Over the decades, the former Lunn and Sweet shoe shop employed thousands of Maine workers producing first-class footwear. These jobs, while difficult, paid livable wages and offered benefits. However, due to overseas competition and corporate greed, these jobs slowly left Maine. Now, in an ironic twist, China, where many of our jobs have gone, is […]
health care
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
Report touts BIW, L.L. Bean efforts to make communities healthier
Businesses could help make their communities healthier, according to a recent national report — but Maine is already leading the way. Whether by partnering with local YMCAs and nonprofits to expand community health programs, creating healthier products, giving to charity, or volunteering time, expertise or resources, the private sector could play a much greater role […]
advertisement
Posted inOp-Eds
Dora Anne Mills: Be proactive about health care
Many people may be shocked to know that an estimated 210,000 to 440,000 patients die in U.S. hospitals due to medical errors, mostly health care-associated infections and medication mistakes. In fact, each day, approximately 1-in-25 U.S. patients acquires an infection during the course of his or her hospital care. What can patients do to keep […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Debate heats up over proposed cuts to Fund for Healthy Maine
AUGUSTA — Advocates and health care providers said Monday that Gov. Paul LePage’s plan to divert money from a fund that supports community anti-smoking programs in order to maintain Medicaid reimbursements for primary care physicians is the wrong approach. The Republican’s proposed budget would cut $10 million a year from the Fund for Healthy Maine, […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Federal judge nullifies Maine’s drug importation law
A federal judge has overturned Maine’s first-in-the-nation law allowing residents to purchase medication by mail from other countries. U.S. Chief District Judge Nancy Torresen’s ruling Monday comes more than a year after several Maine pharmacy groups filed suit against the state over the 2013 law, arguing it jeopardizes the safety of the nation’s prescription drug […]
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
Lewiston health insurer enrolls 57,600 residents through health exchange
UPDATED STORY: Lewiston health insurance co-op remains king of the marketplace AUGUSTA — Nearly 80 percent of Maine residents who have signed up for health coverage on the exchange have selected plans with a Lewiston-based nonprofit co-op. Maine Community Health Options CEO Kevin Lewis said Tuesday that 57,600 residents have enrolled with the company through the […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Video: HealthCare.gov gave 800,000 customers wrong tax info
WASHINGTON — In a new setback for the health care law and the people it’s supposed to help, the government said Friday it made a tax-reporting error that’s fouling up the filings of nearly a million Americans. After a successful sign-up season, the latest goof could signal new problems with the complex links between President Barack […]
Posted insj-web
Almost 75,000 Mainers enroll in ACA during 2nd period
AUGUSTA — Nearly 75,000 Maine residents signed up for subsidized private insurance on the exchange before Sunday’s deadline. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday that 74,792 people in Maine chose a health plan or were automatically re-enrolled in coverage they chose last year by Feb. 15. Nationally, more than 11 million […]
Posted inLetters
J. Sirois: Good time to get involved
It seems to me that there has to come a time in this nation when it is guaranteed that all citizens have access to universal and affordable health care. It is well known that most developed nations now provide their citizens with health care whenever they get sick or are injured. Health care is seen […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Hospitals using tool that predicts health care emergencies
Jessica Taylor’s computer knew her patient was in trouble before she did. Even the patient, a Bangor-area man with chronic illness, was in the dark. In all likelihood, he was about to wind up in the emergency room. Taylor, a nurse care manager at St. Joseph Internal Medicine, spotted the warning signs with help from […]