Hospitals Gear Up To Press For Long-Term Fix For Congressional DSH Payment Delays

Modern Healthcare: Hospitals Hope DSH Cut Delay Leads To Long-Term Solutions
As Congress approved another delay to $4 billion in planned cuts to Medicaid disproportionate-share hospital payments, hospitals are gearing up to rally support for a longer-term solution. The latest continuing resolution would postpone the funding reduction until Nov. 21 and awaits President Donald Trump’s signature. The reprieve came just days before DSH changes were supposed to go into effect with a CMS final rule slashing $44 billion in funding over six years. (Johnson, 9/27)

The Associated Press: Hospital Owners, Operators Agree To Pay Federal Settlement
A whistleblower claim brought a $530,000 settlement from a Louisiana hospital. A news release from U.S. Attorney David Joseph on Thursday says the claim targeted owners and operators of University Health Hospital in Shreveport. The statement says Biomedical Research Foundation of Northwest Louisiana and Louisiana State University got Medicare payments for devices to treat abnormal heart rhythms without making required reports to a qualified registry. (9/27)

Modern Healthcare: Sisters Of Charity Health System Signs Letter Of Intent For Mercy Medical Center To Join Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic and the Sisters of Charity Health System are exploring the possibility of Mercy Medical Center in Canton becoming a full member of the Clinic system while it maintains its Catholic identity through sponsorship by the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, according to a news release. The Sisters of Charity Health System, which is the sole member of Mercy Medical Center, and Cleveland Clinic signed a nonbinding letter of intent and will work toward finalizing a definitive agreement. (Coutré, 9/27)

Politico Pro: Antitrust Trial Pivots Around Big Hospital Chain's Hardball Negotiations
An upcoming antitrust trial will decide whether one of California's biggest health systems’ hardball negotiating tactics amounted to anti-competitive behavior that sharply drove up prices, in a case with big implications in an era of major health care consolidation. The class-action lawsuit brought by the state of California and unions has made Sacramento-based Sutter Health a poster child for big hospital chains that require insurers to access their networks on an all-or-nothing basis and make it harder for plans to steer patients to lower-cost competitors. Jury selection wrapped up Wednesday in San Francisco Superior Court, with arguments set to begin Oct. 7. (Colliver, 9/27)

Los Angeles Times: County-USC Medical Center Resumes Elective Surgeries After Abrupt Cancellation Over Mold
Health officials announced late Friday that they had resumed elective surgeries at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, following a temporary halt to the operations that began earlier this week after the discovery of mold in a room used to sterilize surgical equipment. The L.A. County Department of Health Services said in a statement that the hospital had “begun to ramp up elective surgeries” and was expected to be at full capacity soon. (Dolan and Mejia, 9/27)

Boston Globe: Can Community Investment Improve Health? Boston Children’s Is Spending $53 Million To Find Out
Community health has always been part of the mission at Boston Children’s, says Dr. Shari Nethersole, executive director for the hospital’s community health efforts. In its first decades, Children’s Hospital of Boston, as it was known at its founding in 1869, provided free care to orphans and the children of indigent families. That was easier to do when the average hospital visit cost $1.50, as was true through the 1930s. By the hospital’s 1969 centennial, however, regular deficits driven in part by innovation, plus the advent of Medicaid, altered the way the hospital would offer care to low-income patients. (Samuel, 9/27)