Raising Hospital Prices Hurts The Local Economy, Study Shows
"Employers that face increases in health care spending respond by laying off workers who they can no longer afford to retain,” said one of the University of Chicago researchers responsible for the study. Meanwhile, Sutter Health gets a legal reprieve after a court found it didn't double-bill patients.
The Wall Street Journal:
When Hospital Prices Go Up, Local Economies Take A Hit
Rising healthcare prices have long eroded American wages. They are doing that by eating into jobs. Companies shed workers in the year after local hospitals raise their prices, new research found. Higher hospital prices pushed up premiums for employees’ health insurance, which businesses help pay for. The new study, scheduled to be published Monday as a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper, is a comprehensive look at one way companies manage those higher premiums: cutting payrolls. (Evans, Mollica and Ulick, 6/23)
Modern Healthcare:
Sutter Health Did Not Double Bill Patients, California Court Says
Sutter Health was absolved this week from a California whistleblower lawsuit alleging the nonprofit system owed $519 million for double-billing patients. After a seven-week trial, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Stephen Kaus ruled Monday retired surgeon Dr. Gregory Duncan and patient Gary Hulbert failed to show that Sutter's billing practices for surgical patients were fraudulent. (Hudson, 6/21)
Modern Healthcare:
Risant Health To Buy Cone Health, Second For Kaiser-Backed System
Risant Health, the nonprofit entity created by Kaiser Permanente, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire North Carolina's Cone Health, the nonprofit systems said Friday. Cone would be the second system to join Risant, subject to regulatory approval, following Geisinger Health earlier this year. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. It is expected to close in early 2025. (Hudson, 6/21)
Modern Healthcare:
Prospect Medical Given Conditions To Sell 2 CharterCare Hospitals
Prospect Medical Holdings can move ahead with plans to sell two CharterCare hospitals in Rhode Island — if the for-profit system satisfies dozens of conditions. Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha granted conditional approval Thursday for the proposed transfer of Providence-based Roger Williams Medical Center and North Providence-based Our Lady of Fatima Hospital to nonprofit ownership under the Centurion Foundation. (Hudson, 6/21)
Reuters:
Ardent Health Discloses Over 5% Rise In Annual Revenue In US IPO Filing
Ardent Health Partners disclosed a more than 5% rise in revenue for 2023 on Friday, as the healthcare provider revealed its paperwork for an initial public offering in the United States. The U.S. capital market has seen a recovery in the number of IPOs in 2024, after a nearly two-year dry spell, as expectations of a soft-landing for the economy encourage companies to list their shares. (6/21)
KFF Health News:
It’s Called An Urgent Care Emergency Center — But Which Is It?
One evening last December, Tieqiao Zhang felt severe stomach pain. After it subsided later that night, he thought it might be food poisoning. When the pain returned the next morning, Zhang realized the source of his pain might not be as “simple as bad food.” He didn’t want to wait for an appointment with his regular doctor, but he also wasn’t sure if the pain warranted emergency care, he said. (Rayasam, 6/24)
In news about health care workers —
Modern Healthcare:
Blue Shield Of CA Fires Tosha Lara-Larios Over Alleged Fake DO
Blue Shield of California has fired a senior executive it alleges misrepresented her name and professional credentials, the insurer said Friday. The nonprofit company "involuntarily terminated" Dr. Tosha Lara-Larios and reported her to law enforcement for fraud, a Blue Shield spokesperson wrote in an email. The San Diego Union-Tribune first reported her termination. (Tepper, 6/21)
Asheville Watchdog:
Mission Nurses Demand Action After Assaults
Choked. Hit. Kicked. Thrown against walls. Nurses at HCA Healthcare-owned Mission Hospital face a steady stream of assaults and violence in their workplace and say management needs to do more to prevent their physical injuries and emotional trauma. (Jones, 6/22)
San Francisco Chronicle:
UCSF Upgrades Midwifery To Doctoral Program Just As More Nurses Needed
UCSF is ending its long-standing and esteemed master’s program for nurse midwives in favor of a doctorate program that many alumni and others in the field say will take longer and cost more to complete — making it harder for people to become midwives at a time maternal health workers are needed more than ever. ... Students on track to graduate next year will be the final cohort in the master’s program. (Ho, 6/23)
