The departure of two executives from the West Penn Allegheny Health System in 2007 resulted in severance payouts of $2 million, weighing down the system's financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2008.
Premiums for employer-based health insurance rose 8.3 percent in California in 2007, well ahead of the national gain of 6.1 percent, according to the annual California Employer Health Benefits Survey. The survey found that the 8.3 percent increase was more than double the state's inflation rate of 3.4 percent.
Cleveland Clinic has received a $5 million donation aimed at supporting continued innovation in healthcare. The gift, which establishes the Clinic's first chief executive chair, will allow the hospital to respond quickly to opportunities not covered in the general budget, said the Clinic's president and chief executive.
Almost 1.1 million Minnesotans can expect to spend more than 10 percent of their pretax incomes next year on healthcare, according to a report. For a quarter of those state residents, the cost will be more than 25 percent of pretax incomes.
As California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez sought the endorsement of two major labor unions for his plan to overhaul healthcare in the state, he added several provisions to the legislation sweetening the deal for union members. The legislation as approved gives unions unilateral authority to create and operate trust funds to provide employee healthcare.
Standard & Poor's has lowered its rating on bonds issued on behalf of Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland, PA. S&P cited "an unexpected operating loss" in fiscal 2007 and the first quarter of 2008 and "persistently weak liquidity." The lower rating affects about $179 million in debt.