Franklin, TN-based Hospital operator Community Health Systems Inc. announced its third-quarter profit almost quadrupled, helped by a 23% increase in admissions due primarily to expansion of its hospital network last year. The company posted a net profit of $50.4 million, or 53 cents per share, compared with a profit of $10.5 million, or 11 cents per share, a year ago.
The University of Louisville's new outpatient center in downtown Louisville boasts a curving seven-story glass front, a three-story atrium and an upscale sandwich shop. Those and other features, such as a tall water sculpture, polished granite floors and a concierge to help guide patients, are in line with the center's missions of drawing privately insured patients and providing an attractive home for U of L doctors' medical practices.
One in five children living in Texas is without health insurance—the highest in the nation, according to a report released by Families USA. The study, "Left Behind: Texas's Uninsured Children," found that 1.4 million children, or 20.5% of the population aged 18 and under were without health insurance in the three years from 2005 to 2007. The number of uninsured children in the state grew by more than 33,000 between 2003 and 2007, according to the study.
Aetna has renewed a contract with South Seminole Behavioral Specialists, an Orlando Health physicians group for a period of three years. Aetna also recently renewed its hospital agreement with Orlando Health, a 1,780-bed system that includes Orlando Regional Medical Center, Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies, Lucerne Hospital, Dr. P. Phillips Hospital, South Lake Hospital, South Seminole Hospital, and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Orlando.
The cost of employer-provided healthcare benefits in Colorado jumped 13.7% this year, the biggest rise since 2004, according to a survey by the Lockton Benefit Group. Part of the health insurance rate hike is being passed on to employees, the report showed. Almost 39% of companies in the survey have policies with deductibles of $500 or more, compared with the national average of $300. "Each year, the cost-shifting gets worse and worse," said Bill Lindsey, president of the Lockton Group in Denver, referring to higher premiums, deductibles and out-of-pocket payments being passed through to employees.
The Whitmore Lake Health Clinic near Detroit has provided care for 38 years to uninsured and underinsured residents of Washtenaw and Livingston counties but needs to raise $110,000 to resolve a dispute with the Internal Revenue Service that could force its closing. The clinic's problems mushroomed two years ago when it failed to send payroll taxes to the IRS.