Your Weekly Dose of Health May 22, 2015

New York City’s Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) is facing huge deficits, which could hit $1.5 billion before 2020.  Although the city council is certainly concerned, it is not clear what can be done.  Most ideas aimed at cutting costs are unpopular, as is privatizing services.

This week NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio nominated three people to serve on the Board of health.  They are Dr. Rosa gill, former health advisor to Rudy Giuliani; Karen Redlener of the Montefiore school; and Dr. Ram Raju, the President of HHC.

A tax on premium insurance plans dubbed the “Cadillac tax” won’t take effect until 2018, but it already has legislators worried about the potential negative impact it might have on public and private employee health plans.

A new study from the Community Service Society urges lawmakers to pass paid family leave legislation.  The report details the many ways working mothers in NYC are affected by having no paid leave, and what kinds of choices they must make as a result.

The Healthcare Association of New York State released a report showing a shortage of primary care physicians in upstate New York.  The shortage is a result of many factors including an aging work force, fewer primary care residents, and med school debt.

The Department of Financial Services released “Guidance for Individual and Small Group Medical Policy Form Filings Offered Inside and Outside the New York State of Health (NYSOH)” which contains requirements for insurers offering products in and outside the exchange.