Healthcare Roundup: DOJ Investigates Medtronic, AARP Probes UnitedHealthcare Plans, Hospitals and Red Ink, and More

Justice Department probes Medtronic spinal implant — The DOJ is looking into allegations that Medtronic improperly marketed a spinal implant designed to speed blone growth. Parallel whistleblower lawsuits contend the company paid doctors to use the device, called Infuse.[ Source: WSJ Health Blog]

AARP orders investigation of UnitedHealthcare plans — AARP, the senior lobby, said it hired an independent investigator to look into its sales of limited-benefit health plans marketed by UnitedHealth Group. Congressional investigators say the plans were improperly marketed as providing comprehensive coverage. [Source: NYT]

AHA: Hospitals swung into the red in Q3 — The American Hospital Association said hospitals posted negative profit margins — i.e., losses — of 1.6 percent in the third quarter. That’s in sharp contrast to the positive 6.1 percent margin hospitals enjoyed at the same time last year. [Source: Modern Healthcare]

Moody’s downgrades healthcare industry — Moody’s Investor Service lowered the 12-18 month outlook for the healthcare industry to negative from stable. The rating agency sees delays in serious and expensive procedures and rising numbers of uninsured individuals posing a serious financial risk to the industry. [Source: Chicago Tribune]

Blues plans reduce costs, improve patient outcomes — A quality-improvement program run by the BlueCross BlueShield Association reduced hospital readmission rates for bypass-surgery and angioplasty patients while lowering costs, the association said. The data came from a study of claims for 41,000 patients covered by 24 Blues plans. [Source: Modern Healthcare]

Congress investigates FDA for shoddy med-device oversight — Two Democratic congressmen — John Dingell of Michigan and Bart Stupak of Tennessee — said they will investigate the FDA office that oversees medical devices over concerns that may have approved devices without a thorough review. The congressmen said they have evidence that FDA experts were “ordered, intimidated and coerced” to issue positive reports in violation of the law. [Source: Modern Healthcare]

Pennsylvania lawmakers oppose Blues merger — Republicans in the Pennsylvia Senate criticized the proposed merger of Independence Blue Cross and Highmark. Should the state insurance commissioner approve the combination, lawmakers want him to impose strict conditions on the merged company to limit its market power. [Source: Philadelphia Inquirer via Fierce Healthcare]

Senate bill would link hospital Medicare payments to quality of care — Senators Max Baucus and Chuck Grassley released a draft bill that would pay hospitals based on how well their Medicare patients fared. Currently, Medicare typically pays a flat fee per medical procedure performed, regardless of outcome. [Source: kaisernetwork.org via Fierce Healthcare]

PwC survey: Majorities favor healthcare reform — Large majorities of those recently surveyed by PricewaterhouseCoopers said they expect healthcare reform during President-elect Barack Obama’s first term. A full 59 percent believe the government would do a better job managing and paying for healthcare than private health-insurance companies.[Source: Health Business Blog]

Daschle’s healthcare-reform blueprint differs from Obama’s — Former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle, reportedly Obama’s pick to head the Department of Health and Human Services, favors a more ambitious healthcare reform than does the president-elect. Most notably, Daschle would create a Federal Health Board modeled on the Federal Reserve in order to insulate healthcare policy from politics. [Source: WSJ Health Blog]

Slow reimbursements lead doctors to avoid Medicaid patients — Lengthy delays in notoriously slow Medicaid reimbursements directly affect doctors’ willingness to take on new Medicaid patients. [Source: Health Affairs]

Detroit hospital launches $60M turnaround plan — Detroit’s Beaumont Hospitals, which employes 18,000 workers, said it will save $60 million as part of a turnaround plan involving layoffs, pay cuts for executives and doctors, and a hold on most construction projects. [Source: Detroit Free Press]

Waxman unseats Dingell on House committee responsible for healthcare – Dark-horse congressman Henry Waxman of California defeated John Dingell of Michigan to assume the chairmanship of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee. Waxman is a vocal critic of drug, health-insurance and medical-device companies, and is expected to play an important role in moving an anticipated healthcare reform bill through Congress. [Source: WSJ Health Blog, WSJ Health Blog]

Average health-plan deductible hits $1,000 — The median deductible for PPO insurance plans soared to $1,000 this year, up from $500 for the past several years, a Mercer consulting report stated. Raising deductibles is an easy way for employers to save money without seeming to trim healthcare benefits. [Source: WSJ Health Blog]

Provena Health names Guy Wiebking CEO — A six-hospital system in Illinois, Provena Health, named Guy Wiebking as its new CEO. Steven Hunter, who’d served as CEO since April 2007, departed suddenly and without explanation from the company. [Source: Modern Healthcare]

Pennsylvania cost-containment council gets reprieve – Gov. Ed Rendell said the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council will remain open through June 30. The PHC4, which studies healthcare quality and costs, had previously been slated to close down at the end of this month. [Source: Philadelphia Inquirer via kaisernetwork.org]

Small-company healthcare focus: Stingier benefits, higher premiums — Small companies are far less likely than larger ones to offer healthcare benefits, a Kaiser Family Foundation survey found. Worse, small employers appear likely to get whacked with larger premium increases than their big-company counterparts as insurers struggle to recoup lost investment and premium income. [Source: Kaiser Family Foundation, WSJ]