Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1372822
23 CFO / FINANCE California clinic's $81M payments from uninsured fund catches HHS' eye By Morgan Haefner A n outpatient clinic in California received nearly as much federal aid for treating uninsured COVID-19 patients as a health system in Tex- as, a sum that federal officials flagged for the HHS Office of Inspector General, The Wall Street Journal reported March 29. A person familiar with the matter told the Journal HHS has referred $81 million in payments received by Elite Care Medical Group to the inspector general, though a spokesperson from the office told the newspaper it couldn't confirm or deny an investigation. Elite Care's $81 million in payments, cited in CDC data, are part of a federal relief program aimed at helping providers who care for uninsured patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Elite Care's payments are second only to Houston-based Harris Health System, which has received $86 million for treating about 3,000 uninsured COVID-19 patients, Harris CEO Esmaeil Por- sa told the Journal. Elite Care offers patients primary care and specialty services, but isn't licensed to provide the intensive care services many acute COVID-19 patients require, according to the Journal, which cites California records. Surgeon Anthony Dinh, DO, operates Elite Care and other outpatient centers that combined have received $146 million in federal funding for uninsured COVID-19 patients, according to the report. When asked about the payments, Dr. Dinh told the Journal he needed more time to prepare a response. Dr. Dinh's attorney told the Journal that Elite Care and its entities have found bill- ing errors, which are being audited. n Johns Hopkins Medicine gets $16M gift By Alia Paavola T he Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine received a $16 million gift to support precision medicine and vision research, the Baltimore-based organization said April 7. The gift was from Philip Van Horn Gerdine, a longtime business consultant. Mr. Gerdine made the gift in the name of his late wife, Marjorie, who was a clinical psychologist. The gift will be divided three ways: $10 million will be used to establish the Philip and Marjorie Gerdine Precision Medicine Scholars Fund; $3 million will be used to establish a professorship to support the Wilmer Eye Institute's cor- nea division; and $3 million will endow the professorship for age-related mac- ular degeneration research. "This wonderful gift from Philip Gerdine and his late wife, Marjorie, will allow our researchers to go even further in their work developing cutting-edge treat- ments for a range of diseases, from cancer to age-related macular degener- ation," said Paul Rothman, MD, CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine. "I know that their impressive generosity will make a significant difference in our efforts to help our patients." n Nearly one- fifth of Americans forgoing care due to costs By Katie Adams H ealthcare costs are the reason millions of Americans go without new clothing, over-the-counter drugs, leisure activities and sometimes the care altogether, according to a study released March 31 by Gallup and West Health, a nonprofit focused on lowering healthcare costs for older people. e study, conducted Feb. 15-21, sur- veyed 3,753 Americans ages 18 and older. Below are five notable findings: 1. irty-five percent of respondents from households with an annual income below $24,000 reported forgoing care in the past year, compared with 7 per- cent among households earning below $180,000 per year. 2. Eighteen percent of respondents re- ported they would not be able to pay for healthcare if they needed it. 3. e study found healthcare unafford- ability among 29 percent of Black respon- dents, 21 percent of Latinx respondents and 16 percent of white respondents. For adults ages 65 and older, 16 percent of nonwhite respondents reported not being able to afford their healthcare, and 8 percent of white respondents reported the same. 4. Eighteen percent of respondents re- ported someone in their household skip- ping care due to unaffordability in the past year. 5. irty-five percent of respondents said they have to spend less on recreational or leisure activities due to healthcare unaf- fordability, 26 percent reported having to spend less on clothing, 12 percent report- ed having to spend less on groceries and 11 percent reported having to spend less on over-the-counter drugs. n