In addition, hospitals would have new responsibilities with regard to MRSA, including a requirement to have contact (barrier) precautions when treating patients who test positive for MRSA colonization. The hospital would need to isolate or cohort patients colonized or infected with MRSA, or notify patients with whom the infected patient may room. The hospital will also need to control and monitor the movements of such patients within the hospital and take preventative steps for other patients. Hospital staff would be educated concerning modes of transmission, use of protective equipment against MRSA, disinfection policies and procedures, and other preventive measures.

Congresswoman Speier said in a press release on her web site, "At a time when we are focused on expanding health care coverage to include all Americans and making our overall health care system more efficient, it is absolutely necessary that the care provided is safe, smart and cost-effective. Screening for and preventing MRSA infections in our hospitals will not only save tens of thousands of lives and billions of dollars each year, but will increase patients' confidence in the ability of their local hospitals to make them well."


State: Florida AG's Office Uncovers Major Medicaid Fraud, Neglect

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum has announced action in a major Medicaid fraud case in the state - the arrest of a clinic provider for fraud totaling over $44,000. In addition, the AG's Medicaid Fraud Unit has uncovered an unlicensed living facility allegedly neglecting several disabled persons.




In the first case, a Miami-Dade County man, Oscar Gonzalez, partner of the Rehab & Treatment Center in Miami, was arrested on charges of allegedly defrauding the Florida Medicaid Program out of more than $44,000. The Center is an HIV/AIDS clinic established to provide Medicaid and Medicare recipients with infusion/injection services. The investigators found that Gonzalez and others were paying Medicaid recipients for the use of their recipient numbers, enabling the clinic to order infusion treatments and bill Medicaid. According to the AG, many patients claimed they were never seen by Gonzalez or even received treatments.

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