The Big Story: Senate Considers Hospital Cost Review Board Today.
Among other changes, the compromise amendment ‘(r)emoves the penalty provision for hospitals who fail to adhere to a budget that was approved or modified by the Board.’ Oh. Well, that’s a compromise, all right.
First, yesterday’s Session Activity Report. Nothing unexpected happened.
The Hospital Review Board bill is first on today’s Senate Agenda. It’ll likely pass. Will Rethugs vote en masse against it?
The bills from the Corporate Law Section of the Delaware Bar will also be considered. Here’s a fact of Delaware life: We don’t have many large industries to fatten the State’s coffers, especially since the decline of the chemical industry here. Delaware’s corporate-friendly Court Of Chancery and corporate-friendly Delaware Code are the closest thing we have. Sucks, but it’s reality.
Today’s House Agenda features HB 204 (K. Johnson), which ‘grants authority to the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) to adopt regulations related to the operation of temporary staffing agencies that staff temporary nurses and other staff positions in long-term care facilities in the State and assigns oversight within DHSS to the Division of Health Care Quality.’ It’s a great bill. I will simply add that some of the same firms that operate nursing facilities also operate the temp agencies. That way, they sometimes skim from what would generally be paid to a temp. An agency fee. Just one reason why some nursing facilities have no interest in full staffing–because they can line their pockets more by using temps tied to their own agencies. Just something for the Division Of Health Care Quality to keep in mind.
And that’s about all that interests me. Anybody have something to add?