Health Insurance For All?

Would you believe that about 300 Arkansans file for bankruptcy every week? That’s right—THREE hundred. On any Monday you can see a listing of their names, addresses, assets, and debts in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Some of the debts are staggering.

All across America, people by the hundreds of thousands are filing for bankruptcy every year. No doubt, many filings result from poor decisions and fiscal irresponsibility. But about 40% of them are due to overwhelming medical expenses, according to a study published in Norton’s Bankruptcy Adviser. One of the study’s authors, Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren, says, "Very little attention has been paid to the number of people who are in bankruptcy because of serious medical problems. Many of the families in bankruptcy have been pressed to the edge by expenses stemming from illness or injury."

A recent news story about a young Arkansas couple brings Prof. Warren’s point home in a dramatic way. The couple—in their early 20s—didn’t have health insurance when their infant daughter had open-heart surgery three years ago. With medical bills mounting, they set their house on fire and collected $68,892 in insurance. With the money they paid their hospital and medical bills and their mortgage.

"It was a mistake, something we didn’t think through," said the young parents after pleading guilty to arson. Because they had no other criminal record, a judge took a prosecutor’s recommendation and sentenced them to five years’ probation, allowing the husband to keep his job and continue receiving a paycheck from which $2,000 is garnisheed each month for medical bills incurred by their child whose treatment is ongoing.

Personal bankruptcies in this richest of nations reached a record 1.4 million in 1998 despite the strong economy. Arkansas ranked ninth in personal bankruptcy filings that year, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute, with one in 56 households filing for bankruptcy protection. Small wonder. About 478,000 Arkansans lack health insurance, a fact that—if Prof. Warren is correct—underlies many bankruptcy filings in our state.

Governor Mike Huckabee is determined "to do something" about this gnawing, worsening problem in Arkansas. The governor has a plan to allow small businesses and individuals to join a state-sponsored insurance pool. This, he says, will be in his legislative package in the next general session of the state Legislature.

The governor is working on what he calls "an Arkansas workers association, a network of 200,000 people who don’t have insurance now who could join this association and get a group rate," rather than individual health policies that tend to be much more expensive.

That’s just one idea. The AHA and other organizations are working with the governor and the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement to systematically collect data not otherwise available and to assess all options leading to the establishment of a long-term plan to cover all Arkansans with health insurance. This public/private endeavor will be known as the Arkansas Health Insurance Expansion Initiative. We’ll keep you posted on its progress.

James R. Teeter
President and CEO
Arkansas Hospital Association

The Arkansas Workers' Compensation Insurance Program, administered by The Virginia Insurance Reciprocal (TVIR), announced July 27 the distribution of dividend payments for its 1998 operational year. The program offers workers compensation for Arkansas Hospital Association members.

The dividends are to be based on the 1998 net income of the Arkansas Hospital Association Workers' Compensation Self-Insured Trust (AHAWCSIT), which merged last year with TVIR. Total AHAWCSIT net income for the year was $1,179,004. The total dividend is to be divided and distributed to participating hospitals in two equal installments of $589,502.

The initial payment was distributed in July and the second installment is to be paid during the first quarter of 2001. Hospitals interested in participating with the program should contact Phil Matthews, executive vice president of the Arkansas Hospital Association and president of AHA Services, at (501) 224-7878. Or, contact Mike Baker, TVIR's Arkansas representative, at (800) 690-4540.

CrossRidge Gets Sales Tax Approval

Cross County has joined a lengthening list of counties and towns across the state where voters have approved sales tax measures to provide financial aid for their hospitals. CrossRidge Community Hospital in Wynne, the sole hospital in Cross County, will apparently remain open after voters approved a one-cent sales tax this past summer.

The tax is expected to generate about $1.5 million per year, which will be dedicated for the hospital. About 70% of the 3,125 people voting favored the tax. The new revenues should help offset the approximately $130,000 per month operating loss incurred by the hospital. In recent months, similar sales tax measures have been approved by voters in Lawrence County and the Paris, Booneville, and McGehee communities.

Arkansas Newsmakers and Newcomers

Joel North, administrator of Baptist Memorial Hospital in Osceola, has been appointed to a two-year term on the Medical Care Advisory Committee to the Arkansas Medicaid program. He succeeds Bob Atkinson, CEO of Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Pine Bluff.

I. Dodd Wilson, M.D. of Little Rock has been selected by the University of Arkansas trustees to succeed Dr. Harry Ward, who retired as chancellor of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Dr. Wilson, who will assume the chancellorship October 16, is currently executive vice chancellor, dean of the College of Medicine, and a professor in the department of medicine at UAMS.

Eddie Bradford has retired as president and CEO of Northwest Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute (NARTI) in Springdale. During his 13 years as CEO, Bradford expanded NARTI from its flagship facility in Springdale to two additional facilities in Bentonville and Fayetteville. Prior to his tenure at NARTI, Bradford served as assistant administrator of Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville and was administrator of U.S. Army hospitals in Georgia, Colorado, and Korea. He retired as a full Army colonel after 29 years of service. The NARTI board has appointed Brian Holt interim president while a search is conducted for Bradford's successor.

Rudy Darling, president and CEO of Carroll Regional Medical Center since 1995, resigned May 26. During his tenure as CEO, the hospital converted to a private, not-for-profit medical facility, refinanced its debt, and completed a major construction project greatly improving the hospital's services. Darling also resigned from the AHA board of directors where he represented the Northwest Hospital District. Gary Pulsipher, former CEO of Breech Regional Medical Center in Lebanon, Missouri, is serving as interim CEO at Carroll Regional while a search is conducted for Darling's successor.

Steve Lampkin, senior vice president for strategic development at Baptist Health in Little Rock, has been named president and chief executive officer of Washington Regional Health System in Fayetteville, effective July 5. Lampkin, who has served as administrator of both White River Medical Center in Batesville and Baptist Medical Center in Little Rock, succeeds Patrick Flynn, who is now president and CEO of All Saints Health System in Fort Worth, Texas.

David Deaton has been named CEO of Little River Memorial Hospital in Ashdown, succeeding Judy Adams, who resigned June 1. Deaton is a former assistant administrator at Baxter Regional Medical Center in Mountain Home.

Michael R. Winn has been named medical center director of VA Medical Center in Fayetteville. He succeeds Mark A. Enderle, M.D., acting medical center director. Prior to his appointment at the Fayetteville facility, Winn was assistant director at the VAMC in Shreveport, LA, and held administrative positions at VAMCs in Little Rock, Denver, and Clarksburg, West Virginia.

Scott R. Gordon has been named executive vice president and chief operating officer at Arkansas Children's Hospital (ACH) in Little Rock. Gordon has been associated with ACH since 1986, serving as senior vice president for business development. Prior to his move to ACH, he was executive director of Rivendell Children and Youth Center in Benton, and Commissioner of Youth Services for the state of Arkansas.

Two former Arkansas hospital CEOs were honored in April by the Washington Regional Medical Foundation for outstanding health leadership. Hugh D. Means, retired CEO of Northwest Health System, received an Eagle Award. Michael D. DeBoer was named recipient of the foundation's first ever Vision Award established to recognize those who have exhibited outstanding vision for Washington Regional Medical System.

CHART Plan Signatures Approved

The tobacco settlement spending proposal developed by the Coalition for a Healthier Arkansas Today (CHART) will be on the November 7 general election ballot. Secretary of State Sharon Priest notified CHART plan backers August 1 that 70,028 signatures of registered voters that were put on petitions to adopt the plan were validated by her office. That exceeds the 56,481 signatures needed to secure a place on the ballot.

CHART is focusing on an educational phase of its campaign to convince voters the plan is the best way to spend the $1.62 billion Arkansas should receive over the next 25 years from the national tobacco settlement fund. At the same time, CHART will have to wait and see if a court challenge to the ballot proposal is filed to keep the issue off the ballot and out of the voters' hands.

In Memoriam

Michael D. DeBoer died July 7 in Montgomery, Alabama, from complications of a brain tumor. DeBoer, president and CEO of Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville from 1988 until 1994, was a former AHA board member. Since leaving Arkansas, he had been president and CEO of Baptist Health in Montgomery until retiring early this year due to his illness.

James E. Crank, FACHE, professor of health and director of University Hospital in Little Rock, 1969-1980, died at his Hot Springs home June 1. Funeral services and burial took place in Hot Springs, June 3.

Calendar

• October 9-12, Hot Springs
  AHA 70th Annual Meeting and Trade Show
• October 20, Hot Springs
  Arkansas Healthcare Human Resources Association
• October 25, Little Rock
  "Knock, Knock, HCFA's Calling"
• November 8, Little Rock
  Arkansas Council of Nurse Managers
• November 16-17, Little Rock
  Arkansas Rural Health Forum
• November 16-17, Little Rock
  Healthcare Financial Management Association
• November 30, Little Rock
  "A Day With the Lawyers"
• December 1, Little Rock
  Compliance Forum
• December 5, Hot Springs
  CPT 2001 Coding Workshop
• December 6, Pine Bluff
  CPT 2001 Coding Workshop
• December 12, Fort Smith
  CPT 2001 Coding Workshop
• December 13, Fayetteville
  CPT 2001 Coding Workshop