Category: Medical

Idaho hospitals might face significant challenges due to a 4% Medicaid reimbursement cut. On September 1, hospitals that charge Medicaid for services will receive 4% less in reimbursement.

This reduction could affect services for all patients, not just those on Medicaid, according to Toni Lawson, Vice President of the Idaho Hospital Association.

Lawson explained that even a slight cut could mean the difference between financial stability and loss.

“4% translates to even the littlest bit, could mean the difference between operating in the red and operating in the black,” Lawson said.

Operating in the red means losing money, and Lawson mentioned that many Idaho hospitals are closer to this situation than people realize.

“You know at any given time, half the hospitals in Idaho are operating with a less than 1% margin,” Lawson stated.

A 4% cut would push more hospitals into financial jeopardy, forcing them to use vital reserve funds. Once these funds run out, hospitals would need to evaluate cost-saving measures.

“They’re going to have to start looking at what service lines aren’t covering themselves in terms of expenses and costs,” Lawson said.

Programs that are too costly might face cuts, she explained.

“The most vulnerable services that you may see some more closures are labor and delivery services and behavioral health services,” Lawson added.

These services often run at a loss but hospitals still perform the services because they are essential to the community, Lawson explained.

She also emphasized that without funding from other areas, these crucial services could experience cutbacks and closures.

“These are pretty tough decisions that I think our hospitals are going to have to make, particularly our small rural hospitals,” Lawson said.

Although Lawson hopes the 4% reimbursement cut is temporary, it could lead to difficult decisions for hospitals.

Non Stop Local did reach out to The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, they asked for specific written questions to send a written response. As of Tuesday afternoon, a written response was not sent. KHQ

A revamped U.S. CDC vaccine advisory committee is scheduled to meet on September 18, and could vote on shots for hepatitis B, measles-mumps-rubella-varicella and respiratory syncytial virus, according to the federal register.

The meeting announcement comes after a major upheaval at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week, where its director Susan Monarez was fired after resisting changes to vaccine policy that were advanced by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Three top officials at the health agency also resigned in the wake of the firing, citing anti-vaccine policies pushed by Kennedy, including firing of the entire expert vaccine advisory panel — the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices — in June, and replacing them with like-minded anti-vaccine activists and other hand-picked advisers.

The newly revamped seven-member vaccine panel had met in June and voted to recommend seasonal influenza shots free from mercury-based preservative thimerosal.

The head of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions has called for the delay of the meeting of vaccine advisers this month after chaos erupted at the CDC.

Kennedy has made sweeping changes to the nation’s vaccine policies, including the withdrawal of federal recommendations for COVID-19 shots for pregnant women and healthy children. Reuters

The Bihar Cabinet on Tuesday gave its nod to open government medical colleges in seven districts of the State.

Giving its nod to health department’s proposal, the Cabinet decided to open one medical college and hospital in seven districts of Kishanganj, Katihar, Rohtas, Sheohar, Lakhisarai, Arwal and Sheikhpura, Cabinet Secretariat Department’s Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Arvind Kumar Chaudhary told reporters in a post Cabinet briefing.

There are, currently, 12 State-run government medical colleges and hospitals apart from 20 under construction medical colleges in the State.

In another decision, the Cabinet also sanctioned ₹20,000 crore to roll out Mukhya Mantri Mahila Rozgar Yojana, under which one woman of every family will be given ₹10,000 to start a business of her own choice, Chaudhary said.

Following the evaluation of the performance of women’s entrepreneurial ventures after six months, an additional ₹2 lakh will be given as grant to the women entrepreneurs, he said adding that the amount of ₹20,000 crore will be made available as advance from Bihar Contingency Fund and Finance Department as per requirement.

Along with it, the Cabinet also gave its nod for creation of various posts of 3,233 in different government departments, Chaudhary said.

Out of 3,233 different posts, it approved the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) department’s proposal for creation of 1,800 teaching and non-teaching posts for newly approved 40 residential schools.

Following the implementation of Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 760 posts have been created besides approving the redesignation of various posts in order to strengthen the prosecution cadre, he said.

A separate unit of “Prohibition and State Narcotics Control Bureau” has been set up for which 88 posts have been created to deal with the issue of narcotics and prohibition. So far, the Economic Offence Unit (EOU) has been tackling the cases of narcotics and drugs while CID has been dealing with the cases of prohibition.

A total of 237 posts in 38 government engineering colleges, 177 posts (six principals and 171 lecturers) in 46 government polytechnic/government women’s polytechnic, 47 posts in soil conservation directorate (agriculture department), 25 posts in Art, Culture and Youth Department have been created.

The Cabinet also increased the basic salary by 30% per month as “risk allowance” for the police officials and personnel who are either working or working on deputation in Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS). The amount will not exceed ₹25,000 per month on which dearness allowance will not be payable, Chaudhary said.

Bihar Home Guards’ duty and training allowances have been hiked from ₹774 to ₹1121 for each working day which is on par with a one-day salary of Bihar police personnel and it will be effective from the date of issuance of the order.

It also decided to increase the monthly honorarium of Gram Kutchery Secretary from ₹6,000 to ₹9,000. The hike will be made applicable from July 01, 2025.

The Cabinet also hiked the stipend of students doing internship in different medical colleges, Patna dental college, Ayurvedic, Unani, Homoeopathy colleges and foreign medical sciences. They will now get ₹27,000 per month as stipend against the existing monthly stipend of ₹20,000.

While those doing internship in physiotherapy and occupational therapy will get the hiked monthly stipend of ₹20,000 against ₹15,000 per month.

The monthly honorarium of Technical Assistant has been hiked from ₹27,000 to ₹40,000 per month while Accountant-cum-IT Assistant’s monthly honorarium has been increased to ₹30,000 from ₹20,000.

The Cabinet gave its nod to hand over the under construction International Cricket Stadium at Rajgir to BCCI affiliated Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) for its maintenance and operations. It is a step in direction towards holding international cricket matches at Rajgir.

It also temporarily hiked the Bihar Contingency Fund (BCF) corpus upto ₹12,675.80 crore till March 30, 2026, for timely implementation of various important schemes launched by the State government.

A total of 48 decisions were taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The Hindu

Maine’s health care system, as well as Mainers, could suffer another blow come the end of year if enhanced tax credits—that discount marketplace health care insurance premiums—are not renewed.

According to the nonprofit Health System Tracker, if tax credits expire at the end of the year, some Mainers could see their health insurance premiums increase by as much as $900 dollars per month.

Access to affordable health care has long been considered as one of the biggest successes of the Obama Administration. The Affordable Care Act was enacted in 2010, and with it came access to cheaper insurance premiums through the marketplace or what some call the exchange.

Each state has its own marketplace. Mainers use the CoverMe marketplace to access affordable health coverage in the state.

Matt Wellington from the Maine Public Health Association said CoverMe could soon become unaffordable if Congress members do not renew the enhanced premium tax credits that are set to expire at the end of 2025.

The enhanced premium tax credits discount marketplace health insurance.

All year, healthcare has faced immense pressure due to talks about massive federal and state cuts to Medicaid and Medicare. But MaineHealth’s chief of government affairs officer Katie Fullam Harris has continuously advocated for elected officials in Maine and Washington to adequately fund health care.

A few months ago, Congress passed the House Resolution 1 spending bill, which made more than $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and Medicare.

Harris said hospitals and health care providers are already functioning on razor thin budgets as they brace for the impact of those cuts.

Fullam Harris said with the tax credits, marketplace healthcare for some people would only increase by five percent, but without the credits, there would be a 122 percent increase for some cohorts of people.

She said many working class people use health insurance through the exchange will likely be unable to afford health care if those increases happen.

“Maine people cannot afford a $12,000 per year increase in their insurance cost,” Fullam Harris said. “They’ll rely on emergency departments far more, and they will not be able to afford medications and many things that they need to stay healthy. That is our biggest concern.” News Center Maine

The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), India’s flagship program to create an integrated digital healthcare infrastructure, is planning to seek ₹2,000 crore to extend its operations till 2030, two government officials aware of the matter said.

The proposal comes as the scheme’s initial five-year term, launched with a budget of ₹1,600 crore, is set to end in March next year, with only a third of the allocated funds having been used.

The National Health Authority (NHA), the implementing body for the mission, is leading the push for this new funding.

“We are moving a proposal to secure a significant allocation for ABDM 2.0,” the first of the two officials cited earlier said, highlighting the urgency to continue the program’s momentum. “The process for cabinet approval is underway and we expect it to move forward quickly in the coming days.”

The extension for the ABDM is being sought to continue building India’s digital health infrastructure. The initial five-year term was foundational, with a new phase, “ABDM 2.0,” requiring a larger budget and more time. The extension is crucial for completing the digital infrastructure, expanding adoption by onboarding more healthcare facilities and citizens with ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Account) IDs, and providing sustained human resources and capacity-building support.

This proposed funding extension is important for the digital health mission, which is building a comprehensive digital backbone for the country’s healthcare system. The digital healthcare ecosystem will enable a host of facilities like digital consultation, consent of patients in letting medical practitioners access their records, etc. With the implementation of this scheme, old medical records will remain stored digitally.

“Hopefully by the end of this month, we are expecting to circulate the note to seek budgetary approvals for ABDM 2.0. Also, this month, NHA is hosting an annual event called Arogya Manthan, so soon after that, the Expenditure Finance Committee and cabinet note will be circulated,” the second official said. Both the officials cited earlier spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Queries sent to the Union health ministry remained unanswered till press time.

The Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) is a panel chaired by the expenditure secretary in the Union finance ministry. The EFC examines schemes, coordinates with other ministries and departments, and provides recommendations before proposals are considered for final approval, playing a crucial role in managing and controlling government expenditure.

The ABDM aims to create a unified digital health infrastructure in India. It is a network of technologies and services that connects patients, doctors, hospitals, and pharmacies. Its goal is to create a seamless flow of health information, improving efficiency, access, and quality of care.

Bharath Sesha, managing director at health technology provider Philips Indian Subcontinent, said, “The extension of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission is a timely step for Indian healthcare. ABDM is a visionary initiative aimed at enabling longitudinal patient data, which is fundamental to truly integrated and continuous care. With this foundation, artificial intelligence can become a powerful enabler helping clinicians detect disease earlier, support more accurate diagnosis, and deliver patient-centric outcomes.”

Sesha added that such digital tools will also allow doctors to spend more quality time with patients rather than on routine processes. “At Philips, we believe that the combination of ABDM’s digital backbone and AI-driven innovation will play a transformative role in building an accessible, efficient and resilient health system for the future.”

For individuals, the ABDM provides an easily accessible personal digital health record, saving time and leading to better diagnoses. For the healthcare system, it promises a more inclusive network, reducing administrative burdens and helping bridge the gap between urban and rural areas. LiveMint