Changes expected to place billions of dollars in hospital Medicaid payments at risk
By KEN LEISER
A Los Angeles family of four had Medi-Cal benefits only for a couple of months this year when the mother heard rumblings about the Department of Homeland Security's new "public charge" proposal that would subject green card applicants to tougher scrutiny based on their historical or expected use of certain public benefits.
The woman and her husband, both Mexican nationals, recently had been granted permanent residency status in the U.S, a step on the ladder to citizenship. (Their children were born in the U.S. and are U.S. citizens.) Jen Rodriguez, supervisor of community health for Providence Health & Services, Los Angeles, said the woman feared that the benefit — California's version of Medicaid — could count against their citizenship applications. Rather than take the risk, the mother terminated the family's coverage under Medi-Cal.
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By NANCY FRAZIER O'BRIEN
Health care is pioneering a leadership model that brings together executives with disparate backgrounds and skills to direct a short-term project or an entire department, according to two Catholic health system leaders who are champions of the approach.
Kathleen D. Sanford, senior vice president and chief nursing officer, and Dr. Robert J. Weil, senior vice president and chief medical officer, work as a dyad team to lead the Clinical Enterprise division of Catholic Health Initiatives, an Englewood, Colo.-based health system that operates more than 100 hospitals in 18 states.
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Three Trinity Health hospitals in the Tampa, Fla., area are expanding to accommodate rapid population growth and related increased demand for health care services along the central west coast of Florida.
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