By Andy Miller and Ariel Hart A Fulton County judge Friday extended a reprieve in the contract dispute between Northside Hospital and Anthem until April 15, delaying for a second time the need for thousands of patients to switch doctors. Northside patients who have Anthem insurance have been caught in the middle of the battle between the…
By Andy Miller and Rebecca Grapevine Georgia lawmakers will consider a bill that could force the state’s Medicaid managed-care insurers to repay millions of dollars if their spending on medical care doesn’t reach a certain threshold. The bipartisan bill, introduced Jan. 26 by the powerful Georgia House Speaker David Ralston, a Republican, is focused on improving the…
By Eric Berger and Andy Miller Georgia’s Covid vaccination rate among nursing home employees is just above the national average of 81 percent, according to federal data. Those vaccination figures have become more important after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Jan. 13 upholding a federal mandate requiring health care workers at facilities that receive Medicaid or Medicare funding…
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield has named a new president of its Georgia operation just days before a possible contract cutoff with Northside Hospital. Robert Bunch, a longtime Anthem official, replaces Pam Stahl, who has taken a job in another industry, the insurer said late last week. The leadership change comes amid a flurry…
A 70-year-old man recently entered a metro Atlanta hospital after a fall. He subsequently tested positive for Covid, this is why it is import for concierge covid testing for those who have covid symptoms.. So did his daughter, who drove him to the hospital. Eight other family members also tested positive. Branstetter Three of the…
By Rachana Pradhan, Hannah Recht and Andy Miller Two months after Pfizer’s Covid vaccine was authorized for children ages 5 to 11, just 27% have received at least one shot, according to Jan. 12 CDC data. Only 18%, or 5 million kids, have both doses, Kaiser Health News reported. In Georgia, as well as other Southern states, the percentages…
Extending Medicaid coverage for women who have given birth. Higher pay for physicians serving Georgia’s poor. More money for rural health care. In many ways, health care is getting a boost in Gov. Brian Kemp’s budget. Kemp’s proposed budget envisions a record $30.2 billion in state spending next year. The highest-profile items include $5,000 pay raises…
By Lauren Weber, Phil Galewitz and Andy Miller The Cleveland Clinic in Weston, Florida, on Jan. 11 was treating 80 Covid-19 patients — a tenfold increase since late December. Nearly half were admitted for other medical reasons. The surge driven by the extremely infectious Omicron variant helped push the South Florida hospital with 206 licensed…
Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield has filed a legal motion to end a court’s temporary restraining order that, at least temporarily, has kept Northside Hospital facilities in the giant insurer’s network. Northside Hospital was granted an injunction by Fulton County Superior Court just before its Anthem contract was scheduled to be severed Jan. 1. That…
Kaiser Permanente has appointed Pamela Shipley as the new regional president for the organization’s Georgia operation. Shipley comes from Sharecare, a virtual health IT company based in Atlanta, where she was chief operating officer. She is replacing Jim Simpson, who is taking another position in the Kaiser Permanente organization. Kaiser Permanente, a California-based nonprofit managed…