As the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments on Wednesday on whether to invalidate a crucial part of the president's health care law, Obama administration officials say they are doing nothing to prepare for what could be a catastrophic defeat. Administration officials insist that any steps they could take to prepare for the potential crisis would be politically unworkable and ineffective, and that pursuing them would wrongly signal to the justices that reasonable solutions existed. The do-nothing strategy is meant to reinforce for the court what White House officials believe: that a loss in the health care case would be unavoidably disastrous for millions of people.
Operating income jumped by more than one-third last year at Mayo Clinic, as the Rochester-based hospital and clinic system posted its strongest performance in more than 25 years. The volume of patients seeking care from Mayo Clinic was strong, including sicker patients who stayed longer than anticipated, said Chief Financial Officer Kedrick Adkins Jr. At the same time, tight control on expenses meant that Mayo Clinic provided the care without a significant increase in labor costs, Adkins said. Expenses in 2014 were just 1.3 percent higher than during the previous year.
A public hospital in Washington state is suing Bank of America to recoup some of the losses from a $1.03 million cyberheist that the healthcare organization suffered in 2013. In April 2013, organized cyber thieves broke into the payroll accounts of Chelan County Hospital No. 1 , one of several hospitals managed by the Cascade Medical Center in Leavenworth, Wash. The crooks added to the hospital's payroll account almost 100 "money mules," unwitting accomplices who'd been hired to receive and forward money to the perpetrators. On Thursday, April 19, and then again on April 20, the thieves put through a total of three unauthorized payroll payments (known as automated clearing house or ACH payments), siphoning approximately $1 million from the hospital.
Southern California apartment complexes that doubled as "maternity hotels" for Chinese women who want made-in-America babies were raided early Tuesday. The women were funneled to several Orange County hospitals to deliver, but they didn't pay full price — approximately $25,000 — for medical services, officials said. Instead, they got reduced rates for the indigent, ranging from nothing to $4,000, the court papers say. That translated into big losses for the hospitals. More than 400 babies linked to the scheme were born at just one facility in a two-year period, investigators said.
On the second floor of downtown Rochester's newest building, the H3 Plaza, workers install baseboard trim to prepare for the city's first international concierge service. In a couple of months, the space will house the offices of MediSun, a Chinese company setting up a door-to-door service for Chinese patients traveling more than 6,000 miles for treatment at Mayo Clinic. MediSun is spending about $1 million to complete the space, which it is leasing from Rochester's Titan Development and Investments. "We feel it's a score to have them in the building," said Brian Moser, director of construction and development for the Rochester firm. "They can come in here and relax and they don't have to go sit in a hotel."
A collaborative formed in January by eight of the largest physician groups in Greater Cincinnati has more than doubled in size. Ten more doctor groups, including five of the largest in the Cincinnati area and two large Dayton medical practices, have joined the Independent Physicians Collaborative. The goal is to boost brand recognition and marketing to patients, insurance companies and large employers. The collaborative hopes to persuade employers to make sure the doctor groups are among the medical providers in networks designated by health insurance plans. The newly admitted members include a total of 200 doctors and 1,322 full-time employees.