Health News
- University Hospital Files Suit Saying It Is Not Public; Could Affect Merger, Open Records
Attorney General Jack Conway may have ruled it a public entity and thus subject to open-records laws, but University Hospital officials are insisting that's not the case and have filed a lawsuit saying it should not have to turn over documents...
- State Senator Says U Of L Doctors Used Medicaid Funds To Pay Themselves $4.8 Million In Bonuses, Seeks More Oversight
State Sen. Tim Shaughnessy has questioned a $30 million transfer of surplus Medicaid funds to Passport Health Plan board members in 2008 and 2009. Shaughnessy, a Louisville Democrat, says doctors at the University of Louisville medical school paid bonuses...
- Is University Hospital Public? Attorney General Will Decide; Merger Proposal Raises Question Of Church-state Separation
Attorney General Jack Conway has been asked to decide "whether University Hospital is a public institution ? an issue in the controversial plan to merge the University of Louisville?s main teaching hospital with two other health-care systems," Patrick...
- Passport Health Plan Drops Secrecy As Managed Care Expands
Passport Health Plan, the managed-care organization for Medicaid in the Louisville area, announced today that it would no longer fight to keep its records secret, deciding not to appeal a ruling by Attorney General Jack Conway that it had to give records...
- Judge Rules Passport Managed-care Plan For Medicaid In Louisville Region Is Subject To State Open Records Act
As Kentucky prepares to put more of its Medicaid program under a managed-care system to save money, a judge has ruled that the contractor running the program's only managed-care plan is a public agency subject to the state Open Records Act. Ruling...
Health News
U of L physicians' group drops open-records appeal, but C-J may still not get records
An organization representing University of Louisville doctors who were trying to keep their financial records private dropped its lawsuit appealing an adverse open-records decision Tuesday. In April, Attorney General Jack Conway ruled that University of Louisville Physicians Inc. is a public agency and, as such, is subject to the Kentucky Open Records Act. Conway's opinion was requested by The Courier-Journal.
Last November, state auditor Crit Luallen released a scathing audit against Passport, which provides managed care for 165,000 Medicaid patients in Jefferson and 15 surrounding counties. The audit accused the organization of "wasteful spending, conflicts of interest and the questionable transfer of $30 million in Medicaid funds to organizations represented on Passport's board, including University Physician Associates," The Courier-Journal's Tom Loftus reports. Because of the audit, the newspaper asked for financial records from University Physicians Associates and University of Louisville Physicians Inc., which is the successor to University Physicians Associates. They refused to hand over the records, and Conway's decision followed.
Though the attorney general determined the organization should be subject to the open-records law, and the doctors' lawsuit has been dismissed, giving Conway's opinion the force of law, The Courier-Journal may not receive the records it has asked for. In its notice of dismissal, University of Louisville Physicians stated it could change "its structure and function in the future which it believes may alter its status as a public agency."
"We are still forming our final structure and function," Diane Patridge, ULP's vice president for marketing and communications, told Loftus. "Once we're up and fully established we may appeal this current determination." Curiously, "Partridge also said that ULP has no records to release to the newspaper as a result of the dismissal of the case," because it has no employees -- even though it was incorporated in March 2010. "She said University Physicians Associates . . . has handled all financial matters and paperwork for ULP to date," Loftus reports.
?This case is another piece of a puzzle,? Courier-Journal attorney Jon Fleischaker said. ?It?s another step to try to make sure there?s more transparency at the University of Louisville School of Medicine and University Medical Center.? (Read more) "Sounds like a shell game with shell corporations," said Al Cross, director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues and associate extension professor of journalism at the University of Kentucky.
Last November, state auditor Crit Luallen released a scathing audit against Passport, which provides managed care for 165,000 Medicaid patients in Jefferson and 15 surrounding counties. The audit accused the organization of "wasteful spending, conflicts of interest and the questionable transfer of $30 million in Medicaid funds to organizations represented on Passport's board, including University Physician Associates," The Courier-Journal's Tom Loftus reports. Because of the audit, the newspaper asked for financial records from University Physicians Associates and University of Louisville Physicians Inc., which is the successor to University Physicians Associates. They refused to hand over the records, and Conway's decision followed.
Though the attorney general determined the organization should be subject to the open-records law, and the doctors' lawsuit has been dismissed, giving Conway's opinion the force of law, The Courier-Journal may not receive the records it has asked for. In its notice of dismissal, University of Louisville Physicians stated it could change "its structure and function in the future which it believes may alter its status as a public agency."
"We are still forming our final structure and function," Diane Patridge, ULP's vice president for marketing and communications, told Loftus. "Once we're up and fully established we may appeal this current determination." Curiously, "Partridge also said that ULP has no records to release to the newspaper as a result of the dismissal of the case," because it has no employees -- even though it was incorporated in March 2010. "She said University Physicians Associates . . . has handled all financial matters and paperwork for ULP to date," Loftus reports.
?This case is another piece of a puzzle,? Courier-Journal attorney Jon Fleischaker said. ?It?s another step to try to make sure there?s more transparency at the University of Louisville School of Medicine and University Medical Center.? (Read more) "Sounds like a shell game with shell corporations," said Al Cross, director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues and associate extension professor of journalism at the University of Kentucky.
- University Hospital Files Suit Saying It Is Not Public; Could Affect Merger, Open Records
Attorney General Jack Conway may have ruled it a public entity and thus subject to open-records laws, but University Hospital officials are insisting that's not the case and have filed a lawsuit saying it should not have to turn over documents...
- State Senator Says U Of L Doctors Used Medicaid Funds To Pay Themselves $4.8 Million In Bonuses, Seeks More Oversight
State Sen. Tim Shaughnessy has questioned a $30 million transfer of surplus Medicaid funds to Passport Health Plan board members in 2008 and 2009. Shaughnessy, a Louisville Democrat, says doctors at the University of Louisville medical school paid bonuses...
- Is University Hospital Public? Attorney General Will Decide; Merger Proposal Raises Question Of Church-state Separation
Attorney General Jack Conway has been asked to decide "whether University Hospital is a public institution ? an issue in the controversial plan to merge the University of Louisville?s main teaching hospital with two other health-care systems," Patrick...
- Passport Health Plan Drops Secrecy As Managed Care Expands
Passport Health Plan, the managed-care organization for Medicaid in the Louisville area, announced today that it would no longer fight to keep its records secret, deciding not to appeal a ruling by Attorney General Jack Conway that it had to give records...
- Judge Rules Passport Managed-care Plan For Medicaid In Louisville Region Is Subject To State Open Records Act
As Kentucky prepares to put more of its Medicaid program under a managed-care system to save money, a judge has ruled that the contractor running the program's only managed-care plan is a public agency subject to the state Open Records Act. Ruling...