Healthcare Financial News

Senate Democratic leaders told reporters that they are no longer pushing for a vote on healthcare reform before Congress' August recess, according to the Associated Press and The Washington Post. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) was quoted as saying, "It's better to have a product based on quality and thoughtfulness rather than try to jam something through." Reid reportedly said that the Senate Finance Committee will act on its portion of the bill before the Senate starts its recess on August 7. That bill with then be merged with separate legislation passed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee this month. The decision to delay a vote was said to have been made Wednesday night in the hopes of getting a final bill that can win at least 60 votes in the Senate.

A new study of community benefit spending by Maryland’s nonprofit hospitals, published by Health Affairs, suggests that caution is needed in creating community benefit expenditure thresholds for tax exemption.

Overall community benefit spending by Maryland hospitals increased over the first four years of the reporting program, say the study authors. Nevertheless, in 2007, virtually all Maryland hospitals would have failed to meet a spending threshold proposed that year by the Senate Finance Committee’s minority staff.

The issue of community benefit thresholds is being examined by the U.S. Congress this year as they consider healthcare reform legislation.

Read the article in Health Affairs.