International rights group calls out...

Similar efforts are underway in other states, including Colorado, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Washington. But many patient and consumer advocates say stronger federal action is needed to expand patient protections.

The Human Rights Watch report — titled “In Sheep’s Clothing: United States’ Poorly Regulated Nonprofit Hospitals Undermine Health Care Access” — lists more than a dozen recommendations. These include: Congress should pass legislation to ensure that hospitals provide at least the same amount of charity care as they receive in public subsidies.

The IRS should set uniform national standards on patients’ eligibility for financial assistance at nonprofit hospitals. Currently, hospitals are free to set their own standards, resulting in widespread variation, which can confuse patients.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a federal watchdog agency, should crack down on debt collectors that do not ensure that patients have been screened for financial assistance before being pursued.

The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which administers the two mammoth public insurance programs, should penalize hospitals that do not provide adequate financial assistance to patients.

“Nonprofit hospitals are contributing to medical debt and engaging in abusive billing and debt collection practices,” McConnell said. “The reason this keeps happening is the absence of clear guidelines and the federal government’s inadequate enforcement of existing regulations.”

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism.

by Arlie O. CAlAlO ManilaTimes.net

MAYON Volcano continues to erupt

“in a gentle and quiet” mode as alert level 3 remains, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said on Tuesday, June 20.

Phivolcs director Teresito “Toto” Bacolcol told The Manila Times via Viber that the agency is still closely monitoring Mayon’s behavior, especially its parameters which are the bases for downgrading or raising its alert status.

At present, Bacolcol said Level 3 stays over the volcano which means that there remains a relatively high unrest and an increased tendency toward hazardous eruption.

“What we see are low-level parameters, largely similar to its 2014 effusive eruption,” he said.

An effusive eruption is dominated by the outpouring, fountaining or ejection of fluid lava, the magma has low viscosity or it is runny, making gas escape easily, according to Phivolcs.

“Effusive eruption involves the gentle release of lava on the edifice of the volcano,” Bacolcol said.

In the past 24 hours, the Mayon Volcano Network (MVN) said that very slow effusion of lava from its summit crater continued to feed lava flows and collapse debris on the Mi-isi (south) and Bonga (southeastern) gullies.

The MVN said that a total of two domecollapse pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) that lasted two to three minutes, 301 rock fall events, and one volcanic earthquake were recorded.

“Continuous moderate degassing from the summit crater produced steam-laden plumes that rose 800 meters before drifting to the general west,” it said.

Meanwhile, sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission averaged 389 tons/day on June 19, 2023 as compared with June 18’s 889 tons/day.

Bacolcol said affected residents living within the permanent danger zone, who have since been evacuated when Phivolcs raised the alert level to its current status last June 8, must remain at the evacuation centers.

He said the volcano may still have a violent eruption or PDCs, landslides or rock fall events may occur. n