Becker's Hospital Review

24 CFO / FINANCE 2 minutes — and traffic — may have cost Tufts Health $400M By Jakob Emerson A two-minute document filing delay may have caused Tufts Health to lose a $400 million Medicaid con- tract, according to CBS affiliate WPRI. On Jan. 28, employees of the payer were attempting to submit their bid for a Rhode Island Medicaid contract. Because of traf- fic and construction, Tufts said it filed the bid two minutes late, effectively disqualify- ing it from bidding on the state's $7 billion contract over five years. The current contract between Tufts and Rhode Island provides Medicaid coverage to about 17,000 people and is set to expire in 2023. If the payer remains disqualified from bidding with the state, it could lose more than $400 million over five years based on its share of the current contract. Tufts appealed the disqualification Jan. 31, saying "unanticipated circumstances" led to the missed deadline. "While the department is sympathetic of the events which led to the proposal being submitted late, the department is wary of accepting a late proposal and the precedent it would set," state Department of Admin- istration Director Jim Thorsen said in a Feb. 10 letter rejecting the appeal. "We are disappointed that our bid will not be considered by the Rhode Island Execu- tive Office of Health and Human Services because it was submitted two minutes past the filing deadline," Phil Tracey, spokes- person for Point32Health, Tufts' parent company, told WPRI. Tufts' disqualification may mean big wins for the other payers in Rhode Island: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Rhode Island, Molina Healthcare of Rhode Island, Neigh- borhood Health Plan of Rhode Island and United Healthcare of New England. n Altru won't be sold, CEO says By Marissa Plescia F ollowing rumors that Grand Forks, N.D.-based Altru Health System may be acquired after the sudden departure of President Steven Weiser, MD, the system's new CEO told the Grand Forks Herald in a March 5 article that Altru is not for sale. Todd Forkel, the new CEO, started his role Feb. 28, previously working for Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Avera Health. "Altru is definitely not for sale. Altru has a strong sense of identity to continue to be community led," Mr. Forkel said. "Our intention is to continue to remain a community-led health system." Karen Thingelstad, the system's chair of the board of directors, told the Her- ald that Mr. Forkel stood out as a candidate because of his interest in working for an independent health system. She added that despite challenges with the pandemic and the departure of its president, Altru had an operating mar- gin of 3.6 percent in 2021. Ms. Thingelstad also said rating agencies are "satisfied" with Altru's stability. Two other executives were fired in early 2020, weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic began, though Ms. Thingelstad told the Herald that the firings were not a trend or an indicator of Altru's health as a system. n Montefiore posts $316.9M net loss, launches $500M cost savings plan By Marissa Plescia N ew York City-based Montefiore Health System reported a $316.9 mil- lion net loss in 2021, compared to a $42.7 million loss in 2020, ac- cording to its financial report posted March 16. The 10-hospital system reported an operating revenue of nearly $6.5 billion in 2021, a 0.4 percent decrease from 2020. The health system's net patient service revenue increased year over year, but its grants, contracts and other revenue decreased. Montefiore's operating expenses increased by 3.8 percent for the 12 months ended Dec. 31, 2021, to $6.8 billion, compared to $6.6 billion in 2020. It ex- perienced an increase in all expense categories, including salaries and wag- es and employee benefits. The system reported an operating loss of $294 million in 2021, compared to a $14.7 million operating loss in 2020. Its operating margin was -4.5 percent. The losses were due to challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, the system said in a statement shared with Becker's. "Costs for equipment, supplies and labor continue to rise, and coming out of the second year of COVID, our patient volumes remain below their pre-pan- demic levels. This is compounded by no increases to reimbursement rates for most of our patients, an issue at play long before COVID," the statement read. Montefiore said it created a financial improvement program to address the losses, with the goal to reach $500 million in savings this year. n

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