Health plan a huge problem for Jackson Health System

The JMH Health Plan, the insurance wing of the Jackson Health System, has become a huge money-loser that must be fixed quickly, board members were told Thursday. So far this year, the plan has lost $30.4 million -- almost half of the $71.7 million that Jackson Health System has lost for the entire fiscal year. "We have to fix this no matter what," CEO Carlos Migoya told the Financial Recovery Board. "Even if we decide we don't want to be in the health plan business, we need to fix it in order to sell it." Previous administrations had counted on the health plan as a major money-maker to compensate for all the uninsured patients. But with $337 million in system losses the past two years, deficits in the insurance plan seem an unconscionable drain, board members concluded. Chief Strategy Officer Donn Szaro said the plan's problems are a "microcosm" of Jackson's woes. The system has a hard time determining its costs in many areas, making it hard to know how much to charge for services.