Alex Kacik
@alex_kacik
Followers
2K
Following
3K
Media
281
Statuses
4K
Senior reporter covering operations for @modrnhealthcr. You'll also find me playing with dogs and/or throwing a Frisbee.
Chicago, IL
Joined January 2009
Insurance market shake-up spurs interest from integrated systems
modernhealthcare.com
Merger and acquisition talks have picked up among integrated health systems looking to expand provider-sponsored health plan offerings.
0
1
3
#ICYMI last night Optum is buying troubled Steward Physician Group via @alex_kacik
https://t.co/GxJaxPWEOE
modernhealthcare.com
Optum Care plans to buy Stewardship Health, for-profit Steward Health Care's physician group that spans nine states.
1
3
6
Private equity-backed consolidation divides physicians - from @modrnhealthcr @alex_kacik
https://t.co/M40SlmMuGs
modernhealthcare.com
As private equity investment has grown in healthcare, physician organizations debate its value.
0
1
3
Good story from @alex_kacik (despite the positioning in the hed) about why rural emergency hospital designation uptake has been so slow: The tradeoffs include giving up swing beds and 340B savings https://t.co/CPsHCeOZEy (corrected tweet)
modernhealthcare.com
Close to 20 hospitals have converted to rural emergency hospitals, a program expected to attract hundreds of providers after a slow start.
0
2
5
Not perfect, but a step in the right direction. Since 2018, @BPC_Bipartisan has recommended rightsizing health care services to fit community needs: https://t.co/XdoarFjHYu How CMS' rural pay model has helped hospitals: https://t.co/7zh0WuBkkO via @modrnhealthcr @alex_kacik
modernhealthcare.com
Close to 20 hospitals have converted to rural emergency hospitals, a program expected to attract hundreds of providers after a slow start.
0
1
3
Hello from SF! On the ground with @alex_kacik this week at @jpmorgan's 42nd annual healthcare conference. Don't forget to follow along for real-time updates from the MH team. #JPM2024
modernhealthcare.com
The 2024 J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference kicks off Jan. 8 in San Francisco. Follow here for live updates from the first day.
0
2
6
A Brighton Park family is raising money after a Chicago journalist was killed in a house fire. https://t.co/Jif9s2cKXc
1
5
10
Employers have hit a tipping point, as @alex_kacik of @modrnhealthcr reports. @GloriaSachdev and her peers are setting a new policy agenda. Follow experts like @ChrisSkisak, @lizzymitch2, @cademars, and @D_Giambalvo to see the progress in their states. https://t.co/DZLmELVGN5
modernhealthcare.com
More employers are steering their employees to low-cost, high-quality hospitals and outpatient facilities.
0
2
3
ICYMI: Providers, payers and patients’ inevitable fight over virtual care access and pay has come to fruition. https://t.co/RqmdJBZGEu via @modrnhealthcr w/ @alex_kacik
modernhealthcare.com
CVS subsidiary Aetna will stop paying for dozens of virtual care services Dec. 1, ranging from behavioral care to ophthalmology services.
0
1
2
Since October, at least a dozen hospital transactions have been proposed or completed involving buyers or sellers across the Midwest. https://t.co/QXgY91woJN via @modrnhealthcr w/ visual from @TimBroderick
modernhealthcare.com
Hospital M&A advisers expect more consolidation, but health systems may be limited by opposition from state officials.
0
1
0
Sanford and Fairview just announced that they scrapped their proposed merger. It's their second failed merger attempt over the past decade. We got a tip yesterday that an announcement was coming, and got this story ready: https://t.co/i55QzUByI4 via @modrnhealthcr
modernhealthcare.com
The failed Sanford-Fairview merger attempt marks the second scuttled proposed deal between the nonprofit health systems over the last decade.
0
0
2
About 9 months after announcing a planned merger, @mfldclinic and @EssentiaHealth take a key step forward (via my colleague, @alex_kacik)
modernhealthcare.com
The combined health system would have 25 hospitals in Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin, a health plan and roughly $6 billion in annual revenue.
0
1
1
Many hospitals receive millions of dollars a year in 340B drug discounts, a program created to help safety-net hospitals reach more patients. The program has grown exponentially, spreading program dollars across tens of thousands of hospitals, clinics and pharmacies.
2
2
6
Thank you to @saynikpay, @khemp64, @GeBaiDC, @LawAndDogs and Gary Young at @Northeastern for helping us tell the story.
0
0
2
The 340B program should be adjusted to better serve safety-net hospitals, #healthcare policy experts and economists said. Here’s the story from @TimBroderick and I: https://t.co/ddPwDpHk2o via @modrnhealthcr
2
3
1
Hospitals that received the lowest amount of 340B discounts from 2018 to 2022 allocated a median of 3.56% of their operating costs to uncompensated care.
1
0
0
Our analysis reveals that the estimated median uncompensated care cost as a percentage of operating expenses was 3.04% across a sample of 1,571 hospitals. The biggest 340B benefactors only dedicated a median of 1.39% of their operating costs to uncompensated care.
1
0
0
We found that hospitals that benefit the most from the program tend to provide proportionally less uncompensated care than other 340B-eligible hospitals. Our analysis shows that the program has strayed from its original intent, experts said. Chart from @TimBroderick:
1
0
1
As the program has grown, policy experts have questioned whether 340B-eligible hospitals are truly safety-net providers. @TimBroderick and I calculated 340B hospitals’ uncompensated care costs as a percentage of operating expenses to measure their impact.
1
0
1