After two years of controversy over the withdrawal of two of its member hospitals, Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati CEO Ken Hanover is now seeking a new job. Hanover has been identified as a finalist for a hospital executive job at West Penn Allegheny Health System. Hanover helped bolster profits at the Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati after he arrived in 2001, but also became the target of stinging criticism from several member hospitals.
The family of a newborn twin who died after what a Pennsylvania hospital acknowledges was a medication error has filed a lawsuit against the hospital. An overdose of the medicine sent both babies into cardiac arrest, which caused the twins "catastrophic and permanent injuries," according to the lawsuit against Geisinger Medical Center in Danville.
Aetna and the American Medical Association are in a dispute centering on how much Aetna pays out-of-network doctors in some instances and the right of those doctors to bill HMO members for charges the insurer doesn't pay. Millions of dollars are at stake, and physicians say Aetna is violating a provision of its 2003 nationwide settlement with doctors. Aetna says it is only trying to protect members from high charges.
Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino has embarked on a public campaign yesterday to block CVS Corp. and other retailers from opening medical clinics inside their stores. Massachusetts regulators recently paved the way for the in-store clinics, and Menino said the decision would threaten patient safety.
The penalties for Massachusetts residents who do not obtain health insurance this year have been set too low to encourage people to buy insurance, said a director of the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority. The authority oversees implementation of the state's health insurance initiative, and members are encouraging harsher penalties.
Maryland lawmakers, Prince George County officials and the governor's office have been negotiating toward a long-sought solution to the county hospital system's financial troubles. Leading lawmakers said that if no agreement is reached by the end of the new General Assembly session, they would back legislation to transfer ownership of the system to an independent authority set up by the state.