Kaiser Health News, New Jersey Gets a New Hospital?, & Kicking Medicaid Grandma to the Curb

June 1, 2009 by Michael Ricciardelli · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Elderly, Hospital Finances, Medicaid

In the wake of declining newspaper presence, the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit private operating foundation known for its health care concerns, has started Kaiser Health News. In the present issue, there are two articles of special note for New Jerseyans. The one regards the plans of Hackensack University Medical Center, a 775-bed teaching and research hospital that is one of New Jersey’s most prestigious, [which] requested state permission to open a new hospital in Pascack Valley’s empty [hospital] buildings. Although Hackensack is a nonprofit, it announced that Westwood would be getting a for-profit facility financed by a private equity firm from Texas.

Not everyone approves.

The other regards measures that New Jersey legislators are considering in response to a recent investigation of assisted living facilities. KFN reports

Associated Press/Philadelphia Inquirer reports that “lawmakers this week will consider measures to enhance protections for assisted living residents in New Jersey to ensure they aren’t discharged simply because they pay with Medicaid.” The legislation comes in response to an investigation that found a Wisconsin-based assisted living firm called Assisted Living Concepts, which has eight facilities in New Jersey and more than 200 nationwide, “wrongly showed New Jersey residents the door once they exhausted their savings and were about to go on Medicaid, despite promises to allow them to stay.”

Both stories are worth reading.

Tags: 501(c)(3), Elderly, Hackensack University Medical Center, Health Care Reform, Health Policy Community, Health Reform, Hospital Closings, Hospital Finances, Kaiser, Kaiser Family Foundation, Kaiser Foundation, Kaiser Foundation News, Medicaid, Nonprofit Hospitals, Pascack Valley Hospital, Proposed Legislation, Senior Living, State Initiatives

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