for the loss. (4/14)

The Connecticut Mirror: Nursing Home Strike Postponed At Malloy’s Request
A health care union closely allied with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced Tuesday it has acceded to a request by the governor to postpone a nursing home strike by 3,500 workers at 27 facilities in 20 communities. (Pazniokas, 4/14)

North Carolina Health News: The Small-Town Doc With Big Ideas
Allen Dobson practices family medicine one day a week in Mount Pleasant, a two-horse town outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. He spends the other four days among Raleigh’s downtown high-rises, overseeing his brainchild, Community Care of North Carolina, the organization that manages the treatment for more than a million patients in North Carolina’s Medicaid “medical home” program. But recent threats to Dobson’s award-winning medical home model have him pulling more overnighters in Raleigh, and sending patients off to his partners. Although multiple auditors found that Community Care saved North Carolina about $1 billion over a four-year period, some lawmakers are pushing to replace Community Care in favor of a privately run managed care model. (Ferris, 4/14)

Los Angeles Times: New Bills Renew California's Anti-Smoking Effort
California has become a battleground between the tobacco industry and health groups as lawmakers push proposals that include increasing cigarette taxes by $2 a pack and raising the legal smoking age from 18 to 21. The state once led the nation in snuffing out smoking, but health activists say a strong tobacco lobby and a lack of political will have blocked new efforts in recent years. "We used to be leaders, and we are not anymore," said Stanton A. Glantz, a professor of medicine at UC San Francisco. (McGreevy, 4/14)

Kaiser Health News: Boston Bombing Survivors Struggle With Medical And Emotional Recovery
It’s just the crumb of a muffin but Martha Galvis must pick it up. Lips clenched, eyes narrowed, she goes after the morsel, pushing it back and forth, then in circles, across a slick table top. "I struggle and struggle until," Galvis pauses, concentrating all her attention on the thumb and middle finger of her left hand. She can’t get them to close. "I try as much as I can. And if I do it I’m so happy, so happy," she says, giggling. (Bebinger, 4/15)