business journal news from FierceHealthcare
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Groups create eight-state PPO in Western U.S.
WI legislator plans health pricing disclosure law
Medtronic sued over faulty defibrillator parts
Legal company helps MDs fight 'online defamation'
Manor Care goes private in $6.3B deal
The Carlyle Group is taking national skilled nursing and assisted living facility operator Manor Care private in a $6.3 billion deal that pays stockholders $67 per share. The chain operates 278 skilled nursing facilities and 65 assisted living centers across the United States. The equity firm is paying out roughly $4.9 billion in cash, and will also assume $1.4 billion in debt.
The Manor Care deal follows the …
Aetna spends $535M to buy Medicaid firm
Beefing up its Medicaid managed care offerings, Aetna has acquired Phoenix, AZ-based Medicaid management firm Schaller Anderson for $535 million. Schaller Anderson serves more than 1.3 million beneficiaries and manages more than $3 billion in benefits. It has about 1,800 employees in nine states. The company was started by Joseph Anderson and Dr. Don Schaller, who founded the company more than 20 years ago after helping to create Arizona's Medicaid program. The buy follows a previous deal …
... Read more...MN health systems pay back uninsured patients
Minneapolis, MN-based Allina Hospitals & Clinics and Fairview Health Services have settled a 2004 class action suit alleging that the two systems overcharged uninsured patients. Under the terms of the settlement, Allina and Fairview have agreed to discount the outstanding balances of uninsured patients who were seen between early February 1999 and August 2005 by 25 percent. If the patient has paid in more than 75 percent, the systems will give the patient a voucher for credit against …
... Read more...Study: Young adults use more healthcare
A new study by health insurer Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota has found that at least in their territory, healthcare visits amount young adults aged 20 to 30 are going up markedly. To conduct the study, BCBS looked at internal claims data dating from 2001 through 2005, covering 150,000 of its members in that age group.
What they found was that the volume of medical visits for this age group grew meaningfully over the five year span. The most dramatic increase was for …
... Read more...GA to revamp CON system
Hospital officials in Georgia are debating how best to revamp the state's certificate of need (CON) appeals process. Hospitals often spend millions in legal expenses on CON battles and many feel that the money could be better spent elsewhere--like on patient services. "Those [legal] expenditures haven't helped one person get well," Rep. Austin Scott told the Atlanta Business Journal. Critics of the program say it has also created healthcare monopolies in the state. The eight-member …
... Read more...SPOTLIGHT: Payment changes could impact ASCs
Ambulatory care has skyrocketed in recent years; some estimates claim that 60 to 70 percent of all surgical procedures in the US are done on an outpatient basis. Earlier this month, CMS said it would expand the list of procedures approved for patients to receive at ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). On the downside, CMS also said that it would pay ASCs reimbursement rates similar to those of hospitals. The Business Journal of Milwaukee observes that CMS's proposed changes could …
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