Universal Health

Under mounting pressure and facing growing criticism, the state insurance commissioner abruptly reversed himself yesterday, canceling plans to sell a troubled health maintenance organization to a group of minority physicians for $2 million. Commissioner Steven B. Larsen said he abandoned the sale plan because the physicians' group, Universal Health Plan of Lanham, had failed to disclose important financial details when it submitted its final bid earlier this year. The financial information that led to the cancellation was disclosed by Universal after the proposed sale had been filed and announced, he said.

The company picked by state officials to take over the operations of a troubled health maintenance organization has been sued three times recently, and some of its shareholders have borrowed heavily to make the purchase. Universal Health Plan of Lanham was picked by the Maryland Insurance Administration this month to take over the operations of PrimeHealth, an HMO serving more than 15,500 patients, many in the Baltimore area. But at least two groups are stepping up efforts to challenge the state's proposed sale.

Maryland insurance officials are asking a Circuit Court judge to approve a plan to sell embattled HMO PrimeHealth Corp. to a physicians group for $2 million, but they refuse to disclose whether it was the highest bid. The plan to sell PrimeHealth to Universal Health Plan Inc. of Lanham was filed yesterday in Baltimore Circuit Court by attorneys for state Insurance Commissioner Steven B. Larsen. Before Larsen's plan was filed yesterday, attorneys for the original owners of PrimeHealth filed a motion seeking an injunction to block the sale, contending that the state seizure of the health care company in fall 1998 was unjustified.

State health and insurance officials disclosed yesterday plans to sell the health care business at the center of the failed bribery case against former state Sen. Larry Young to a Prince George's County physicians group, which apparently forfeited its corporate charter last year. In a joint announcement that gave scant details, Insurance Commissioner Steven B. Larsen and Health Secretary Dr. Georges C. Benjamin said PrimeHealth Corp. in Lanham will be sold to Universal Health Plan. The sale is subject to the negotiation of a final sales agreement and approval of that agreement by a Baltimore City Circuit judge.

IN 1993, President Clinton proposed a plan for universal health insurance. In beating it back, opponents smoothly assured the public that they supported the idea in principle, they just wanted to package it in a better way.Here's what you get for listening to smoothies:No serious interest anymore in guaranteeing all Americans access to medical care. A congressional majority -- mostly Republicans but including some Democrats -- strangled the Clinton plan, then walked away.A proposal for gradually raising the Medicare age to 67. That would push many future retirees, 65 to 66, into the ranks of the uninsured.

A fraud and conspiracy complaint has been dismissed against a Columbia medical technology company with ties to Novatek International Inc., the bankrupt Columbia firm under Securities and Exchange Commission investigation for stock fraud.The Feb. 4 ruling by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James T. Schneider dismissed the civil complaint against Universal Health Watch Inc. and two former Novatek officers now living in Florida, Rudolphe Baboun Sr., once a director, and Larry Schone, a one-time secretary.

YOUR EDITORIAL assertion that the Democrats are engaging in demagoguing about Medicare (Oct. 2, "Medi-scare") reflects a serious lack of understanding of health policy alternatives.Yes, Medicare needs to be modified. No, the Republican plan is far from an adequate solution. And neither is managed care an adequate solution to the health care problems of non-seniors. The long-term data is far from clear that managed care will really significantly reduce the cost of health care.A little more than a year ago, the Congressional Budget Office released a study showing that independent-practice HMOs (the most common model)

Blacks and Hispanics are least likely to get routine medical care and most likely to be without health insurance, according to a Johns Hopkins University study released today.Because of those disparities, minorities are more likely to suffer from chronic illnesses and premature death, the report asserts.The study, an examination of "inequities" in the health care delivery system, says that while economic status helps explain many of the disparities, other factors also contribute, including language barriers, attitudes toward health care and even geography.

African-Americans and Hispanics are least likely to get routine medical care and most likely to be without health insurance, according to a Johns Hopkins University study released today.Because of those disparities, minorities are more likely to suffer from chronic illnesses and premature death, the report asserts.The study, an examination of "inequities" in the health care delivery system, says that while economic status helps explain many of the disparities, other factors also contribute, including language barriers, attitudes toward health care and even geography.

After Congress killed the Clinton administration's proposals to revamp the U.S. health care system, ambitious state plans to extend health insurance to more people took on importance as possible models for the nation.But nearly a year later, most of those plans are dead or stalled as the states turn their attention to cutting budget deficits. Meanwhile, the number of uninsured people is growing quickly.In Florida, for example, Democratic Gov. Lawton Chiles had proposed in 1992 that employers be required to provide health insurance for their workers.