A selection of health policy stories from New York, Kansas, Nebraska, Florida and California.
The New York Times: Biotech Firms, Billions At Risk, Lobby States To Limit Generics
In statehouses around the country, some of the nation's biggest biotechnology companies are lobbying intensively to limit generic competition to their blockbuster drugs, potentially cutting into the billions of dollars in savings on drug costs contemplated in the federal health care overhaul law (Pollack, 1/28).
The New York Times: Rescue Plan Is Emerging For Hospital In Manhattan
Manhattan's only remaining hospital south of 14th Street, New York Downtown, has found a white knight willing to take over its debt and return it to good health, hospital officials said Monday (Hartocollis, 1/28).
The Associated Press: State Leaders Pay Less Than Workers For Insurance
Gov. Rick Scott and state legislators will soon decide whether Florida should extend health insurance coverage to nearly 1 million residents, and those officials all get their plans from the state, many paying less than state workers. Scott, as well as the three other Republican members of the Cabinet, and nearly all state lawmakers are enrolled in Florida's health insurance plan (Fineout, 1/28).
Kansas City Star: Health Care Law Means Free Clinics Have To Accept Payment
Free health clinics around the Kansas City area, like many across the country, are shedding their "free" designation and preparing to accept payment from most patients as they adapt to the federal health care law. The shift will be a big one, especially for the bustling Kansas City Free Health Clinic in midtown. It's one of the largest free clinics in the country, treating upward of 15,000 patients a year with more than 100 staff members and 1,000 volunteers. In its 42 years, "KC Free," as it's commonly called, hasn't charged fees or billed patients for care. And it has seen only the uninsured. Soon, all that will change (Gordon, 1/28).