Long Beach hospital owner Michael Drobot spent decades bilking the state of millions for unnecessary surgeries with allegedly bogus hardware, and plenty of doctors went along with him.
The latest financial reports for Connecticut’s health care systems show, even after paying the controversial hospital tax, most were well into the black at the end of the last fiscal year. Ten of 17 hospital systems reporting to the state had positive “operating margins” last year, meaning their revenues exceeded their expenses. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has argued the size of these margins, which at most systems are measured in millions, show they are capable of paying the hospital tax.
The Herald-Dispatch reports the West Virginia Health Care Authority on Wednesday granted a certificate of need, meaning the authority deems the combination of the two Huntington hospitals is needed and consistent with the state’s health care goals. Cabell Huntington announced the acquisition more than a year ago. The two hospitals separately are the largest employers in Huntington, with nearly 5,000 employees between them. They are also each among the top ten largest employers in the state. The Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against the merger in November.
UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s OptumRx unit struck an agreement to ease customers’ access to drugs through Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.’s drugstores, a move to help the business compete with rival pharmacy benefit managers. Clients of OptumRx, the third-largest U.S. drug benefit manager after CVS Health Corp. and Express Scripts Holding Co., will be able to pick up 90-day prescriptions at almost 8,200 Walgreens pharmacies, rather than receiving them by mail, the companies said Thursday in a statement. Financial terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed.
Presence Health plans to lay off 250 employees over the next three months, as the Chicago-based Catholic hospital network slashes costs after reporting a higher-than-expected loss last year. In addition, the health system does not plan to fill about 450 jobs that are expected to become vacant this year through attrition. The reduction of about 700 positions by the end of 2016 is expected to save the company about $50 million, said Michael Englehart, president and CEO.
In the settlement announced this week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services alleged that North Memorial failed to create a "business associate" agreement with an outside vendor as required by law, and failed to institute an organization-wide risk analysis to address risks to patient information. A laptop containing patient data was stolen from the locked car of an employee at Accretive Health, a Chicago-based vendor that subsequently was the subject of a blistering report from Attorney General Lori Swanson that alleged aggressive bill collection practices at Fairview Health Services.