JANUARY 29, 2016, 4:20 PM LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 2016, 5:10 PM
BY MARY JO LAYTON
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
The state’s largest insurer has sued Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck and The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood to halt an ad campaign the hospitals launched in protest of a new tiered health plan they say makes them look inferior.
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey calls the advertising against its Omnia plan a “smear campaign” — one that goes so far as to say the insurer doesn’t like babies. The campaign is motivated “solely by a desire to damage Horizon financially as well as its business reputation,” the lawsuit filed this week noted.
Bruce Rosen, an attorney representing Valley and Holy Name, defended the ads on Friday. “This is a blatant attempt by Horizon to distract attention away from the potentially disastrous impact that the Omnia plan is going to have on the two hospitals, their patients and New Jersey’s health care system,” he said.
Ridgewood NJ, Its a bird ,its a plane no its a heavily intoxicated Superman. On Thursday 1/21/16, patrol responded to a business on East Ridgewood Ave for the report of an adult male dressed in a Superman costume sitting in the lobby of the business. Upon arrival, officers found a heavily intoxicated 29 year old male from Hackensack. The man was transported to Valley Hospital for treatment related to the intoxication.
JANUARY 20, 2016 LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016, 1:21 AM
BY LINDY WASHBURN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
Municipalities may try to levy property taxes against non-profit hospitals now that Governor Christie has vetoed legislation that enshrined the property tax exemption of the non-profits and instead would have required them to pay a community-service fee.
Advocates of the measure said they planned to return this session with a bill that satisfies the governor, while protecting hospitals from costly lawsuits and compensating local governments for some of the services they provide.
State Senate President Stephen Sweeney said he was “extremely disappointed” with the governor’s action, which he attributed to the governor’s “personal political ambitions.” By assessing a fee on non-profit institutions, the measure might have been construed as a new tax by Christie’s conservative competitors for the Republican presidential nomination, Democrats said.
The measure followed last summer’s Tax Court decision that invalidated the property-tax exemption enjoyed by non-profit Morristown Medical Center. The hospital’s parent company, Atlantic Health System, eventually agreed to pay $15.5 million to satisfy back taxes and interest, and will make future payments of about $1 million annually as tax on the for-profit part of its operations.
Non-profit hospitals across the state have been concerned that they, too, will face costly litigation — and big tax bills. In a historic shift, those hospitals had volunteered to make the “community contributions” outlined by the measure that went before the governor.
“We are disappointed with the pocket veto,” said Betsy Ryan, president and CEO of the state’s largest hospital association.
But critics had considered the measure lenient on the hospitals. Several local governments had expressed concern that the measure shortchanged local governments. Its $2.50 per-bed, per-day fee was far too little, they said. The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, for example, would have been assessed about $407,000 annually, less than one-tenth of the potential property taxes on its full 15.5-acre property.
Some municipalities already are in “fact-finding mode” and are requesting information from their hospitals about their for-profit and non-profit operations, said Michael Cerra, vice president of the New Jersey League of Municipalities, which opposed the measure. “No one is looking to put anyone out of business,” he said.
Paramus NJ, The Valley Hospital Department of Community Health and Community Benefit recently donated 10 DeskCycles to Parkway Elementary School as part of its health education partnership with the Borough of Paramus. “This school year, Parkway’s theme was healthy bodies and that works right into our departmental goals so we partnered up to support them,” said Valley health educator Danielle Cinnante. “Our department has brought in nutrition and health education to the students and parents of Parkway and is so excited to help support the health of our young community!” In addition to supporting fitness, the cycles also help learning by enabling the students to focus on their classroom tasks without fidgeting or becoming restless.
Shown here with Parkway students are Parminder Savalia, Health Education Supervisor, The Valley Hospital; Elaine Palombit, school nurse, Parkway Elementary; Jean Mulholland, physical education teacher, Parkway Elementary; and Danielle Cinnante, health educator, The Valley Hospital.
My Bill Fair to Both Non-Profit Hospitals and Host Municipalities
As the last legislative session concluded, I diligently worked on enacting a piece of legislation that will benefit my constituents – and the greater Newark area – by providing additional economic support to municipalities, increased cost certainty to non-profit hospitals, as well as maintaining the existing property tax exemption. Eliana Pintor Marin, PolitickerNJ Read more
Gwenn Hauck has absolutely no business representing us in a lawsuit. For crying out loud, this is glaringly apparent. This is not about what platform she ran for office on, this is not about whether she loves valley hospital. This is the fact that there is a major lawsuit against Ridgewood and one of the two elected official on the mediation is a person who donates big money to them. How can anyone not see the conflict here? She is supposed to be representing US against THEM in this lawsuit, but she funnels money to them.
If anyone thinks that she should represent us in the law suit all you have to do is look up the minuets Sept 19 H-Z hearing and she what she said. Then you tel me.
Speaking before the council during the “H-Zone” hearings to determine the fate of ‘Renewal’, Hauck said on Sept. 19: “Also, I trust Audrey Meyers, Megan Fraser, all the doctors and volunteers I work with and all the spokespersons of the hospital when they tell me that the hospital will have better services and healthier surroundings if they modernize and expand the way they’ve laid out because they’re the health experts…and I believe them.”
While it may seem unlikely a perfect solution will ever emerge, Hauck stressed a “healthy” and “reasonable” dialogue must emerge for any meaningful change to happen.
Any output from her “mediation” will be tainted. That does not serve the interest of anyone, including Valley. Pencil this in for another 10 year slog unless a good faith process for resolution is adopted.
In my experience, the vast majority of ethical types always recuse themselves from legal duties where there is the potential perception of there being a conflict of interest. The key word is “perception”. In a lot of these cases, the reality of an actual conflict of interest is slim to none, but in the interests of showing absolute honesty, they do in fact, recuse themselves. By not recusing themselves, it actually infers that they are in fact attempting to improperly influence a decision.
Gwenn Hauck has absolutely no business representing us in a lawsuit. For crying out loud, this is glaringly apparent. This is not about what platform she ran for office on, this is not about whether she loves valley hospital. This is the fact that there is a major lawsuit against Ridgewood and one of the two elected official on the mediation is a person who donates big money to them. How can anyone not see the conflict here? She is supposed to be representing US against THEM in this lawsuit, but she funnels money to them.
I love how Mrs. Hauck and her apologists cite the letter of the law when pushing back on such an obvious conflict of interest. I have no problem with her supporting Valley – it’s her right. I also have no problem that she ran for office for the sole purpose of voting yes on the Valley expansion should it ever come to a vote before the Council. Her problem now is that Valley has sued the Village and she swore an oath to represent the best interests of the Village. It is impossible for her to do this given her adamant, long-standing and very public support of Valley. Even if Valley is not paying her, there is still a conflict.
Anyone who does not see this or admit to it is either dumb, playing dumb or unethical.
Ridgewood Nj, Residents continue to voice concerns about Gwen Hauck’s serious conflict of interest with Valley Hospital . Many were entirely shocked with last nights discovery the Gwen was representing Ridgewood tax payers in negotiations over the Valley law suit. Its seems common sense would dictate be it legal or not that a life long donor to Valley Hospital as well as her significant involvement with Valley hospital operations since she was a candy striper would make her participation null and void .
At last nights meeting Anne Loving raised concerns about Gwenn Hauck serving on the mediation team in the Valley suit against the village , ” Under any scenario, she should have recused herself. She has stated often that she is in complete support of the entire expansion project. How can she be objective and serve the village properly?”
Gwen was challenged as to whether she was on the current donor list for Valley of not ,readers questioned , What I’d like to know though is why Ms. Hauck would have failed to contact The Valley to advise them of the error if she’s known about it for some time.Hold the phone.who’s lying Valley or Gwenn. How can Valley falsify donor lists?
Councilwomen Hauck vehemently denied that she and her husband had made any donations to Valley since she has been on the council , while Valley had her on the donor list .” The only reason I can think of that The Valley would want to falsify a donor list – to make it seem that everyone important was giving and that we should too.” , speculated a reader.
Playing word games if fine but it does seem like Councilwomen Hauck clearly has a conflict of interest when it comes to Valley Hospital .
A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial interest, or otherwise, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation of the individual or organization.The presence of a conflict of interest is independent of the occurrence of impropriety. Therefore, a conflict of interest can be discovered and voluntarily defused before any corruption occurs. A widely used definition is: “A conflict of interest is a set of circumstances that creates a risk that professional judgement or actions regarding a primary interest will be unduly influenced by a secondary interest.”[1] Primary interest refers to the principal goals of the profession or activity, such as the protection of clients, the health of patients, the integrity of research, and the duties of public office. Secondary interest includes not only financial gain but also such motives as the desire for professional advancement and the wish to do favours for family and friends, but conflict of interest rules usually focus on financial relationships because they are relatively more objective, fungible, and quantifiable. The secondary interests are not treated as wrong in themselves, but become objectionable when they are believed to have greater weight than the primary interests. The conflict in a conflict of interest exists whether or not a particular individual is actually influenced by the secondary interest. It exists if the circumstances are reasonably believed (on the basis of past experience and objective evidence) to create a risk that decisions may be unduly influenced by secondary interests. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_of_interest )
Passage nears in N.J. Legislature on hospitals-towns tax deal
JANUARY 6, 2016, 7:47 PM LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2016, 6:49 AM
BY LINDY WASHBURN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
Last-minute negotiations on Wednesday set the stage for passage of a bill requiring New Jersey’s non-profit hospitals to contribute financially to their |host towns, a measure crafted after a landmark state Tax Court decision raised doubts about their century-old property tax exemptions.
The measure would put up to $25 million into the coffers of municipalities where hospitals are located statewide, including an estimated $2.7 million to towns in Bergen and Passaic counties.
The state’s largest hospital association, in a historic shift, agreed to the “community service assessments” — with exemptions for hospitals in serious financial trouble — required by state Senate President Stephen Sweeney’s proposed law. However, the measure is opposed by the League of Municipalities, whose members generally think towns deserve more from the hospitals.
Today, the Assembly Appropriations Committee is scheduled to vote on an amended version of Sweeney’s bill, and both houses of the Legislature are expected to vote on it Monday, Senate staff said. The measure, sponsored by Sweeney and state Sens. Robert Singer, a Republican of Monmouth and Ocean counties, and Joseph Vitale, a Middlesex County Democrat, has bipartisan support.
“The goal isn’t to put them out of business, or [see] how much can we get out of them,” Sweeney said of the state’s 60 non-profit hospitals. “But we wanted to acknowledge and come up with a fair process. You don’t want a free-for-all where everyone is going to court, everyone’s suing.”
The New Jersey Hospital Association’s endorsement came after a precedent-setting decision by state Tax Court Judge Vito Bianco in June opened the door to new tax bills — and lawsuits — for non-profit hospitals statewide. Bianco found that the non-profit Morristown Medical Center was not entitled to its property-tax exemption because its operations were hardly different from those of a for-profit business. The two sides in that dispute settled, with the medical center agreeing to pay $15.5 million over 10 years.
The bill would preserve the New Jersey Constitution’s century-old property tax exemption for non-profit hospitals, a protection sought by the hospital industry. But it assesses a daily fee of $2.50 per hospital bed, payable to the host municipality, to be used for police and fire protection or to lower property taxes. Five percent of the assessment would be paid by the municipality to the county government.
Two amendments were negotiated Wednesday, and the measure was scheduled for votes in the Legislature’s final voting sessions. One amendment added an inflation clause, increasing the assessment by 2 percent annually. The other changed an exemption for hospitals in danger of bankruptcy or close to violating their bond covenants by allowing the finances of a hospital system, rather than an individual hospital, to be considered when exemptions are decided.
JANUARY 5, 2016 LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2016, 1:21 AM
BY MATTHEW MCGRATH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
Local officials reacted cautiously to a proposal to charge hospitals a “community service” fee intended to offset, in part, property tax revenue that municipalities lose out on because of the non-profit status of most medical centers.
The proposed bill, which has cleared the state Senate but has not been posted for a vote in the General Assembly, would require hospitals to pay the towns in which they are built $2.50 per bed each day. If the bill becomes law, the fees would infuse about $2.7 million a year into six North Jersey communities that host the medical centers.
Not-for-profits are exempt from paying property taxes for certain uses. The proposal has been endorsed by the New Jersey Hospital Association, which hopes the payments will head off potential lawsuits from towns, but it is opposed by the League of Municipalities, whose members generally think they deserve more from the hospitals than the proposed law would allow.
In landmark shift, hospitals agree to fees in lieu of property taxes
JANUARY 3, 2016, 10:59 PM LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, JANUARY 3, 2016, 11:00 PM
BY LINDY WASHBURN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
For more than a century, New Jersey’s non-profit hospitals have been exempt from paying property taxes, despite relying on their communities to maintain local roads and provide police and fire protection. Now the state’s largest hospital association says its members are willing to make payments to towns they reside in — but many municipalities want more.
In a historic change, the New Jersey Hospital Association recently declared its support for a proposal in the Legislature to require non-profit hospitals to make “community service contributions” to municipalities. The move came after a tax court decision this summer that Morristown Medical Center was not entitled to its property-tax exemption because its operations were little different from those of a for-profit company. That hospital has since agreed to pay $15.5 million over 10 years.
Concerned that Judge Vito Bianco’s decision would lead to tax battles involving many other hospitals, the hospital association endorsed a proposal by state Senate President Stephen Sweeney. The measure would assess non-profit hospitals a fixed daily contribution — not a tax — of $2.50 per bed, to be used for public safety expenses or to reduce property taxes.
The association estimated that the payments from all of the state’s s would total $21 million to $25 million, including about $2.7 million annually from the six non-profits in Bergen and Passaic counties, if the measure is enacted as written. They are Hackensack University Medical Center; The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood; St. Joseph’s Healthcare System’s two hospitals in Paterson and Wayne; Englewood Hospital and Medical Center and Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck. Hospitals owned by for-profit companies — HackensackUMC at Pascack Valley in Westwood and St. Mary’s General Hospital in Passaic — already pay property taxes.
N.J. Hospital Sees 14 Patients Injured By Motorized Boards On Christmas Day Alone
January 2, 2016 4:13 PM
RIDGEWOOD, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) — A New Jersey hospital saw 14 patients on Christmas Day alone who were injured by motorized, self-balancing, two-wheel scooters.
As WCBS 880’s Stephanie Colombini reported Saturday, the Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, New Jersey saw 14 patients in the emergency room with injuries from the motorized boards on Christmas Day.
The hospital said it has seen a handful of additional injuries related to the motorized boards since.
Most of the injuries were caused by people falling off the boards, the report said.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission urged riders to wear the same safety gear with the motorized boards that they would use if they were on a traditional skateboard – including helmets, elbow and knee pads, and wrist guards.
Ridgewood NJ, (201) Family magazine has named 45 doctors from The Valley Hospital’s Medical staff to its “Top Doctors” list.
In order to select these exceptional physicians, MSP Communications completed an extensive, multistep vetting process. Candidates were initially identified through research and the recommendations of other physicians. They were then evaluated in 10 areas ranging from honors and awards to leadership positions. After a round of peer reviews, the final selection was completed, with only around 5 percent of physicians in a state or region being chosen for this distinction
DECEMBER 10, 2015, 3:15 PM LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2015, 3:20 PM
BY LINDY WASHBURN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck and The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood opened a new front in the widening fight against the state’s largest insurer Thursday, with a lawsuit demanding that Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey halt further advertising of a new, tiered health plan because — by leaving their hospitals out of the preferred tier — it makes them look inferior.
Horizon breached its contract with the hospitals when it announced the new Omnia health plans in September, the lawsuit filed in state Superior Court in Hackensack by the two hospitals and five others said. The insurer was obligated to give the hospitals an opportunity to negotiate participation in the new plans, the suit said.
The Omnia plans, now being advertised widely, group hospitals into two tiers, and will allow patients to pay lower deductibles and co-insurance when they seek care from a preferred, or Tier 1, hospital. The plans are being sold to individuals, small businesses, state government employees and people who buy insurance through the federal Affordable Care Act for coverage starting Jan. 1. Premiums are 12 to 15 percent lower than for other Horizon plans.
“They’re using marketing that is misleading,” said Michael Furey, an attorney with Day Pitney who represents the seven hospital systems suing Horizon, saying that this damages the reputation of his clients. They’re “making the consumer think that somehow the Tier 1 hospitals are superior and the Tier 2 hospitals are inferior,” he said.
Horizon is the largest provider of health insurance in New Jersey, with more than 50 percent of the commercial market. In total, including Medicare, Medicaid, state and federal employee coverage, it provides insurance to 3.8 million people in the state.
In Bergen and Passaic counties, the Tier 1 network includes St. Joseph’s Healthcare System, with hospitals in Wayne and Paterson, and Hackensack University Medical Center and its affiliated hospitals — HackensackUMC at Pascack Valley in Westwood and Englewood Hospital and Medical Center.
Holy Name, Valley, and St. Mary’s General Hospital in Passaic are in Tier 2.
“As attackers discover new methods to make money, the healthcare industry is becoming a much riper target because of the ability to sell large batches of personal data for profit,” said Dave Kennedy, an expert on healthcare security and CEO of TrustedSEC LLC. “Hospitals have low security, so it’s relatively easy for these hackers to get a large amount of personal data for medical fraud.”
“One method that can help stop electronic medical records theft is to seek out a physician that uses paper records. Orient suggests asking health care providers which system is used before agreeing to treatment.”
Medical records worth more on black market than credit card numbers
By soaznewsx on December 7, 2015
By Harry Alexander / SoAzNewsX
For many years the public has been warned about credit card and identity theft. The public has also been deluged with advertising from companies that pledge they can keep your personal information safe from hackers.
Indeed, while credit card number theft and identity theft is important, there is another type of personal identity theft that seems to go unreported in the mainstream media.
Medical records theft and Medicare fraud.
Dr. Jane Orient, the Executive Director of the American Assoication of Physicians and Surgeons, said on the Dec. 5 Inside Track radio program that medical records theft is rampant. One of the topics was electronic medical records.
“Anybody who does healthcare treatment, operations, or claims payment has legitimate access to those records,” she said. And, those are the records that can be hacked or even stolen by medical personnel wanting to make some money on the side, she said.
