Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Texas Hospital Halts Kidney Transplants In Wake Of 'Irregularities'
Houston Chronicle: Houston's Memorial Hermann Hospital Stops Kidney Transplants
Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center has halted kidney transplants, days after the hospital announced a liver transplant stoppage over "a pattern of irregularities" with liver donor acceptance criteria, hospital officials said Tuesday. The "irregularities," which hospital officials have declined to describe in more detail, were limited to the liver transplant program, according to a statement from the hospital. Memorial Hermann, however, decided to stop performing kidney transplants because both programs share the same leaders, the statement said. (Gill, 4/9)
Modern Healthcare: HCA Healthcare Faces More Allegations In Mission Health Lawsuit
Buncombe County in North Carolina seeks to join state Attorney General Josh Stein’s (D) lawsuit against HCA Healthcare alleging the health system shirked its Mission Health acquisition agreement. When HCA acquired Asheville, North Carolina-based Mission for $1.5 billion in 2019, Stein approved the transaction as long as HCA maintained services and increased behavioral health capacity, among other conditions. (Kacik, 4/9)
Modern Healthcare: MultiPlan, Cigna, Aetna, Others Should Face DOL Probe: AHA
The American Hospital Association wants the Labor Department to investigate the analytics company MultiPlan and its large insurer clients to determine whether they engage in business practices that disadvantage patients and providers. According to a New York Times investigation published Sunday, MultiPlan and customers such as UnitedHealth Group subsidiary UnitedHealthcare, CVS Health subsidiary Aetna and Cigna boost their finances by dispensing low payments to out-of-network providers and burdening patients with large bills. (McAuliff, 4/9)
CBS News: Lawmakers Plead For Help To Finalize Washington Health System's Merger With UPMC
Lawmakers from Western Pennsylvania are pleading for help from the state to save a health system. Washington Health System said money problems have left it with little choice but to join UPMC. Leaders in Washington County said the health care of 300,000 people is at risk if the attorney general doesn't approve a plan to let UPMC absorb Washington Health System. "The health care system will flounder if they do not merge with UPMC," Washington Health System employee Francis Kino said. (4/10)
Los Angeles Times: Kaiser Facing Union Accusations That Patients Are Losing Mental Health Care
Months after Kaiser Permanente reached a sweeping agreement with state regulators to improve its mental health services, the healthcare giant is facing union allegations that patients could be improperly losing such care. The National Union of Healthcare Workers, which represents thousands of Kaiser mental health professionals, complained earlier this year to state regulators that Kaiser appeared to be inappropriately handing off decisions about whether therapy is still medically necessary. (Alpert Reyes, 4/9)
Modern Healthcare: Banner Health CEO Peter Fine To Retire
Banner Health CEO Peter Fine will retire June 30, the nonprofit health system said Tuesday. Fine was named president and CEO of Banner in 2000, shortly after Samaritan Health System and Lutheran Health System merged in 1999 to form the Phoenix-based system. Fine, who will resign from the board, plans to serve in an advisory role as CEO emeritus through January 2025, Banner said in a news release. (Hudson, 4/9)
Also —
NBC News: A New Study Reveals The States Where Private Equity Has The Most Influence On Housing, Health Care, Jobs And Pensions
For many years, Conemaugh Health System, a hospital chain in west central Pennsylvania, was a nonprofit entity, serving patients in the small communities of Johnstown, Hastings, Meyersdale and Roaring Spring. Today, it is a for-profit system owned in part by Apollo Global Management, one of the largest private-equity firms in the United States. Since that ownership change in 2018, involving a hospital chain known as LifePoint Health, care at the health system has declined., three patients say. (Morgenson, 4/9)
KFF Health News: Doctors Take On Dental Duties To Reach Low-Income And Uninsured Patients
Pediatrician Patricia Braun and her team saw roughly 100 children at a community health clinic on a recent Monday. They gave flu shots and treatments for illnesses like ear infections. But Braun also did something most primary care doctors don’t. She peered inside mouths searching for cavities or she brushed fluoride varnish on their teeth. (Ruder, 4/10)
KFF Health News: KFF Health News' 'An Arm And A Leg': Attack Of The Medicare Machines
In this episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” host Dan Weissmann tells a horror story. Instead of monsters and aliens, it’s about private health insurance companies and algorithms that call the shots on patient care. (4/10)
