ST. JOSEPH: Plans To Buy FPA Contracts
St. Joseph Health System announced last week it will acquire 50,000 new members from ailing FPA Medical Management Inc. for an undisclosed sum. When FPA filed in July for financial reorganization in federal Bankruptcy Court, St. Joseph moved in for the buyout and purchased FPA for "less than its original offer earlier this year." The deal would boost St. Joseph's membership to 350,000, enhancing the company's negotiating clout in the local managed care market. St. Joseph CEO Larry Ainsworth said the health system lost a bidding war with FPA earlier in the year when FPA purchased Orange Coast Managed Care Services. Although FPA pledged to allow the 450 Orange Coast doctors to continue practicing at St. Joseph facilities, St. Joseph officials feared FPA would divert Orange Coast members to a competing hospital network for care (Marsh, Los Angeles Times, 10/17).
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