bad debt

Highmark helps providers, patients know costs up front

Anne Zieger — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 09:19:42 -0500

Health plan Highmark is giving its providers a new way to reduce bad debt that can result when patients aren't prepared for the large costs they may incur under high-deductible plans. Under its new program, doctors and hospitals can get real-time quotes of how much a service will cost members, helping them to be sure that patients can afford costs, or even allowing them to collect an exact amount up front.

This allows both the provider and the patient to be on the same page, especially when the patient has a plan with a high deductible or co-insurance. Right now, the service is just being rolled out to 250 providers across Pennsylvania. In April 2009, all Highmark providers across the state will have access to the system.

To learn more about the system:
- read this Healthcare Finance News piece

CO hospitals cite $800M in uncompensated care

Anne Zieger — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:26:01 -0400

In what is becoming an annual ritual for many hospitals around the country, the Colorado Hospital Association has announced what it spent on uncompensated care for for the first six months of this year. CHA reported that uncompensated care climbed to $796 million in the first six months of 2008, compared with $671 million in the first half of last year.

According to the association, its hospital members provided 29.2 percent more charity care during the first half of 2008, while bad debt grew by 6 percent. And all told, uncompensated care grew by 18.7 percent, the trade group said. The growth in uncompensated care and bad debt is particularly striking when you consider that the number of patients entering Colorado hospitals during this period climbed by less than 1 percent, from 160,000 to about 161,000.

How are the state's hospitals coping? For one thing, they may be cutting back on new equipment, one vendor suggests. Christopher Cone, CEO of medical equipment maintenance and repair company Echoserve, says his business has climbed 70 percent from the previous year.

To learn more about this report:
- read this Denver Business Journal piece

Related Articles:
PA hospitals' margins up, but uncompensated care rises
Case study: Detroit med school carries $50M/year in uncompensated care
Urban NJ hospitals take big charity funding hit
Helping to qualify the uninsured

Despite financial woes, healthcare stocks up

Anne Zieger — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:00:22 -0400

With healthcare facing some of its biggest financial challenges in years, particularly a growth in bad debt and slides in federal reimbursement, you wouldn't think that industry stocks would be doing too well. As usual, however, the market has followed its own logic, bringing several healthcare stocks to high points and pushing up the overall value Standard & Poor's healthcare stocks average by 4.4 percent (compared with a 7.9 percent drop in the overall index). Article

ALSO NOTED: Hospitals working to avoid needless ED care; FDA may soon require epilepsy drug labeling; and much more...

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 06:59:50 -0400

> Hoping to avoid further bad debt, hospitals are setting systems in place to avoid providing non-emergency ED care. FierceHealthFinance

> The FDA is close to a deal with drugmakers that would require warnings to be added to the the labeling on epilepsy drugs. FiercePharma

> The federal office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has released its five year plan, focused largely on patient-focused healthcare and population health. FierceHealthIT

> The University of California may end up taking over the vast task of reopening Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital, which was shut down after years of problems and the loss of its CMS certification. Article

And Finally... This guy was determined to make it to court--no matter what. Article

ALSO NOTED: For-profits see bad debt drop during first quarter of '08; Bayer fined $16.2 million for price-fixing; and much mor

Thu, 29 May 2008 06:59:50 -0400

> As it turns out, for-profits actually saw bad debt expense go down during the first quarter of this year despite nasty market conditions. FierceHealthFinance

> Bayer has been fined $16.2 million for fixing prices on aspirin and other over-the-counter meds in Germany. FiercePharma

> Think health IT will cut big costs from the healthcare system? Don't count on it, says the Congressional Budget Office. FierceHealthIT

> Studies suggest that a new vaccine and chemotherapy combo could significantly prolong the survival of patients with glioblastoma, the aggressive brain cancer afflicting Senator Ted Kennedy. FierceVaccine

And Finally... Why bother creating it? Well, why not? Article

Cigna first-quarter profits drop 80 percent

Fri, 02 May 2008 06:59:58 -0400

Uh oh--this can't be good. A multitude of insurers have have posted rather disappointing financial results, including UnitedHealth Group, Humana, Health Net and WellPoint--and now another big insurer joins the party. Cigna has announced that it saw an 80 percent drop in first-quarter profits over the same quarter last year, with earnings of $58 million this time versus $289 million one year ago. Cigna has been hit by a multitude of factors, including a tough flu season, litigation and the cost of integrating newly-acquired Great-West Healthcare. All that being said, Cigna executives did cite some bright spots in their picture, including a predicted rise of 2 to 2.5 percent in enrollment (excluding Great-West enrollees). But this is still shaping up to be a tough year for U.S. health plans generally. Brace yourself for next year: premiums are likely to shoot up, employees to carry more costs, and providers to get hit with more bad debt. It's a pretty ugly picture all around.

To learn more about Cigna's problems:
- read this Modern Healthcare article (reg. req.)

Related Articles:
UnitedHealth suffers financial setback
WellPoint profits fall 25 percent during first quarter

Flu bug boosts hospital revenue

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 06:59:56 -0400

While it hasn't been great for patients, the flu bug has done hospitals a favor. This year's crop of flu shots turned out to be less effective than expected for current strains of the virus, so more patients have gotten sick. This has, in some cases, translated to better first-quarter results for hospitals. Not only has there been a higher volume of patients admitted due to flu, many of them have been elderly people on Medicare which, while it doesn't pay high rates, is at least a reliable payer. This has helped hospitals trim bad-debt ratios and push revenues higher than they had been in previous quarters.

To learn more about this trend:
- read this article from The Tennessean

Related Article:
Questionnaire could cut ED visits during flu season

ALSO NOTED: Provider bad debt expected to rise; Three-quarters of states developing health info exchanges; and much more...

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 06:59:50 -0400

> Analysts are predicting that with health plan profits shrinking, premiums will rise, consumers will be expected to carry more of the bill, and providers' bad debt will rise. FierceHealthFinance

> A new report concludes that 75 percent of states are developing healthcare information exchanges. FierceHealthIT

> It's looking like a new form of gene therapy may help improve the sight of the blind. FierceBioResearcher

> One Illinois hospital is offering to boost its charity care levels dramatically in an effort to get permission to relocate its campus. Article

And Finally.. A technique more commonly used in criminal investigations may someday help your hospital fight infections. Article