Health

6 HEALTH • November 30, 2015 New England Regional Headache Center offers comprehensive neurological evaluation and treatment of migraine and other headaches by a multi-disciplinary team of dedicated professionals. We also provide nerve blocks, Botox treatment and infusion therapy. Herbert Markley MD Carolyn Benson APRN, BC Shivang Joshi MD, RPh www.nerhc.org For more information or to schedule an appointment contact us at 508.890.5633 85 Prescott St. Suite 101 Worcester, MA 01605 New England Regional Headache Center margin with $9.6 million in profit during that time period. This com- pared to a loss of $2.75 million at the same time last year, with a total mar- gin of negative 2.2. Despite this turnaround, it was still one of only two acute-care hospitals in Massachusetts to report negative assets of $43.6 million. From January of this year through the end of August, more instances of drug loss and tampering have been reported to the state's prescrip- tion monitoring program than in all of 2014. A report submitted to the Legislature recently from the Department of Public Health's Office of Prescription Monitoring and Drug Control logs 751 instances of drug loss or tampering reported to the office's drug inspection unit in 2014. From Jan. 1, 2015, through Aug. 31, there have been 863. Jonathan Mundy, director of the office, said that there are a possible reasons for the increase, including a higher number of prescribers regis- tered in the program and increased attention to theft or loss brought on by a focus on combating opioid addiction. "People are just becoming more vigilant and erring on the side of caution in reporting," he said. A little more than a week into the open-enrollment period, Massachusetts Health Connector Authority officials said the process of enrolling new customers in health plans has gone smoothly, unlike in years past. Open enrollment, the period during which individuals can buy insurance plans through the online, state-based health insurance exchange, will run through Jan. 31, 2016. This open-enrollment period will be the first full period under Gov. Charlie Baker, a one-time health insurance executive who had previously criticized the Connector's performance. Even though they may benefit finan- cially, Central Massachusetts hos- pitals have joined together with their brethren from around the Bay State to oppose efforts to limit the pricing disparity between healthcare providers. At the center of the hot- button issue for hospitals is one bill in the Massachusetts Legislature and two 2016 ballot initiatives calling for a cap and a floor for how much high-cost and low-cost hospitals can collect in revenue. The movement is intended to rein in cost while keep- ing big hospitals from getting bigger at the expense of the little ones. The board of the Massachusetts Hospital Association, which represents hospi- tals across Massachusetts, has opposed a capped payment system. On that board is Ed Kelly, president of Milford Regional Medical Center, a community hospital that propo- nents say would be helped by the change. Relaying personal stories of hard- ship, dozens of people pushed law- makers to support a bill that would extend paid family and medical leave to most employees in Massachusetts. The bill (H 1718 and S 1008) would make employees eligi- ble for up to 12 weeks of job-pro- tected leave to recover from a signif- icant illness or injury, to care for a seriously ill family member or to care for a newborn child. Right now, about 40 percent of Massachusetts workers are not eligible for family and medical leave through the feder- al Family and Medical Leave Act because they work for companies with fewer than 50 employees, according to the office of Sen. Karen Spilka, who sponsored the Senate bill, and for many people unpaid leave is financially not viable. The majority of small businesses nationally are not concerned about medical marijuana when it comes to their employees, and 1 in 5 would allow medical use on site, according to a survey by Employers Holdings insurance. The vast majority of employers (81 percent) said they were unconcerned that their employees would come to work under the influence of marijuana now that it is legal in more states, according to the survey. Building off laws requiring health insurers to cover mental health treatment the same way as physical ailments, a legislative push is now { Health Care Briefs } Continued from Page 5

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