Financial Documents Show Care New England’s Unfunded Pension Obligation Has Increased 46% in 2 Years

Sunday, December 06, 2020

GoLocalProv News Team

This week, the financially troubled Care New England unveiled in financial documents that it has a growing unfunded pension obligation. 

The pension liability including this year’s yet to be made estimated $30 million payment will drive the total unfunded gap to more than $160 million.

Rhode Island was rocked in 2017 when the St. Joseph hospital pension fund was forced into receivership. That has led to years of litigation.

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Three years later, receiver Stephen Del Sesto and special investigator Max Wistow have only received a fraction of the funds needed to stabilize the pension fund. Presently, the St. Joseph litigation is focused on Prospect of California, which owns CharterCARE and the Diocese of Providence. SEE STORIES BELOW

 

CNE’s Growing Pension Problem

Not counting this year’s pension payment obligation, the gap has grown to more than $130 million for Care New England.

And over the past two years, the gap has grown from $89,880,243 to $131,513,347 a 46% increase from fiscal year 2018 to 2020.

The CNE hospital group is now in negotiations to merge with Lifespan and like hospital group mega-mergers across the country, the merger faces a number of challenges. 

Questions are emerging if a Lifespan-CNE merger would be legal and pass federal regulatory review. The Federal Trade Commission has moved to block a number of potential mergers around the country that would create hospital groups with 50% market share or more. A Lifespan-CNE merger could create an entity that some estimate to be upwards of 80% market share - a de facto, monopoly.

Both hospital groups have received windfalls of payments from different federal pandemic response funds. Lifespan received a reported $200 million and provided bonuses to top managers.

Due to federal dollars, Care New England has more cash on hand than at any time in the past three years. In 2018, CNE had just $47 million cash on hand and in 2020 that number has ballooned to $133 million. 

But, other financial issues continue to plague CNE, according to documents surgeries have fallen from 17,26 per year to 15,149. And, emergency room visits have fallen each of the past two years from 99,059 to 95,191 to most recently, 77,625.

Related Articles

• INVESTIGATION: Diocese Underfunded St. Joseph Pension Fund by $100 Million
• Coming Monday - INVESTIGATION: The Real Cost of the St. Joseph Pension Fund Collapse
• Key Trust Document Shows Bishop of Providence Has Oversight of Failed St. Joseph Pension Fund
• Judge Stern Shoots Down Prospect and Attorney General in St. Joseph Pension Fund Collapse
• DelSesto, Receiver for Failed St. Joseph Pension Fund, Unveils Next Steps in Investigation
• Judge Slams Kilmartin for Delaying Release of Documents in St. Joseph Pension Fund Collapse
• Diocese Fights to Quash Subpoena for St. Joseph Pension Fund, Wistow Fires Back
• Five Major Developments in St. Joseph Pension Fund Collapse
• Should Hospital Merger Process Be Changed After St. Joseph Pension Fund Receivership?
• Wistow Files First Subpoena in St. Joseph Pension Fund Receivership Case
• Kilmartin Tries to Block Release of Records in St. Joseph Pension Fund Collapse
• Subpoena Issued to RI Foundation on $8.2M Questionable Gift Tied to St. Joseph Pension Fund Collapse
• Feds Issue Subpoenas on St. Joseph Pension Fund Collapse
• Judge Stern’s Ruling Green Lights Millions in St. Joseph Pension Fund Case, Set Back for CharterCare
• Diocese Fights Federal Fraud Lawsuit On St. Joseph Pension Fund - Denies Any Responsibility
• As St. Joseph Pension Fund Legal Cases Drag On, 58 Retirees Have Died and Fund is Depleting
• St. Joseph Pension Fund Collapse—A Week of Inaction, Action, and Reaction
• UPDATED: Court Approves $11.5M & 15% Ownership of CharterCare to St. Joseph Pension Fund Retirees
• St. Joseph Pension Fund Collects $11M, Puts Pressure on Diocese and CharterCare
• 900K+ Documents Reviewed in Filing Lawsuits, Says St. Joseph Pension Fund Receiver Del Sesto on LIVE
• Senate Passes Bill Encouraging Settlements in St. Joseph Pension Fund Collapse
• Massive Lawsuits: Lawyers for Failed St. Joseph Pension Fund Sue Catholic Church and CharterCare
• 10 Shocking Elements of the St. Joseph Pension Fund Lawsuit Against the Diocese and Others
• UPDATE on Important Stories: Failed St. Joseph Pension Fund Takes a Hit

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