Insurance News

Washington Bureau

Obamacare's SHOPs are a flop; few small businesses use them, GAO reports

Only 12,000 small businesses had purchased insurance through state-run Small Business Health Options Program exchanges as of June, according to GAO. No numbers yet for federal SHOPs, but they're expected to be low as well.

Morning Edition

Q&A: Marie Diaz, CEO of Pursuit of Excellence HR management company

Dallas-based human resources management company Pursuit of Excellence Inc. plans to add 300 or more employees this year to support its expansion into neighboring states. Here's CEO Marie Diaz's take on what's fueling the company's growth.

Washington Bureau

5 things business wants from Congress in the lame-duck session

Congress is back in Washington, D.C., to wrap up unfinished business before a new Congress takes office in January. Businesses are looking for action on several key priorities, starting with simply keeping the government open.

Morning Edition

Four North Texas hospitals face stiff penalties for patient readmissions

Four hospitals in the Dallas-Fort Worth area will pay penalties of more than 1 percent of their Medicare reimbursements in 2015 for excessive readmissions of patients, according to an analysis of federal records.

Washington Bureau

Why Obamacare exchanges won't cover as many folks as expected in 2015

The Department of Health and Human Services now expects fewer than 10 million Americans will get health insurance coverage through Obamacare's exchanges by the end of 2015, compared with a previous estimate of 13 million.

DBJ Confidential

Here's what the GOP landslide means for Obamacare

For the first time since passage of the Affordable Care Act, Republicans will control both legislative chambers. Will this lead to dismantling of Obamacare?

Washington Bureau

What business wants from the GOP-controlled Senate

Republicans won control of the Senate and expanded their majority in the House. But their allies in the business community and conservative activists have different ideas on what they should do with this power.

DBJ Confidential

Tenet CEO Trevor Fetter: Obamacare fueling hospital admissions, revenue

Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare Corp.’s third-quarter revenue soared and admissions rose in results that CEO Trevor Fetter credited largely to the Affordable Care Act.

DBJ Confidential

Q&A: Eric Bricker, chief medical officer of Compass patient advocacy service

Compass Professional Health Services, a patient advocacy concierge service, plans to add 75 employees this year to support its growth nationally, according to Dr. Eric Bricker, chief medical officer.

Washington Bureau

What do women entrepreneurs want? Candidates who understand business

A new survey by the National Association of the Self-Employed found that reforming the individual tax code is a top priority for women business owners. That's because more than 80 percent used personal savings to start their companies.

DBJ Confidential

Texas Presbyterian needs tough love, not hand-holding, crisis management pro says

Texas Health Presbyterian has more than an image crisis after mistakes in the care of the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the United States. Here's what one crisis management expert says the hospital should do.

Ebola's impact: Texas Health Presbyterian ambulance diversions filling other hospitals’ ERs

Other hospitals in Dallas are seeing a surge in emergency room traffic caused at least partially by Texas Health Presbyterian’s diversion of ambulances because of Ebola concerns. Here's how area hospitals are handling the Ebola threat.

Federal officials reviewing nurses’ Ebola complaints against Texas Health Presbyterian

Federal health officials are reviewing a nurses union’s allegations of improper procedures and “constantly changing” safety guidelines against the Dallas hospital where two nurses contracted Ebola while caring for a patient.

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Morning Edition

2nd health care worker tests positive for Ebola at Texas Health Presbyterian, will be transferred to Emory University (Video)

The worker has been identified as 26-year-old Amber Joy Vinson and was one of the staff that treated Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian man who died Oct. 8 from the virus at the hospital.

CDC chief: We should have put larger Ebola team in Dallas

The CDC should have put more people on the ground in Dallas and better coordinated with the hospital caring for the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the country, CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden said.