Category Archives: Uncategorized

Adventist Health’s net income nears $230M in FY17

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https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/adventist-healths-net-income-nears-230m-in-fy17/522093/

Dive Brief:

  • Adventist Health’s net income grew 366% to $229.8 million in fiscal year 2017, up from $169.1 million in 2016.
  • Operating income was $203.9 million for the year ended Dec. 31, an 11.6% increase from $812.8 million the previous year, according to recent released financial documents.
  • The 90-hospital, Roseville, CA-based nonprofit health system reported $4.1 billion in revenue, a 5.8% gain over 2016’s $3.9 billion.

Dive Insight:

Adventist’s rosy performance gain reflects at least a short-term upward trend in financials as nonprofits show some signs of bouncing back from several years of rough currents fueled by shrinking volumes and reimbursement cuts. Geisinger Health System saw net income jump nearly $200 million to $324.9 million in the first half of fiscal year 2018, compared with the prior year, providing an excess margin of 9%.

Mayo Clinic reported $707 million in operating income and $12 billion in revenue for 2017, an increase of more than $225 million and $1 billion, respectively, from the previous year. Meanwhile, UPMC’s net income rose to $1.3 billion last year, spurred by strong operating and investing results and integration of UPMC Pinnacle into UPMC operations. Operating revenue and operating income also increased.

Adventist is looking to expand its brand footprint. Earlier this month, the system inked a deal to acquire Florida-based 421-bed Munroe Regional Medical Center from Community Health Systems. It has also broadened its reach in northern California through an affiliation agreement with Fremont-Rideout Health Group, which become effective at the first of this month.

Net patient service revenue at Adventist was $3.8 billion, up from $3.6 billion a year earlier. Total expenses rose to $3.9 billion, versus $3.7 billion in 2016. Of that, $1.9 billion was for employee compensation. The system recorded total cash and investments of $1.9 billion for last year.

Occupancy of licensed beds stayed mostly flat at 55.6% across the system. Average length of stay was down slightly and outpatient revenues as a percentage of gross patient revenue was down to 44.7% from 45.1% in 2016.

 

SEIU health workers set to protest potential Kaiser layoffs

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https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/seiu-health-workers-set-to-protest-potential-kaiser-layoffs/522428/

Dive Brief:

  • “Thousands of healthcare workers” organized by SEIU-UHW are set to protest from May 1-18 at 33 California hospitals owned by Kaiser Permanente, the union said Friday.  At issue are a variety of announced plans to lay off pharmacy warehouse workers and relocate call center jobs.
  • Kaiser Permanente wrote to Healthcare Dive in an email that the decision to outsource the pharmacy storage and distribution network came after extensive discussions with SEIU-UHW and other unions. The company pointed to the “many regulatory, technological and efficiency challenges we face now and in the future,” as factors that influenced its decision.
  • But Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West argues that the decision is unbecoming of a nonprofit organization that had its profits rise 22% in 2017 with $28 billion in reserves on hand.

Dive Insight:

The protests appear to be the continuation of similar actions earlier this year when SEIU organized protests at 32 hospitals in February and March.

The company recently issued an official notice to lay off 61 pharmacy warehouse workers in Downey, California. According to SEIU-UHW, the company plans to lay off 175 more pharmacy warehouse employees in Oakland, Livermore and Los Angeles and relocate 700 call center jobs to cheaper areas of the state.

The union noted that 55,000 Kaiser Permanente employees in California are members of SEIU-UHW. The national agreement with Kaiser for a broader group of unions expires Sept. 30.

John Nelson, vice president of communications at Kaiser Permanente, called the claims by SEIU-UHW misleading.

“Kaiser Permanente is growing, and we are adding jobs overall. As one of the largest private employers in California with more than 149,000 employees and 16,000 physicians in the state, since 2015, we have added more than 13,000 jobs in California and continue to add jobs with more than 12,000 open staff positions and hundreds of physician positions,” Nelson said in a statement.

It appears that politics may be coming into play. Several elected officials have sent letters including California Democrat Reps. Tony Cardenas, Grace Napolitano, Adam Schiff, Lucille Roybal-Allard and Brad Sherman urging Kaiser Permanente to reconsider its plans.

“It is imperative that Kaiser Permanente continue to flourish by providing quality healthcare to patients while also being a good partner when it comes to job creation which benefits our community,” former California Senate President Pro Tempore Kevin De León wrote in a letter.

 

Anthem reports flat operating revenues due to exit from Affordable Care Act market

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http://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/anthem-reports-flat-operating-revenues-due-exit-affordable-care-act-market?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiT1RrME5HWmxNV0kyTkRZeCIsInQiOiJzQ2N6dzlKclF2QmpZaGZraHhUYWRwZThOSit4NjFJZ003dUtnU3NKem9WSkN0QXZUdVJVcUFIRWhMRHJZQ2I3a0N6YWNiR1pLVVFTdzdcL0hvSFl3WVR5ZVpJRWFhSUM1Y3Jyd0FRZVk0YXdOYjF3bXRWUXFXMkN1VlwvMkRMTGNpIn0%3D

Net income increased 30 percent driven by premium rate increases, the return of the health insurance tax and the acquisition of MA plans.

Anthem reported a 30 percent increase in net income for the first quarter compared to the same three months of 2017, but operating revenues remained relatively flat primarily due to the insurer’s planned exits from the Affordable Care Act marketplace.

On Wednesday, Anthem reported net income for the first quarter of $1.3 billion, versus 1 billion for the first three months in 2017.

First quarter operating revenues were relatively flat at $22.3 billion year-over-year due to a decrease in its individual market business.

In 2017, Anthem announced it would cut back its ACA footprint by about 70 percent.

Revenues were helped by premium rate increases to cover overall cost trends, the return of the health insurance tax and the acquisitions of HealthSun and America’s 1st Choice.

Anthem’s acquisition of HealthSun, completed at the end of 2017, added a Medicare Advantage health plan and delivery network in Florida.

The acquisition of America’s 1st Choice was finalized in February. The privately-held, for-profit Medicare Advantage organization  offers HMO products, including chronic special needs plans and dual-eligible special needs plans under its Freedom Health and Optimum brands in Florida. The deal added 135,000 Medicare Advantage members and included a 5 star plan.

Anthem’s medical enrollment totaled approximately 39.6 million members as of March 31, a decrease of 1 million or 2.5 percent percent, from 40.6 million at March 31, 2017.

The company said it now expects medical enrollment to be between 40.1 – 40.3 million for the full year 2018.

Counteracting the individual market decline, Anthem’s government business grew 10 percent year-over-year through a focus on serving the complex social and medical requirements of the dual special needs population.

Medical enrollment declined by 616,000 during the first quarter reflecting a decrease in the individual and local group fully-insured businesses. Medicare grew by 237,000 members and Medicaid enrollment declined by 120,000 individuals.

“We are pleased with our first quarter 2018 financial performance, which reflects our commitment to strong medical cost performance by effectively leveraging community based innovative and integrated clinical and value based care models across our markets,” said CEO and President Gail Boudreaux. “Throughout 2018, we are prioritizing investments to create a more flexible infrastructure that can quickly respond to the evolving needs of our customers and the changing healthcare environment.”

 

Adventist Health, St. Joseph Health sign definitive agreement for Northern California joint venture

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http://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/adventist-health-st-joseph-health-sign-definitive-agreement-northern-california-joint-venture?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiT1RrME5HWmxNV0kyTkRZeCIsInQiOiJzQ2N6dzlKclF2QmpZaGZraHhUYWRwZThOSit4NjFJZ003dUtnU3NKem9WSkN0QXZUdVJVcUFIRWhMRHJZQ2I3a0N6YWNiR1pLVVFTdzdcL0hvSFl3WVR5ZVpJRWFhSUM1Y3Jyd0FRZVk0YXdOYjF3bXRWUXFXMkN1VlwvMkRMTGNpIn0%3D

 

Details are still being worked out about physical locations or shared access to care services and they hope to finalize the arrangement this year.

Adventist Health and St. Joseph Health will partner on a new joint operating company that will integrate clinical activities and services across clinics and facilities in Northern California.

The joint operation will include a new president and CEO, and a few other positions still to be determined. A governing board of consisting of 5 appointees from each system will also be formed. Adventist and St. Joseph facilities would keep their existing hospital names, licenses, capital assets and employees.

“By establishing a network that combines the parties’ footprints in this six county area, we intend to increase patients’ access to care,” said Kevin Klockenga, President & CEO, St. Joseph Health Northern California. “We intend to improve our ability to deliver better care on a number of fronts, including developing a comprehensive care continuum strategy; collaborating on centers of excellence, health information sharing, and care management; and developing a value based provider network.”

Adventist Health President of the Northern California region Jeff Eller added that “patients will benefit from more access points, better health outcomes and controlled costs by coordinating their care across the spectrum of their health needs.”

The new operation will serve municipalities of Humboldt, Mendocino, Sonoma, Lake, Napa and Solano counties.

A definitive agreement has been signed, which covers a joint venture, not a merger. The proposed operation will be under regulatory review. Officials at Adventist Health and St. Joseph Health are working toward a closing of the proposed transaction sometime later this year.

A St. Joseph Health spokesperson said details are still being worked out and it is not clear whether services at the included facilities will expand or whether the joint venture simply means patients in both systems will have access to the other system’s facilities under the new network.