Dialysis Provider DaVita Indicted In Collusion Case, Denies Charges
DaVita and its former CEO are accused of conspiring with competitors not to hire each other’s key employees. DaVita called the charges "unjust and unwarranted." A spokesman for former CEO Kent Thiry said the allegations are “false and rely on a radical legal theory about senior executive recruitment without precedent in U.S. history.”
St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
DaVita, Former CEO Indicted On Labor Market Collusion Charges
Dialysis provider DaVita and its former CEO Kent Thiry were indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver on charges they conspired with competitors not to hire each other’s key employees, the U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday. DaVita and Thiry allegedly had an anti-poaching agreement with Surgical Care Affiliates LLC from 2012 to 2017 that sought to prevent each company from wooing away senior-level employees, the department said. SCA was charged in January. DaVita had a similar agreement with another, unnamed company that ran from 2017 to 2019, the department said. (Reuters, 7/15)
In other health care industry news —
Modern Healthcare:
Aetna Dismisses Suit Alleging Mednax Overbilled By $50M
Aetna has dismissed its lawsuit against Mednax, marking the end to a three-year-long legal battle that claimed the neonatal services provider ordered $50 million worth of unnecessary tests. The Hartford, Conn.-based insurer, which is owned by CVS Health, filed a voluntary dismissal with the U.S. District Court of Eastern Pennsylvania on Wednesday. Each side will bear its own costs. Aetna did not immediately respond to an interview request. But according to Aetna's complaint, in January 2015, the insurer contacted Mednax over suspicion that the company was exaggerating the severity of the clinical condition of its newborn patients and ordering unneeded checks. (Tepper, 7/15)
KHN:
Hospital ‘Trauma Centers’ Charge Enormous Fees To Treat Minor Injuries And Send People Home
The care was ordinary. A hospital in Modesto, California, treated a 30-year-old man for shoulder and back pain after a car accident. He went home in less than three hours. The bill was extraordinary. Sutter Health Memorial Medical Center charged $44,914 including an $8,928 “trauma alert” fee, billed for summoning the hospital’s top surgical specialists and usually associated with the most severely injured patients. The case, buried in the records of a 2017 trial, is a rare example of a courtroom challenge to something billing consultants say is increasingly common at U.S. hospitals. (Hancock, 7/16)
Axios:
UnitedHealth's Profit Dips As Patients Get Delayed Care
UnitedHealth Group collected $4.3 billion of profit in the second quarter, a 36% decline from the health care conglomerate's historically profitable second quarter last year, when the coronavirus suppressed care and led to the company paying out fewer medical claims. The company's revenue in this quarter soared 15% year over year, and the $4.3 billion of profit was still 30% higher than the same period in 2019, before the coronavirus hit. UnitedHealth remains the most financially powerful private entity in the health care system. (Herman, 7/15)
Axios:
UnitedHealth Grows Profits By Being Both Your Insurer And Your Doctor
UnitedHealth Group isn't just making more money because people deferred care throughout the coronavirus pandemic. It's making more money because it's owning a bigger piece of the health care system. Insurers keep more of the premiums they collect when they also own the medical providers that are paid those premium dollars. And no insurer has expanded as aggressively into care delivery over the years as UnitedHealth. (Herman, 7/16)
AP:
21 WVa Hospitals Receiving $258K Apiece For COVID Work
Hospitals throughout West Virginia will receive a total of $5.4 million from the federal government for COVID-19 testing and mitigation efforts. Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin announced the funds Thursday, saying each of the 21 rural hospitals will receive $258,376. The funds are distributed through the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration Small Rural Hospital Improvement Program. (7/16)
In news about health care workers —
Fierce Healthcare:
Cook County Health's Workers, Nurses Return To Work Touting Contract Wins
Cook County Health staff and nurses are back to work following dual strikes at the Chicago public health system and other county facilities. The first, backed by SEIU Local 73, saw roughly 2,000 members walk off the job due to contract demands for greater pay and cheaper benefits. Many of these members were directly employed by the health system in roles such as care coordinators, medical assistants, medical technologists and food services workers. (Muoio, 7/15)
WUSF Public Media:
His Sights Were On Medical School, When Tragedy Struck His Family, Twice
Ryan May was the middle brother, the brainy one who played violin and football, was often talkative, inquisitive, and smart in science and math. “I’ve been saying I wanted to be a doctor since I was like, 4 or 5 years old,” he recalled. Almost two decades later, when Ryan got his first interview at a medical school, one of the first people he told was his older brother, Brennan. “Brennan and I talked almost every day. He was so excited,” said Ryan, now 24. (Sheridan, 7/15)
