NY public hospital system plans to lay off about 500 workers and other state news

The Wall Street Journal: "New York City's Health & Hospitals Corp., the nation's largest public hospital system, plans to stanch a $1.2 billion budget gap in the next year's budget by laying off about 500 workers and ending contracts with 'a significant number' of physicians, its president said. While HHC says the plan would affect all employee groups, the most seriously affected would be administrative managers and blue-collar trades employees, many of whom work to keep buildings running, said Alan Aviles, HHC's president, in an interview. These cuts would be in addition to the estimated 1,300 jobs already cut through attrition in the current budget ending June 30. ... Details of HHC budget will be released Tuesday. HHC's budget plan calls for slicing 2,400 jobs in the next four years, including 1,000 in the next year through attrition and layoffs. That would be a nearly 10% drop from the 2009 work force of nearly 39,000" (Sataline, 5/11).

The New York Times Blog: "New York unveiled what it billed as the nation's first statewide cancer map, which became available on Monday at the State Department of Health Web site. The interactive map allows users to see the count of incidences of various types of cancer in different census blocks, which can number in the thousands of people in New York City or less than a hundred in upstate counties. ... The sponsors of the legislation that created the cancer map repeatedly cautioned that it represents raw data, merely presenting a count of cancer incidences, and should be interpreted with care" (Hakim, 5/10).

CNN: "A California bill may soon create a living donor registry -- the first for any state. Spurred by Apple co-founder and transplant recipient Steve Jobs, the bill has gained support from major politicos, including California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and is expected to land on his desk this summer. Meanwhile, on the East Coast, a far more sweeping transplant bill would make every person an organ donor who doesn't opt out. This would create an organ donation system in New York similar to the ones used in several European countries, but the measure is already facing opposition. The two states have vastly different bills, but their intents are the same. With more than 100,000 U.S. patients waiting for organ transplants, better methods of encouraging organ donations are needed, supporters say" (Park, 5/10).

St. Petersburg Times: U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., and health care reform: "Big and bold — just like Grayson — the 10-year, $938-billion health care law remains the most polarizing issue among voters. Along with the economy and frustration toward Washington, it has made targets of dozens of Democrats nationwide. The threat runs across Florida, in Grayson's sprawling suburban district, in the Space Coast district of fellow freshman Rep. Suzanne Kosmas and in the one-time Panhandle safe haven of Rep. Allen Boyd. Welcome to the midterms, an election cycle that could keep the country on its current course or totally upend the balance of power. To judge what is at stake, the St. Petersburg Times talked to scores of voters in Florida's most competitive districts. Anger and discontent run high" (Leary, 5/9).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.