Health Beat: Hospital Wars Break Out Over The Weekend

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HOSPITAL WARS BREAK OUT OVER THE WEEKEND
Anthem Inc.’s public airing of its bid to takeover Cigna last weekend is elevating the discussion among the nation’s largest hospitals groups on how to remain competitive as the Affordable Care Act has changes the rules across the industry.

Recent media reports from CNN, Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, the Louisville Journal and other news organizations across the U.S. show that the nation’s Big Five hospital organizations – UnitedHealth, Anthem Inc., Aetna, Humana and Cigna — could soon end up being the Big Two or Big Three.

On Monday, Anthem reiterated its non-binding proposal over the weekend to acquire Cigna for $184 per share in cash and stock. Cigna shot back that its board of directors had “unanimously determined the proposal is inadequate and not in the best interests of Cigna’s shareholders.”

In addition, the WSJ reported over the weekend that Aetna has made a proposal for Humana, which is also being pursued by Cigna, according to other reports. Meanwhile, UnitedHealth recently began merger talks with Aetna.

In a research note regarding the industry consolidation, Fitch rating service commented on the current landscape that these acquisitions would have on the healthcare marketplace.

“Fitch believes the increasing role of the federal government in health insurance is making size/scale and market positioning even more critical to the future success of health insurance organizations. Fitch also believes that there is a high likelihood that the competitive landscape across the industry will be changing in the near-term related to a number of transactions among the top five players that are reportedly in advanced stages of discussion.”

HEALTHSOUTH, CHI ST. VINCENT HOT SPRINGS ANNOUNCE JOINT VENTURE
HealthSouth Corp. and CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs have signed an agreement to jointly own and operate a 40-bed inpatient physical rehabilitation hospital in Hot Springs.

Initially, the joint venture will own and operate the 20-bed inpatient rehabilitation unit currently located on the campus of CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs at 300 Werner Street in Hot Springs. The unit will be immediately expanded to 27 beds and will continue to serve patients with needs for intense physical rehabilitation. The unit will be named CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs Rehabilitation Hospital, an affiliate of HealthSouth.

The joint venture partners expect to relocate the inpatient rehabilitation unit to a new 40-bed hospital located at 1636 Higdon Ferry Road in Hot Springs in the second quarter of 2016. The new state-of-the-art hospital will provide comprehensive, inpatient physical rehabilitation to patients who have experienced stroke, trauma, brain injury, complex orthopedic conditions as well as other major illnesses or injuries.

BAPTIST HEALTH PARTNERS WITH URGENT TEAM
Baptist Health has partnered with Urgent Team, one of the largest independent operators of urgent and family care centers in the southeast, to open new urgent care centers beginning in North Little Rock.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for Baptist Health to expand services to residents of Central Arkansas,” said Troy Wells, president and CEO of Baptist Health. “It is anticipated that these new urgent care centers will open this fall. Our goal is to provide expanded access to healthcare services for urgent, not emergent patient needs.”

Officials said Baptist Health Urgent Care will offer convenience, and unscheduled access to care for patients, and support Baptist Health physicians who seek to provide an after-hours option to their patients.

HHS SELECTS NINE REGIONAL EBOLA TREATMENT CENTERS
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has selected nine health departments and associated partner hospitals to become special regional treatment centers for patients with Ebola or other severe, highly infectious diseases.

HHS’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response has awarded approximately $20 million through its Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) to enhance the regional treatment centers’ capabilities to care for patients with Ebola or other highly infectious diseases. The agency will provide an additional $9 million to these recipients in the subsequent four years to sustain their readiness.

Each awardee will receive approximately $3.25 million over a full five-year project period. This funding is part of $339.5 million in emergency funding Congress appropriated to enhance state and local public health and health care system preparedness following cases of Ebola in the United States stemming from the 2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa.

The regional facilities are part of a national network of 55 Ebola treatment centers, but will have enhanced capabilities to treat a patient with confirmed Ebola or other highly infectious disease. In February, the state of Arkansas was allocated $2.6 million for Ebola health care system preparedness and response. To see the full list of awardees, click here.