In a case illustrating the effective use of a bankruptcy examiner, the examiner appointed by the court in the North General Hospital bankruptcy case has concluded that the hospital made over $3 million in unauthorized post-bankruptcy filing payments to the detriment of unsecured creditors. Prior to its bankruptcy filing, North General Hospital and certain related corporate debtors operated a hospital in the Harlem section of Manhattan.

The Supreme Court’s 2010-2011 term began in October, and it is expected to conclude by the end of April. We have been monitoring the decisions of our nation’s highest court and you may have already read some of the summaries of the major decisions written by Larkin Hoffman attorneys. This update provides a brief look at some of the cases that have been scheduled for oral argument since our last update in November.

This blog series has been following the continuing flow of large security breaches of Protected Health Information (“PHI”) and how affected providers and insurers have been responding to their discovery. The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation’s North Bronx Healthcare Network (“HHC”) has recently become perhaps the largest marcher in the parade of PHI security breaches with a reported 1,700,000 persons affected.

A California federal district court granted temporary injunctive relief, requiring the purchaser of a bankrupt hospital to temporarily recognize and bargain with the union that represented nurses employed by the hospital’s seller, pending the outcome of a National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) hearing.

The United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada has held that proceeds from a professional liability policy were not property of the insured-debtors' bankruptcy estate because the proceeds were payable only for the benefit of third party claimants and could not be accessed by the debtors directly.  In re Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada, Nos. BK-S-09-22780-MKN, S-09-22776-MKN, S-09-22784-MKN, 2011 WL 2184387 (Bankr. D. Nev. May 23, 2011).

Last month, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued an important, 28-page opinion that confirmed a jury verdict, holding former officers and directors of a not-for-profit health care provider in bankruptcy, jointly and severally liable to the facility’s creditors – in the amount of $2.25 million – for breach of fiduciary duty in failing to properly oversee and manage the non-profit entity.  Official Comm. of Unsecured Creditors ex rel. Lemington Home for Aged v. Baldwin (In re Lemington Home for Aged), No.

Below is an excerpt:

Long-term care providers may have a new avenue to stave off financial collapse when faced with a proposed termination by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) — protection and reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code.

That strategy will likely prove to be a tough row to hoe if pursued in federal court here, though.

A recent bankruptcy decision in Florida may have implications for troubled healthcare entities that seek to avoid Medicare termination and preserve reimbursements. In the case In re: Bayou Shores SNF, LLC, Case No. 8:14-bk-09521-MGW, (Bankr. M.D. Fla. Dec. 31, 2014), the bankruptcy court found that a nursing home’s Medicare provider agreement had survived bankruptcy despite notice and intent to terminate the agreement issued by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

The Iowa Commissioner of Insurance (the “Commissioner”) filed a petition, on January 29, 2015, seeking to liquidate CoOpportunity Health, Inc. (“CoOpportunity”), a Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan (“CO-OP”) established under the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) that has sold health insurance on the Iowa and Nebraska Exchanges.

In 2014, the health care industry continued to see a high level of M&A activity, with announced transactions approaching $440 billion globally by the end of November. In the United States, consolidation continues to occur in the hospital and health care services subsector, often involving distressed health care providers. For many distressed providers — often small and midsized hospitals and hospital systems — acquisition by a financially strong counterparty is the only way to survive.