Calif. audit finds hospital did business with firms tied to CEO; Michigan hospital to become private

Reports on the business of healthcare also look at an Illinois ACO that is showing some progress and at New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's call for greater transparency in how insurers and providers bill consumers for out-of-network medical costs.

Los Angeles Times: Hospital Did Business With Firms Tied To Its CEO, Board Members
A Monterey County public hospital district did $21 million in business over the last five years with firms in which its chief executive and board members held financial interests, according to a state audit released Thursday. The audit was launched in response to a series of articles in The Times last year that highlighted the huge supplemental pension and severance package, totaling nearly $5 million, that the hospital's former chief executive received (Allen and Becerra, 3/9).

Kaiser Health News: Capsules: N.Y. Governor Raps Insurers, Health Providers For 'Unacceptable Opaqueness' In Billing
Too often patients who thought they had all the right approvals from their insurers get hit with surprise bills for out-of-network medical costs, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says in a report that calls on insurers, doctors and hospitals to help craft reforms. Complaints about out-of-network costs were among the most common found in a state investigation of consumer complaints (Appleby, 3/8).

Kaiser Health News: Capsules: New Insurer-Hospital ACO Touts Early Success   
Illinois' largest hospital system and biggest health insurer agreed in late 2010 to form an accountable care organization, a network in which the organizations would cooperate to boost quality and restrain cost increases, sharing in any savings. Chicago-based Advocate Health Care gambled that its portion would compensate for the lost revenue from the resulting empty beds (Hancock, 3/8).

The Associated Press/Boston Globe: Steward Wants Power To Cut Landmark Medical Staff
A Boston-based company that wants to merge with Landmark Medical Center in Woonsocket, R.I., is trying to change the terms of the original agreement to add authority to lay off staff and cut services. Lawyers for the for-profit hospital chain Steward Health Care System are due Friday in Superior Court in efforts to add the new terms and extend the original merger agreement. The agreement approved last May is set to expire Friday (3/8).

The Detroit Free Press: Agreement Signed To Take Marquette General Hospital Private
Marquette General Hospital would become Michigan's second largest privately-run acute-care hospital under an agreement it has signed with Duke LifePoint Healthcare. The hospital board this week signed a memorandum of understanding to join the company, which is a joint venture between Duke University and LifePoint Hospitals, a Brentwood, Tenn., firm with 53 U.S. hospitals. … For the next two to four months, the hospital and the company will negotiate an agreement, which would have to be reviewed by the Michigan Attorney General's office (Anstett, 3/8).