Metro Council passes convention center plan; general fund on the hook
A metaphor for the council's approval of the most expensive capital project in Nashville's history, backed up with a pledge in a pinch of general funds that currently pay for Metro services you use everyday:
posted by S-townMike @ 10:30 PM 0 comments links to this post
fuckheads!
(Nasdaq: HS)
How they did: HealthSpring Inc.’s earnings rose 33 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the same period a year ago, exceeding analysts’ expectations. The company saw a boost in its revenue from Medicare premiums, which increased 25.5 percent from last year to $663 million.
Why it matters: Membership in HealthSpring’s Medicare Advantage program grew 16.8 percent, to more than 189,000 members. Membership in the Tennessee program grew 16.7 percent, to 58,252 members.
What they said: “We are pleased with our operating results in 2009. Outperformance in most of our health plans and in our stand-alone prescription drug plan, coupled with continuing SG&A operating leverage, allowed us to close the year on a high note,” HealthSpring CEO Herb Fritch said. “Moving to 2010, our Medicare Advantage membership has increased despite the fact that we reduced benefits across many of our markets in response to Medicare rate cuts.”
What’s next: HealthSpring expects its earnings per diluted share for 2010 to be in the range of $2.25 to $2.50, on total revenue between $2.85 billion and $2.95 billion.
4th quarter 2009 earnings: $38.8 million, or 68 cents per diluted share
4th quarter 2008 earnings: $28.3 million, or 51 cents per diluted share
Change: 33.3 percent increase
4th quarter 2009 revenue: $667.6 million
4th quarter 2008 revenue: $540.8 million
Change: 23.4 percent increase
Market reaction: +74 cents, at $17.88 as of 9:08 a.m. Thursday. The 52-week range for the stock is $17.47 to $18.48.
About the company: HealthSpring owns and operates Medicare Advantage plans in Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas.
A Florida-based collections agency is suing Community Health Systems Inc. for breach of contract, claiming the hospital giant used the alleged arrest of a third-party employee as an excuse to fire the company.
Managed Care Solutions Inc. of Hollywood, Fla., says that in 2003 it signed a three-year, exclusive agreement with Brentwood-based CHS to manage and collect payments for all of CHS’ hospitals — 111 at that time.
Managed Care Solutions collects money from patients whose accounts have an outstanding balance, usually when an insurance company refuses to reimburse a hospital for part or all of a bill. The company takes a cut of the amount it collects, 22 percent in CHS’ case.
But in a lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Florida, Managed Care Solutions claims CHS never provided the company with the necessary paperwork for 109 of the 111 hospitals. In the meantime, Managed Care Solutions says it spent more than $1.2 million implementing collections software in order to serve CHS’s account.
Managed Care Solutions says in the suit that CHS was “attempting to find whatever way possible” to terminate its agreement with the company. As proof, Managed Care Solutions points to a 2004 email sent by the chief financial officer at CHS’ Pennsylvania hospital to corporate headquarters stating that “we should find a way to terminate this contract and cease business relationships with MCS.”
CHS did just that in February 2005 after learning that a Managed Care Solutions employee named Nichole Scott had been arrested for identity theft. In a letter to Managed Care Solutions included in court filings, CHS Senior Group Counsel Jennifer Peters said police said Nichole Scott used patients’ confidential information at a New Jersey hospital to obtain credit cards and make purchases.
“The actions of Nichole Scott constitute MCS’ material breach of the above-referenced agreement, which cannot be cured. The hospital and its patients have been irreparably harmed,” Peters wrote.
Managed Care Solutions counters that Scott was never employed its company and actually worked for a third-party staffing firm called Kforce Inc., which Managed Care Solutions contracted to perform claim services on CHS’ behalf.
Furthermore, Managed Care Solutions says it has no proof that Scott was ever arrested, much less that she stole patients’ information. The company also says that there was no reason that Scott should have had access to that type of information, unless CHS provided it.
Managed Care Solutions says it’s unsure whether such access was “out of the scope of her role or rather if this was the result of a constructive effort by CHS or of CHS personnel gross negligence under HIPPA guidelines and regulations.”
Tomi Galin, vice president of corporate communications for CHS, said the company had not received a copy of the lawsuit and could not comment. A call to Managed Care Solutions’ attorney has not yet been returned.
Managed Care Solutions is asking the court to order CHS to hand over information related to each and every account that should have been directed to the company under its three-year contract, as well as award attorneys’ fees and any other relief the court deems appropriate.
CHS ranks No. 1 on Nashville Business Journal’s list of largest public companies in Middle Tennessee with revenue of $10.8 billion in 2008.
WiMax appears to be a hit around the world--except for the U.S., according to deployment data released by the WiMax Forum Monday.
WiMax, also known as 4G, now is offered on networks covering 620 million people in 147 countries, said the WiMax forum. By the end of 2010, 800 million people will be covered with 1 billion by the end of 2011. The 2011 time frame is notable because that's when Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks, a WiMax rival technology, will begin to ramp.
The data, however, indicates that WiMax is a global effort, but lags in North America. For instance, Clearwire is the main champion of WiMax in the U.S. and largely responsible for the deployments. Clearwire has some big backers like Intel, Google and others and partners like Comcast and Sprint, but can't carry the load by itself.
Read more of "WiMax deployments ramp globally, but U.S. lags "at ZDNet's Between the Lines.
