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Not-for-profit Kaiser Permanente's net income jumped 214% in the second quarter of 2019 year-over-year, hitting $2 billion in the quarter that ended June 30, and continuing what has so far been a strong year for the Oakland, Calif.-based health system. Kaiser's 10% profit margin in the quarter was generated by strong equity returns and an accounting change that since Jan. 1 has boosted the health system's net income. (Bannow, 8/9)

California hospitals are providing significantly less free and discounted care to low-income patients since the Affordable Care Act took effect. As a proportion of their operating expenses, the state’s general acute-care hospitals spent less than half on these patients in 2017 than they did in 2013, according to data the hospitals reported to California’s Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development. The biggest decline in charity care spending occurred from 2013 to 2015, when it dropped from just over 2% to just under 1%. The spending has continued to decline, though less dramatically, since then. (Rowan, 8/12)

Consumers, businesses and health care providers will be able to compare the cost and quality of medical care at Connecticut hospitals and provider networks online. The Connecticut Office of Health Strategy has launched HealthscoreCT.com , which includes a quality scorecard and a cost estimator that is scheduled to be released at the end of September. (8/11)

Large or small, broke or flush, almost every hospital in the state has invested in a strategy known as “population health” to identify and address the problems keeping patients from optimal health. The projects range from large-scale investments, such as wellness centers created by Mayo Clinic in Cannon Falls and CentraCare in Long Prairie, to web apps that nudge patients to make healthier choices. From a crude business perspective, it’s a counterproductive approach — the equivalent of McDonald’s conditioning customers to hate French fries — because hospitals are still paid mainly to treat patients, not prevent disease. (Olson, 8/11)

An alternative cancer treatment center that was expected to open in Baton Rouge at the end of this year remains a goal, but it's unclear how long it will be before that happens. The proposed $40 million proton cancer therapy center is a partnership among Provident ProtonCare, a division of Baton Rouge-based nonprofit Provident Resources Group, and health care providers Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System and Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, along with Woman's Hospital. (Mosbrucker, 8/11)