Hospitals That Have Predatory History Of Suing Poor Patients Are Receiving Millions In CARES Funds
Before the outbreak, reporting across the country was calling attention to the predatory practice of hospitals suing patients in high numbers. Now those same hospitals are receiving taxpayer money to keep afloat. In other news from the health industry: payment cuts, operating losses, ill-timed buyouts and insurance.
Houston Chronicle:
Texas Hospitals That Received Bailouts Are Suing Poor Patients For Failing To Pay Medical Bills
Across Texas a growing number of poor, unemployed or unsuspecting patients are being sued for uncollected medical debt in a trend that some see as predatory. The hospitals suing are typically for-profit facilities, often operating in rural or small towns. Between January 2018 and February 2020, more than 1,000 lawsuits were filed by 28 hospitals in 62 Texas counties, according to a sweeping new analysis of hospital financial records and court data by national health care experts. (Deam and Tedesco, 5/27)
Modern Healthcare:
Hospitals Lose Two-Midnight Payment Cuts Appeal
HHS doesn't owe hospitals for lost payments related to the two-midnight rule, a three-judge panel for a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday. According to an opinion by Judge Judith Rogers for the D.C. Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals, a lower court "reasonably addressed the problem" when it sided with HHS. Hospitals argued that the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia should have tossed out the rate-cutting payment rule and forced the agency to reimburse each hospital affected by the payment reductions for inpatient hospital services. (Brady, 5/27)
Modern Healthcare:
Sutter Health's Operating Loss Margin Nears 20% In April
COVID-19-related expenses and procedure cancellations drove Sutter Health's operating loss margin to nearly 20% in April. Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter revealed in a bond filing Wednesday that it lost $168 million on operations in the month of April alone, a loss margin of 18.6%. That factors in in a suite of COVID-19 relief programs, without which its operating loss would have surged to $360 million in April, a loss margin of 50.5%. (Bannow, 5/27)
The Wall Street Journal:
Ill-Timed Health-Care Buyouts Bruise KKR And Blackstone
Two big health-care buyouts are shaping up to be among the worst-performing private-equity investments in recent years. The coronavirus pandemic is only the latest reason why. Physician-staffing firms Envision Healthcare Corp. and TeamHealth Holdings Inc., whose emergency-room workers are ubiquitous throughout the country, were purchased by KKR KKR 0.39% & Co. and Blackstone Group Inc. BX 0.44% in 2018 and 2017 for roughly $6 billion and $3 billion, respectively. (Gottfried, 5/28)
Modern Healthcare:
Employer, Physician Groups Want Calif. Insurers To Pay Primary Care $2.5 Billion
The Pacific Business Group on Health and the California Medical Association are asking California state legislators to shore up vulnerable primary-care practices during the COVID-19 crisis. The organizations are urging lawmakers to require health insurers to make $2.5 billion in prospective payments to independent primary-care providers for 2020 and 2021. (Livingston, 5/27)
The Oklahoman:
Insurance Observers Worried About The Future Of Insure Oklahoma
Though it’s been praised by President Donald Trump and modeled by other states, an 18-year-old public-private, state health insurance program — on which thousands of small employers in Oklahoma rely to provide health insurance to their low-income workers for as little as $80 a month — may end if Oklahomans vote to expand Medicaid next month. As lawmakers considered their own plan to expand Medicaid ahead of the vote, state officials indicated they might shut down the program entirely. (Burkes, 5/28)
