Kidney failure system a $22B ‘hulking monster’ (Morning Read)

Highlights of the important and interesting in the world of healthcare:

Life-saving care at great cost. How did our nation’s most ambitious experiment in universal healthcare — comprehensive Medicare coverage for every kidney failure patient — descend from a “supremely hopeful moment” nearly four decades ago to a $20-billion-a-year “hulking monster” that kills thousands of patients? ProPublica asks in its latest investigative series.

North Carolina hospitals growing… and paying. WakeMed plans to pay its more than 7,000 employees about $7.65 million in bonuses after beating annual financial goals, reports the News & Observer. The UNC Health Care System recently paid bonuses worth about 2.5 percent of annual salaries to many of its 8,000 employees in Chapel Hill, and local hospitals are giving raises to keep their top talent.

Caritas Christi Health Care going to dark side. Now that its sale to Steward Health Care System LLC, a newly formed affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. is complete, the Caritas system will operate as the largest for-profit healthcare network in New England and embark on a makeover as an accountable care organization, according to FierceHealthcare.

Credit check for Lilly. On the same day Indianapolis drug maker Eli Lilly said it would commit up to $800 million to buy Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the company’s debt rating to half-way between Aaa and junk, according to FierceBiotech.

Glaxo lawyer charged. In a rare move, the Justice Department has charged a former vice president and top lawyer for the British drug giant GlaxoSmithKline with making false statements and obstructing a federal investigation into illegal marketing of the antidepressant Wellbutrin for weight loss, the New York Times reports.

Shifting cost to high wage earners. With healthcare costs climbing during this open enrollment season, more employers are assigning bigger contributions to workers in top salary brackets and offering some relief to workers who make less money, according to the New York Times.