Health Program

Gov. Martin O'Malley is looking for ways to trim his workforce - not the number of people, but their waistlines. The administration has launched a wellness program aimed at state workers. The governor known for his statistical analysis of programs will also be tracking the workers' progress. The goals, officials say, revolve around promoting a healthy diet and exercise at work, making sure worker health insurance plans promote proven and cost-effective practices and smoking cessation.

University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center said Friday that it has received a new Medicare provider agreement, allowing it to again seek reimbursement for treating patients on the federal government's health program. The Towson hospital has not billed Medicare patients since the University of Maryland Medical System voluntarily declined to keep St. Joseph's prior federal certification when it bought the hospital Dec. 1. St. Joseph officials now hope to recoup some of those losses.

Reversing an earlier decision on one of the most controversial cuts to Maryland's deficit-threatened budget, Gov. William Donald Schaefer said today that he will restore about $6 million for continued payments for the state's kidney dialysis and pharmacy assistance programs.The governor's decision last month to cut state payments on dialysis treatment, a health service offered to nearly 4,200 Marylanders stricken with kidney disease, prompted emotional outcries across the state.At the time the cuts were announced, health officials said patients could find other ways to pay for treatment, particularly through private insurance or Medicaid, a health program for low-income earners.

University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center loses about $400,000 every day it's not certified by Medicare to collect payments from the federal health care program. The big question is how much that will ultimately cost the Towson hospital. Tens of millions of dollars could be at stake. The University of Maryland Medical System voluntary gave up the Medicare certification when it bought St. Joseph from Denver-based Catholic Health Initiatives in a $206.3 million deal that closed in December.

Dundalk Community College will be receiving more than $300,000 over the next three years to increase services such as tutoring and financial aid to students in its pre-allied health program.The W. K. Kellogg Foundation's donation of $331,000 is the largest private foundation grant the college has received. It took two years to develop."We're very excited about it," said Bob Folkart, who managed the grant project and is chairman of the college's math, science and technology division."It's unusual for the Kellogg Foundation to award a grant like this to a community college."

Maryland's lawmakers need to pay close attention to the state's dispute with the federal government over Medicaid. Maryland has been using a combination of state and federal Medicaid dollars to pay for a variety of services for children in special education. The federal government is now saying some of these payments were improper and wants its money back. This disagreement illustrates an often-overlooked fact about Medicaid: The federal government is looking for ways to reduce its Medicaid spending.

Concentra Medical Centers announced yesterday that it is buying most of the business health program of Mercy Medical Center, further consolidating its position as the largest occupational medicine provider in the Baltimore area.Financial terms were not disclosed.Mercy will continue its contract to provide occupational health services to the Baltimore police and fire departments. Concentra will serve Mercy's other clients, and will close small centers Mercy had in Towson and Brooklyn Park.

Since starting its health program five years ago, the Howard County Library has expanded from books and magazines to five health data bases that range from questions and answers on general medical advice to an electronic version of the Physician's Desk Reference.zTC "We're really attempting to provide information to people so they can deal with the information they're getting from their doctors," said Joyce Demmitt, head of Information Services at Howard County Library.Because they are updated regularly, the data bases have become more popular than books, librarians said.

The new director of mental health and addictions for Anne Arundel County's health department says he wants to reach out into the community to make sure residents are getting needed services."

Children's advocates are stepping up their efforts to reverse $2.4 million in state budget cuts to a pediatric health care program, arguing that more Maryland children will fall into the ranks of the uninsured. Because of the cuts, enrollment in the Maryland Children's Health Program may be down for the first time since its inception in 1998, according to the Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute, a research group in Silver Spring, which warns that visits to hospital emergency rooms by uninsured children could push up health costs for other residents.

Better background checks and mental health programs critical for gun control There is no argument that America has a gun problem. No matter how many studies, statistics or mass killings, there will always be individuals who find comfort and even patriotism in owning guns. Most have a primitive, juvenile, single-minded interpretation of the Second Amendment which, through many years of effort, a pro-gun lobby has managed to amend by simply never mentioning the preamble.   We have allowed this interpretation to flourish and now find ourselves with millions of humans with millions of guns, slowly killing ourselves without any constitutional constraint.

Maryland's two largest public research universities launched a joint public health program Tuesday, the first of a series of planned collaborations designed to break down barriers between the two campuses. Officials say the joint program will enable students to draw upon the University of Maryland, College Park's expertise in subjects such as biostatistics and the social sciences while benefiting from opportunities for clinical research at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore.

Four doctor groups across Maryland have been chosen by the federal Department of Health and Human Services for a program that aims to cut health costs and better coordinate care for Medicare recipients. The program named 89 new groups in 40 states to become Accountable Care Organizations under the federal health care reform law. That brings the total already signed up for the voluntary program to 154, according to federal health officials. The groups share in savings realized through the more coordinated care.

As a Baltimore County taxpayer, I have a few suggestions for County Executive Kevin Kamenetz to include in his ongoing union contract negotiations with public employees: No more using unused sick leave to boost retirement. Sick leave is a benefit when an employee or family member is sick. It is not to be used as a retirement benefit. Don't come to work sick. Double the amount required to be in the pension program and the health program. No more paid holidays in excess of the normal private sector holidays, especially Black Friday.

"In my first term, we passed health care reform," President Barack Obama joked this spring. "In my second term, I guess I'll pass it again. " Thanks to the Supreme Court, President Obama can take that item off his agenda. But Chief JusticeJohn G. Roberts Jr.guaranteed last week that health care will still be at the center of this year's presidential race. Republicans, who know the issue resonates with voters, can't be too sorry about that. Nothing produces cheers from the GOP faithful like the promise to "repeal, dismantle and defund Obamacare," to quote House Speaker John A. Boehner, an Ohio Republican.

Gov. Martin O'Malley is looking for ways to trim his workforce - not the number of people, but their waistlines. The administration has launched a wellness program aimed at state workers. The governor known for his statistical analysis of programs will also be tracking the workers' progress. The goals, officials say, revolve around promoting a healthy diet and exercise at work, making sure worker health insurance plans promote proven and cost-effective practices and smoking cessation.

University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center loses about $400,000 every day it's not certified by Medicare to collect payments from the federal health care program. The big question is how much that will ultimately cost the Towson hospital. Tens of millions of dollars could be at stake. The University of Maryland Medical System voluntary gave up the Medicare certification when it bought St. Joseph from Denver-based Catholic Health Initiatives in a $206.3 million deal that closed in December.

"In my first term, we passed health care reform," President Barack Obama joked this spring. "In my second term, I guess I'll pass it again. " Thanks to the Supreme Court, President Obama can take that item off his agenda. But Chief JusticeJohn G. Roberts Jr.guaranteed last week that health care will still be at the center of this year's presidential race. Republicans, who know the issue resonates with voters, can't be too sorry about that. Nothing produces cheers from the GOP faithful like the promise to "repeal, dismantle and defund Obamacare," to quote House Speaker John A. Boehner, an Ohio Republican.

Good Samaritan Hospital agreed to pay $793,548 to settle allegations that it submitted false claims to federal health benefit programs for four years ending in December 2008, federal Department of Justice officials reported Wednesday. The hospital denied any wrongdoing, but federal officials say the MedStar Health System hospital listed some patients admitted to the hospital as suffering from malnutrition when they were not diagnosed or treated for that condition. It was marked as a secondary condition in each case.

When the General Assembly increased the state's  alcohol tax last year for the first time in decades, proponents fought to have the proceeds directed to health programs. They didn't get their wish the first year, when most of the money went for school construction, but this appears to be their year. Gov.Martin O'Malleyhas proposed $64 million in health programs this year that his administration has identified as having been funded by the alcohol tax. Last year, only $15 million went for such programs -- all directed to developmental disabilities.