Health News
Reflecting several hospital mergers that have already taken place in Kentucky, a new report from Moody's Investors Service predicts hospitals will continue to band together across the country as they respond to changes in health care.
- Kentuckyone Health Lays Off 500 Of 15,000 Employees, Says It Won't Fill 200 Vacancies; Cites Obamacare And Merger
KentuckyOne Health, which dominates the Louisville hospital market and has scores of locations across the state, says it has laid off 500 of its 15,000 employees and identified 200 vacancies that it won't fill, as it adjusts to federal health reform...
- Fiscal-cliff Deal Revives Program That Helps Rural Hospitals Dependent On Medicare; 200 In Nation, 10 In Kentucky
Even though most of the hospital industry wasn't happy with the fiscal-cliff deal that will only pay half the $30 billion needed to avoid a 27 percent Medicare fee cut for doctors, the deal gave about 200 rural hospitals, including 10 in Kentucky,...
- Lame-duck Congress Could Cut Funding For Critical Access Hospitals; More Than Two Dozen In Kentucky
Critical access hospitals, which in most states are rural facilities with fewer than 25 beds, may be under attack in the lame-duck session of Congress, former national rural-health director Wayne Myers writes for the Daily Yonder. President Obama's...
- Hopkinsville Hospital's Credit Rating Downgraded; Part Of National Trend, But Only Kentucky Hospital Nicked By Rating Agency Lately
Following a national trend stemming from a slowly recovering economy, the hospital in Hopkinsville has had its credit rating downgraded, a possibility many Kentucky hospitals may be facing. "This means the hospital may have to pay a higher interest rate...
- Louisville Hospital Merger Would Be Just One Of Dozens Across The Country, Driven By Economic And Regulatory Concerns
Hospitals are banding together to create organizations better able to withstand the changing tides of the economy and health-care policy. The proposed merger of Louisville's Jewish Hospital & St. Mary's HealthCare, Lexington-based Saint Joseph...
Health News
Expect more hospital mergers across the country, some with unlikely partners, Moody's Investors Service report predicts
Reflecting several hospital mergers that have already taken place in Kentucky, a new report from Moody's Investors Service predicts hospitals will continue to band together across the country as they respond to changes in health care."The difficult business environment and the changes expected in how hospitals will be paid for delivering care are driving many smaller, stand-alone hospital groups into the arms of larger and better-financed organizations," reports Reed Abelson for The New York Times.
Hospitals have long looked for partners to become larger in order to have more negotiating power to ask for higher payments from insurers. But now they are looking at ways to become more efficient too as they expect lower reimbursements from Medicare because of federal health-care reform. That means more consolidation, Moody's says.
While there are traditional mergers in play, there are also more atypical alliances forming. One of the nation's largest nonprofit hospital groups, North Shore-LIJ Health System, will join with Hackensack University Health Network in New Jersey, for example. There are instances of for-profit hospital groups joining with private equity firms. Health insurance companies could even become buyers, and hospitals and doctors could join forces "so they can be more of a one-stop shop," Abelson reports.
As a result, patients will ultimately have fewer hospitals from which to choose, but some small, stand-alone hospitals, especially in rural areas, will still exist. "We're not going to predict the small independent hospitals will all shutter and close," said Lisa Goldstein, one of the authors of the report. (Read more)
- Kentuckyone Health Lays Off 500 Of 15,000 Employees, Says It Won't Fill 200 Vacancies; Cites Obamacare And Merger
KentuckyOne Health, which dominates the Louisville hospital market and has scores of locations across the state, says it has laid off 500 of its 15,000 employees and identified 200 vacancies that it won't fill, as it adjusts to federal health reform...
- Fiscal-cliff Deal Revives Program That Helps Rural Hospitals Dependent On Medicare; 200 In Nation, 10 In Kentucky
Even though most of the hospital industry wasn't happy with the fiscal-cliff deal that will only pay half the $30 billion needed to avoid a 27 percent Medicare fee cut for doctors, the deal gave about 200 rural hospitals, including 10 in Kentucky,...
- Lame-duck Congress Could Cut Funding For Critical Access Hospitals; More Than Two Dozen In Kentucky
Critical access hospitals, which in most states are rural facilities with fewer than 25 beds, may be under attack in the lame-duck session of Congress, former national rural-health director Wayne Myers writes for the Daily Yonder. President Obama's...
- Hopkinsville Hospital's Credit Rating Downgraded; Part Of National Trend, But Only Kentucky Hospital Nicked By Rating Agency Lately
Following a national trend stemming from a slowly recovering economy, the hospital in Hopkinsville has had its credit rating downgraded, a possibility many Kentucky hospitals may be facing. "This means the hospital may have to pay a higher interest rate...
- Louisville Hospital Merger Would Be Just One Of Dozens Across The Country, Driven By Economic And Regulatory Concerns
Hospitals are banding together to create organizations better able to withstand the changing tides of the economy and health-care policy. The proposed merger of Louisville's Jewish Hospital & St. Mary's HealthCare, Lexington-based Saint Joseph...