"Beth Israel Deaconess settles with US for $5.3m; Hospital’s billing faulted" by Liz Kowalczyk | Globe Staff, July 30, 2013
Faced with government allegations of improper billing, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center paid $5.3 million Monday to settle claims that it overcharged Medicare by admitting patients who should have been treated less expensively as outpatients....
By classifying the patients as admitted, the hospital received higher payments.
Beth Israel Deaconess did not admit liability or wrongdoing in the settlement, which both sides described as a way to avoid costly legal action.
But US Attorney Carmen Ortiz and Susan Waddell, special agent in charge of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General, implied that the hospital may have overbilled Medicare to boost profits....
What, they ripped off the American taxpayers to boost profits? Sick!
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No, that's not why they did it.
And then everything will go back to normal, Beth Israel is one of the best hospitals in the country and Boston id the health care hub of the universe.
"3 big providers exploring health alliance" by Robert Weisman | Globe Staff, April 03, 2013
Health care merger fever spiked Wednesday when the leaders of two major teaching hospitals and the state’s largest physicians organization told employees they are in preliminary talks to form an alliance that could create one of the largest medical systems in Massachusetts.
The discussions involve Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Lahey Health of Burlington, and Atrius Health, a Newton-based consortium of Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates and five other doctors groups. Also taking part are the in-house physicians groups at Lahey Clinic and Beth Israel Deaconess....
The potential impact on patients is not clear. They could gain access to a broader range of medical expertise from the three providers, but Beth Israel Deaconess, Lahey, and Atrius are expensive health care providers in Massachusetts. Combining them might have the potential to drive up costs, just as state officials focus on health care affordability.
Representatives of Beth Israel Deaconess, Lahey, and Atrius declined to comment.
If they agree on an alliance — especially one that includes an outright merger of Beth Israel Deaconess and Lahey — it would dramatically alter the competitive landscape....
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I'm tired of no change if certain intere$t$ are involved, readers. It's useless to write about AmeriKa anymore because this country and its governments -- at all levels -- are now owned by corporations.
