Steward Health Care System has canceled its contract with Cambridge-based health insurer Senior Whole Health, effective Jan. 1, meaning it will no longer assign its staff doctors to treat about 900 elderly, low-income patients who are plan members.
Under a state law passed in 2000, low-income seniors who qualify for both Medicaid and Medicare — the government health insurance for poor and older people — can be insured through senior care option plans, which allow them to carry one insurance card rather than two.
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So here we go, first Steward bags this 3 or 4 year long deal to pick up Landmark in RI, and now they tell 900 patients that if they want to keep their doctor, they will have to join Steward's new insurance product. Martha are you looking at this at all!!!
Next expect to see them shed another couple of hundred jobs, as their lazy CEO says that he's making more money off the insurance side of the business then he could ever make in the hospital business.
Weisman when are you going to disect this deal? Who invests $800MM into a operation, gives half of that away to a bankrupt pension plan (RCAB) and then thinks they can make the return on the entire investment off the remaining half? It's totally unheard of in any industry except for postitution.
I doubt Martha is looking at this. While she screams about everything Partners does she rubber stamps all of Cerberus' acquistions.
I think they are a for profit health care orginization. It was likely not a profitable business for them. One of the problems with business in medicine.
“They’re old, they’re frail, and most of them don’t speak English . . . These are patients who have significant numbers of chronic diseases. Our members have an average of five serious conditions. They take an average of eight prescription medicines. Their average age is 78.” What did you expect from Cerberus Capital Management - the three headed dog at the gates of the underworld!
I will start by asking if anyone who is the position to do something about this disgrace has the beginning of an idea what this sort of thing does to the patients and their families? My brothers and I were the recipeints of phone calls from health insurance peons who introduced themselves as "social workers at the hospital" It might have been an order to come pick up your father and take him home (he was VERY sick) or find a nursing facility for him TODAY...to the medication your mother is on is no longer covered by insurance...the price is $800 a month. There was a period when I was nearly hospitalized from the stress of dealing with these people. It was so bad that just reading this makes me ill. When it's time for me to go on Medicare I can only hope Mr Ryan hasn't got his hands on it. I will leave written orders for my daughters to save themselves the agony and put a pillow over my face.