Healthcare Roundup: Abbott-AMO Deal, WellPoint Gets Whacked, and More

Abbott to buy Advanced Medical Optics in $2.8B deal – Abbott Labs aims to bolster its medical-device business with the acquisition of AMO, a southern California maker of devices for vision-correction and cataract surgery. The Chicago company will pay $1.36 billion in cash and will assume roughly another $1.4 billion in debt at AMO, a spinout from former parent Allergan. [Source: Chicago Tribune]

WellPoint’s Medicare enrollment suspended — The huge health-insurance provider said the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services suspended its ability to enroll patients in its Medicare Advantage and drug-benefit programs, but didn’t say why. The AP, however, reports that Medicare had seen a recent sharp increase in complaints about WellPoint and its alleged denial of drug claims. [Source: WSJ Health Blog, AP]

Plus, WellPoint estimates $349M in Q4 investment losses — The company said it expects $212 million in stock losses and another $137 million on fixed-maturity securities. Still, WellPoint’s fourth-quarter losses should be lower than in the third quarter, when it wrote down $526.6 million in investment losses, largely due to the failures of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Lehman Brothers.[Source: AP/Forbes]

Medtronic buys Ablation Frontiers for $225M — The medical-device giant ponied up that sum for a Carlsbad, Calif., startup that makes devices to treat abnormal heart rhythms such as atrial fibrillation. The devices use radio energy to burn away parts of the heart muscle thought to be responsible for the unusual rhythms. [Source: Los Angeles Business Journal]

National Research Council blasts health-IT efforts — Too many computer systems in the healthcare industry are used mainly to comply with regulations or to defend against lawsuits, and not to improve patient care, the National Research Council found in a recent report. The report also criticized the systems for poor sharing, analysis and management of data. [Source: Modern Healthcare]

Meanwhile, Senate bill would funnel $4B into health-IT grants — The bipartisan legislation would direct the money to hospitals and medical practices that treat poor patients or those covered by Medicare, Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Separately, HHS Secretary-designate Tom Daschle termed the U.S. health-information system “an embarrassment.” [Source: Modern Healthcare, Modern Healthcare via iHealthBeat]

University of Chicago medical center cuts $100M — The University of Chicago Medical Center plans $100 million in budget cuts and could lay off as many as 1,000 employees, or 10 percent of its workforce. As at other hospitals, the UC facility is struggling to reduce costs as patient volume declines and unpaid medical bills pile up. [Source: Modern Healthcare]

Atlanta’s Grady Memorial may restrict charity care — Thanks to open-records requests, the Atlanta Journal Constitution found that Grady Memorial Hospital, a local “safety net” facility, was considering a plan to require indigent patients to pay more of their bills. The hospital’s plan would force patients earning 126-200 percent of the federal poverty level, who currently receive free care, to pay up to 40 percent of their medical costs. Patient groups and other metro hospitals in the region are, predictably, outraged. [Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution]

Health Wonk Review up at the Health Care Blog — A solid roundup of the blogosphere’s prior two weeks of healthcare news and wonky analysis went up late last week, courtesy of the able (and prolific) Brian Klepper. [Source: The Health Care Blog]

Short rounds:

• California Supreme Court nixes balance billing [LAT]
• Medicare considers banning “reference-based” pricing for brand-name drugs [WSJ]
• AHRQ launches site to guide doctors, patients on cutting-edge treatments [Health Data Management]
• Christ Hospital reaches deal on divorce from Health Alliance [Cincinnati Business Courier]
• Patient out-of-pocket costs up 19% from 1996-2005 [Modern Healthcare]
• Doctors turn to barter to collect medical bills [American Medical News]