Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1393415
20 CFO / FINANCE The 17 states that don't offer any surprise billing protections By Katie Adams T he No Surprises Act isn't slated to go into effect until 2022, and millions of Americans will be vulnerable to sur- prise medical bills in the meantime. e No Surprises Act, a measure to end sur- prise medical bills for emergency and sched- uled care, was passed in December when then-President Donald Trump signed a $1.4 trillion year-end spending bill into law. Currently, 18 states offer comprehensive pro- tections against surprise billing, and 15 states offer partial protections, according to the Commonwealth Fund. Below are the 17 states that offer no surprise billing protections, where patients are partic- ularly vulnerable to expensive surprise med- ical bills: 1. Alabama 2. Alaska 3. Arkansas 4. Idaho 5. Hawaii 6. Kansas 7. Kentucky 8. Louisiana 9. Montana 10. North Dakota 11. Oklahoma 12. South Dakota 13. South Carolina 14. Tennessee 15. Utah 16. Wisconsin 17. Wyoming n Primary care group buys Miami's University Health Care for $600M By Alia Paavola M iami-based Cano Health, a primary care provider for seniors and underserved communities, acquired Miami-based University Health Care for $600 million, the organization said June 14. The deal, financed through cash on hand and a common equity issued to Uni- versity's shareholders, includes $540 million in cash and $60 million in equity. Cano Health, backed by billionaire Barry Sternlicht, operates value-based primary care centers and supports affiliated medical practices that provide primary care for seniors in Florida, Texas, Nevada and Puerto Rico. Univer- sity Health Care has been providing comprehensive primary care in Flori- da for 25 years. The deal will grow Cano's presence in Florida, which will expand to 13 Univer- sity Health Care facilities and add more than 300 staff and affiliate providers. "This transaction is a significant step forward for Cano Health and our patients, as it will allow us to bring our brand of affordable, high-quality primary care to more patients in the Florida market and accelerate Cano Health's profitable growth," said Marlow Hernandez, MD, co-founder, chair and CEO of Cano Health. "University is a premier provider of value-based care, and we are thrilled to welcome the world-class University team to the Cano Health family." n Kaiser, Providence Southern California partner on $750M hospital By Morgan Haefner K aiser Permanente and Providence Southern California are working to- gether on a $750 million hospital to replace the aging Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley, Calif., according to the Daily Press. Under the partnership, 65-year-old Providence St. Mary will be closed and replaced with a 260-bed hospital in Victorville, Calif., the organizations said June 3. The hospital will be a full-service acute care facility and may include a medical office building and other ambulatory services. Providence would operate the hospital. Providence St. Mary's is closing because it doesn't meet California's new seismic requirements slated to take effect in 2030, according to the Daily Press. It would cost about the same to retrofit the hospital as it would to build a new one, hospital leaders told the newspaper. Erik Wexler, Providence's president of operations and strategy-south, out- lined to the Daily Press what the Renton, Wash.-based health system's affilia- tion with Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser will look like. "Healthcare delivery has become very complex, and Providence has found that affiliations truly benefit the communities we serve, particularly areas with significant rates of serious health risks," he told the newspaper. He added that the partnership with Kaiser will allow the hospital to offer "more high-end acuity level types of care." The new hospital, which requires regulatory review and approval, is expect- ed to open in 2026. n