Axios: Intermountain, Sanford hospital systems plan to merge
By Bob Herman October 26, 2020 Intermountain Healthcare and Sanford Health have agreed to merge, creating a system of 70 hospitals, hundreds of physician practices, and two health insurance companies across the West and Midwest, pending state and federal regulatory reviews. Why it matters: A combined Intermountain-Sanford system would generate $15 billion of annual revenue, making it […]
Wall Street Journal: Some California Hospitals Refused Covid-19 Transfers for Financial Reasons, State Emails Show
By Melanie Evans, Alexandra Berzon, and Daniela Hernandez October 19, 2020 Several large Southern California hospital systems improperly refused or delayed accepting Covid-19 patients based on their insurance status, according to internal emails among local and state government, hospital and emergency-response officials, leaving severely ill patients waiting for care and adding strain on hospitals overrun by […]
KHN: UVA Health Still Squeezing Money From Patients — By Seizing Their Home Equity
By Jay Hancock October 19, 2020 Doris Hutchinson wanted to use money from the sale of her late mother’s house to help her grandchildren go to college. Then she learned the University of Virginia Health System was taking $38,000 of the proceeds because a 13-year-old medical bill owed by her deceased brother had somehow turned […]
Axios Vitals: Private equity-owned air ambulances charge more
By Caitlin Owens October 14, 2020 Air ambulances owned by private equity firms charge the highest rates — more than seven times what Medicare pays, according to a new analysis by the USC-Brookings Schaeffer Initiative for Health Policy. Why it matters: Air ambulances are frequent sources of surprise medical bills, and even when they’re covered by insurance, we all pay […]
New York Times: A $52,112 Air Ambulance Ride: Coronavirus Patients Battle Surprise Bills
By Sarah Kliff October 13, 2020 An intubated coronavirus patient was declining rapidly when doctors decided to airlift her to a hospital with better critical care resources. “It’s life or death,” the family of the 60-year-old woman recalled being told when it happened in April. “We have to transfer her now.” The patient was flown […]
Modern Healthcare: Fresenius operates half of Medicare’s lowest-rated dialysis facilities
By Sabriya Rice January 26, 2015 Medicare’s new five-star quality-rating system for dialysis facilities suggests significant disparities between the care provided by the nation’s largest kidney-care companies. Far fewer Fresenius Medical Care facilities earned five- and four-star ratings than those of competitor DaVita Kidney Care. The federal agency posted the star ratings last week as part of […]
Health System Tracker: What drives health spending in the U.S. compared to other countries
By Nisha Kurani and Cynthia Cox September 25, 2020 The United States spends significantly more on healthcare than comparable countries, and yet has worse health outcomes. Much of the national conversation has focused on spending on prescription drugs and administrative costs as the primary drivers of health spending in the U.S. President Donald Trump has […]
Bloomberg: A Wall Street Giant Tapped $1.5 Billion in Federal Aid for Its Hospitals
By Sabrina Willmer September 14, 2020 Like hospital chains across the U.S., LifePoint Health tapped federal relief money to blunt the cost of the Covid-19 pandemic. It was a potent lifeline, a total of $1.5 billion. But LifePoint is unusual in one respect, its owner: private equity firm Apollo Global Management, led by billionaire Leon Black. LifePoint was certainly eligible for the […]
WTVR: Richmond couple finds bat in bed, but the real shock comes later when hospital bill arrives
By Bree Sison September 29, 2020 RICHMOND, Va. — A young Richmond couple was astonished by medical bills listing more than $40,000 in charges for potential exposure to rabies after a small bat flew into their recently purchased home near Byrd Park. Even worse, they thought the potentially lifesaving rabies shot would only cost them […]
USA Today: ‘Really astonishing’: Average cost of hospital ER visit surges 176% in a decade, report says
By Ken Alltucker June 4, 2019 Hospital emergency rooms are more likely to charge pricier levels of care than a decade ago, generating bigger bills that consumers increasingly must pay with their own money, according to a new report. The nonprofit Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI) examined insurance claims for a decade’s worth of hospital emergency room bills, […]