Pray you do not get ill.
Related:
The Massachusetts Model: Devil Defends Catholic Health Care
Catholic Caritas Makes Deal With the Devil
The dog that guards the gates of hell is going to be at the hospital entrance?
Won't he be busy enough passing priests through the blazing fences?
"Coalition seeks stricter limits on Caritas sale; Last hearing on switch to for-profit status is tonight" by Robert Weisman, Globe Staff | July 1, 2010
A loose coalition of consumer groups, community health centers, and competing hospitals plans to ask state regulators later this month to impose tough conditions on the purchase of nonprofit Caritas Christi Health Care by a New York private equity firm.
Members of the coalition already have been holding informal talks with regulators. One condition they will propose is a requirement that the buyer, Cerberus Capital Management, pledge not to sell the Boston-based chain of six Catholic hospitals for five to six years rather than the three-year period stipulated in the sales agreement. They also want Cerberus to create a charitable foundation to fund health programs in communities where Caritas has hospitals.
Caritas and Cerberus executives oppose both conditions.
But support for the changes in the purchase plan has been building slowly in recent weeks, as state officials have hosted five public hearings around Eastern Massachusetts on the proposed buyout. The deal would convert the six Caritas hospitals, including flagship St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton and Carney Hospital in Dorchester, into for-profit businesses.
While most speakers at the hearings have backed the deal — citing Caritas promises to pay taxes, honor labor contracts, and make capital improvements to the hospitals — dozens of people raised concerns during a marathon five-hour hearing Tuesday night in Methuen. Many skeptics were affiliated with Lawrence General Hospital, which competes with Caritas Holy Family Hospital in the Merrimack Valley.
“There’s concern about a private equity firm coming in here,’’ said Ellen Murphy Meehan, a spokeswoman for Lawrence General, one of several hospitals in low-income communities worried about Cerberus....
Community groups say they will air misgivings about the buyout at the state’s final public hearing, scheduled to begin at 6 this evening at the offices of Local 103 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Dorchester....
Caritas spokesman Chris Murphy said state regulators typically require for-profit companies to set up foundations when they pay a premium for hospitals. Cerberus, he said, is paying “fair value’’ for a chain saddled with debt. As an alternative to forming a foundation, Murphy said, Cerberus has committed to maintaining about $67 million a year in charitable contributions to fund such services as neighborhood health screenings and pastoral care....
Cerberus has agreed to assume $430 million to $450 million in Caritas debt, and allot $400 million for capital improvements, some of them already begun by Caritas. But it is not clear from the purchase agreement how much of its own money the buyer will invest. Typically, much of the money used to finance private equity deals is borrowed against the assets acquired....
Isn't that the way they raped and pillaged Mervyn while getting big fat payouts?
"Caritas sale critics grow more vocal; Opponents raise fears at final public hearing" by Megan Woolhouse and Robert Weisman, Globe Staff | July 2, 2010
Outside last night’s public hearing on the proposed sale of Caritas Christi Health Care to a New York private equity firm, the message was clear. A 32-foot-long banner read: “Approve the Deal Save Carney,’’ referring to Carney Hospital, one of six Caritas hospitals. But inside the offices of Local 103 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Dorchester, not everyone was sure that selling the Catholic chain — including Dorchester’s Carney — to Cerberus Capital Management is a good idea....
Last night’s meeting, attended by about 150 people, marked the last of six sessions to solicit opinions on the planned sale of Caritas to the for-profit Cerberus. While sentiment for the deal was largely favorable at the first four meetings, last night — and during Tuesday’s five-hour session in Methuen — more skeptics made their views known. In addition to the potential sale of the chain three years from now, some question Cerberus’s commitment....
Supporters say the cash infusion Cerberus will provide is needed to revitalize Caritas, which has been saddled with debt, delaying much-needed improvements at its hospitals....
Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who backs the deal, said that by running the hospitals for-profit, the city could realize $10 million in addition tax revenue....
Yesterday, Caritas officials released a letter from members of the state’s congressional delegation endorsing the buyout.
Signed by US representatives Barney Frank, James P. McGovern, Michael E. Capuano, Niki Tsongas, and Stephen L. Lynch, the letter said transferring ownership to Cerberus “will improve the delivery of high-quality, low-cost health care services across the Commonwealth, protect and create jobs, and generate much needed tax revenue for the local communities served by Caritas’ six hospitals.’’
At your service, sire!
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Under the deal, unveiled March 25, the buyer agreed to assume $430 million to $450 million in Caritas debt while committing to spend $400 million for capital improvements and other uses.
Caritas leaders, who have already begun renovation projects at their hospitals, have said they plan to use Cerberus money to expand their hospital network in Massachusetts and beyond. It will operate under a new holding company called Steward Health Care.
Satan's Steward?
Critics of the deal fear that the chain could use Cerberus cash to buy physicians practices and recruit doctors from other hospitals. That, in turn, could help Caritas hospitals attract more privately insured patients, leaving rival hospitals with government-insured patients for whom they are reimbursed at lower rates. Such a scenario could threaten the financial viability of those competing hospitals.
But that is their business.
"Caritas sale linked to insurer pact; Cerberus wants cost-containment measure to be part of purchase" by Robert Weisman, Globe Staff | July 13, 2010
The proposed buyer of Caritas Christi Health Care is so convinced of the potential financial benefits of an insurance contract the Catholic hospital system negotiated with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts last year that it has made the agreement a condition of closing the deal.
But some critics question whether incentives in the insurance contract might tempt the new owner of the Boston-based hospital chain to scale back or drop unprofitable services as a way to generate a higher return on its investment. A Caritas spokesman says that won’t happen.
Why not?
Under an “alternative quality contract’’ introduced last year by Blue Cross Blue Shield to stem rising medical expenses, Caritas hospitals and doctors can reap savings and bonuses if they adhere to a budget that promotes more efficient treatment at lower costs. “This is a template for the future environment hospitals will have to work with,’’ said Steven J. Tringale, managing director at Hinkley Allen & Tringale, a health care consulting firm in Boston.
There is your health reform for you.
Doesn't it make you feel sick?
Cerberus Capital Management, the New York private equity firm that wants to buy Caritas, specified in its purchase deal that it wants a successor agreement to the Caritas arrangement with Blue Cross Blue Shield put in place before its acquisition of Caritas takes effect. The sale, which must be approved by Massachusetts state officials, would turn the nonprofit Caritas into a for-profit business.
Failing a successor agreement, Cerberus wants written assurance from Blue Cross Blue Shield that the payment pact it made with Caritas last August will stay in effect for five years....
The contract with the state’s largest health insurer may offer insight into how Cerberus and Caritas officials plan to generate profits, and satisfy private investors by paring unnecessary expenses....
Yeah, but the PATIENTS are going to come first, yup.
This DEAL is getting WORSE all the TIME!
The contracts, unlike more common and frequently criticized fee-for-service pacts, transfer risk to providers by giving them a “global payment’’ to cover the care of all patients for a year.
And if something dreadful unfortunately appears?
Related: A Healthy Insult For the American People
The Massachusetts Model: Municipal Health Mess
Oh, TAXPAYERS pick up the PUBLIC SERVANTS health tab, huh?
I'd rather they take care of their own first.
No, instead they get rationing.
If they can improve outcomes and meet quality measures, they can collect bonuses and keep unspent funds....
(Blog editor just throws his arms up in the air, then places them together in prayer)
Some warn that a global payment system could be abused by for-profit providers who must answer to private investors....
Ya think?
They already rip-off Medicare and Medicaid.
Some early alternative quality contracts Blue Cross negotiated with small doctors groups have resulted in better practices and better care to patients, said Alan Sager, professor of health policy and management at Boston University School of Public Health.
“The gain sharing rested on a belief that the doctors and hospitals would do what was in the best interests of the patient,’’ Sager said. “With Cerberus coming in and anxious to earn a return, it may be that the financial incentives could be used to withhold care.’’
May be?
I'd say it is as certain as Heaven and Hell.
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Excuse me, I hear a dog barking somewhere.
Also see: Catholic Caritas Didn't Read Devil's Fine PrintAnd look who else is in the health business:
"Carlyle Group to buy vitamin maker NBTY" by Mae Anderson, Associated Press | July 16, 2010
NEW YORK — Carlyle Group has agreed to buy vitamin maker NBTY Inc. for $3.8 billion in cash in one of the largest private equity deals so far this year.
Oh, the war-profiteering Carlyle with the Bush's as members?
NBTY makes nutritional supplements and vitamins under the brands Nature’s Bounty, Vitamin World, and others. Its board has approved the deal.
And you thought you were being health-minded and conscientious.
Carlyle's two largest partners are CalPERS, the California retirement system, and an investment company from Abu Dhabi, Mubadala Development....
Carlyle invests in a wide range of industries, with about 8 percent of its holdings in consumer and retail companies. Its holdings include a United Kingdom pharmacy Alliance Boots PLC, doughnut maker Dunkin’ Brands Inc., and casino company Harrah’s Entertainment Inc....
A casino, huh?
And when you are dunking that doughnut Carlyle is soaking up the profits?
Carlyle Group, of Washington D.C., has more than $90.5 billion under management.
Some people have no problem finding money, notice that?
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