profits

Naples, FL-based hospital operator Health Management Associates (HMA) has gotten a vote of no confidence from Standard & Poor's, with the ratings service lowering its outlook on the chain from... Read more...

Kaiser Permanente has reported that its Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and subsidiaries saw dramatic increases in its net income, operating income and investment income... Read more...

HCA turned in a nice performance for the third quarter, posting its first quarterly growth in income since going private last year, but like its peers, it's still struggling with unpaid patient... Read more...

While it's a bit soon to declare the ghost of Richard Scrushy banished, HealthSouth Corp's most recent quarterly earnings seem to be moving in the right direction. The hospital operator reported... Read more...

Minnesota's HMOs had a rough 2006, with enrollment and profits dropping despite premium increases that exceeded those in the year before. Enrollment fell 8.2 percent last year, down to 915,000, from... Read more...

Hospital chain HCA's profits fell dramatically during the second full quarter since private investors acquired it. While the chain's revenues for the quarter were up 5.8 percent, to $6.7 billion, its... Read more...

Sure, U.S. non-profits say they deliver uncompensated care--and there's no doubt poor and uncompensated patients are getting some form of service. The problem, however, is there's no universally... Read more...

 New England Journal editor talks reform
New England Journal of Medicine editor and Harvard Medical School professor Dr. Arnold Relman has staked out his position on health reform. In a recent interview, Relman discusses why he believes non-profits and for-profits aren't so different, why he thinks most doctors should be on salary. And, he sees a single-payer system as the best way to overhaul healthcare delivery. Interview

Nearly all of Wisconsin's hospitals--a full 95 percent--are not-for-profits that enjoy a state property tax exemption. Despite resistance from the hospitals, the state is continuing to look at recouping some of that revenue with a separate hospital-specific tax. State governor Jim Doyle (D) wants to impose an 0.8 percent tax on the state's 109 non-profit hospitals, which he says will generate $418 million in revenues for the state over the next two years. The proposal has been posted by a …

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Now here's an encouraging note. Having raised rates 90 percent only three years ago, Connecticut medical mal insurer The Medical Protective Co. has set plans to cut rates an average of 24.2 percent next year, as well as insuring more physicians. The company, which is owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, needs approval from the state's insurance department to make the cut, but if it does, the change will take effect on August 1. Connecticut malpractice rates began falling two …

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