Readers of The Salinas Californian and a union representative for workers at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital have had a lot to say about retirement pension payouts for five departing hospital vice presidents that in two cases topped $1 million. A hospital spokeswoman defended the supplemental payouts as coming out of a prior era of financial success and noted that they were discontinued in December by the hospital's board. This did little to mollify National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) Vice President John Borsos. "They should have never started" paying the supplemental pension benefits, Borsos said.
Cigna's fourth-quarter earnings dropped 37 percent compared to the same period last year, when the managed care provider recorded a $101 million gain related to the completion of an IRS audit. Results fell well short of Wall Street expectations, and Cigna shares tumbled in Thursday premarket trading. The Bloomfield, Conn., health insurer also recorded a $28-million charge in the 2011 quarter related to its acquisition of insurer HealthSpring Inc., a $3.8-billion deal it completed on Tuesday. Cigna earned $290 million, or $1.04 per share, in the three months that ended Dec. 31. That compares to $461 million, or $1.69 per share, in the 2010 quarter. Revenue climbed less than 1 percent to $5.46 billion.
Christ Hospital's board of trustees voted unanimously last night to approve filing a bankruptcy plan in the wake of Prime Healthcare Services withdrawing its bid to purchase the Palisade Avenue medical facility, hospital officials revealed today. The board will make the Chapter 11 reorganization filing "if necessary" to maintain the hospital's financial stability and to preserve its commitment to its patients, according to a press release issued this morning. Christ Hospital spokesman Paul Hebert said he had no further comment.
The business community sent a mixed message to lawmakers Wednesday about the future of health care for their employees. Some business owners are concerned that they will have to give up the health insurance plans they have worked hard to set up as the state transforms its health care system. Others feel their costs of paying for health care are breaking the bank, and they want everyone to pay into a program that provides care for everyone.
The University of Central Florida is proceeding with plans to build a teaching hospital despite objections and concerns being voiced by its two partners in the medical school—Florida Hospital and Orlando Health. Orlando Health CEO Sherrie Sitarik is set to meet Friday with UCF President John Hitt and ask for an economic feasibility study to determine whether it makes sense to build yet another hospital in southeast Orlando's Medical City. As it stands now, third- and fourth-year med-school students train at Orlando Health and Florida Hospital facilities.
More than 84,000 Michigan residents receiving Medicare benefits saved nearly $49 million on prescriptions in 2011 under health care reform, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services said Thursday. Health care reform provided seniors with Medicare a 7 percent discount on covered generic medications when they hit the prescription drug coverage gap called the donut hole. This year, health care reform provides Medicare recipients a 50 percent discount on brand-name prescriptions and a 14 percent discount on generics. "The Affordable Care Act is already saving money for millions of Americans with Medicare," Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Health & Human Services Secretary, in a statement.