April 24, 2024
(STAT News) – Federal regulators vastly under-enforced antitrust laws in the hospital sector in the last two decades, a new study finds. Why it matters: Unchecked mergers during a period of rapid consolidation represent a significant factor in rising health … Read More
April 22, 2024
(The Hill) – Contractors for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) cut access to tests for transplant patients that could show early signs of organ rejection despite expert physicians advising the opposite, a new report has found. (Read … Read More
April 22, 2024
April 17, 2024
(Reuters) – U.S. employers’ obligation to accommodate workers’ pregnancies also extends to abortions and the use of contraception, the U.S. agency that enforces workplace discrimination laws said on Monday. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) unveiled a rule to … Read More
April 17, 2024
April 15, 2024
(Los Angeles Times via MSN) – Obesity — like so many diseases — disproportionately affects people in racial and ethnic groups that have been marginalized by the U.S. healthcare system. A class of drugs that succeeds where so many others … Read More
April 15, 2024
April 11, 2024
(Axios) – Hospitals within months could get extra federal money to administer pricey new gene therapies for sickle cell disease, including the first CRISPR-based treatment. Why it matters: The Medicare proposal would provide more incentive to offer the multimillion-dollar gene … Read More
April 9, 2024
(New York Times) – The answer is a little-known data analytics firm called MultiPlan. It works with UnitedHealthcare, Cigna, Aetna and other big insurers to decide how much so-called out-of-network medical providers should be paid. It promises to help contain … Read More
April 8, 2024
(New York Times) – Since 2014, R.I.P. Medical Debt estimates that it has eliminated more than $11 billion of debt with the help of major donations from philanthropists and even city governments. In January, New York City’s mayor, Eric Adams, … Read More
April 5, 2024
(CNBC) – CVS Health on Thursday said its drug plans will cover the first over-the-counter birth control pill in the U.S. at no cost for many health plan sponsors, a decision that could open the door for more people to … Read More
April 4, 2024
(STAT News) – Cochlear implants have successfully improved hearing loss for decades, but few people who qualify for an implant actually get it. Even in countries with universal healthcare, the adoption rates are dismal. Researchers are finding further disparities for … Read More
April 4, 2024
April 2, 2024
(NPR) – Some consumers covered by Affordable Care Act insurance plans are being switched from one plan to another without their express permission, potentially leaving them unable to see their doctors or fill prescriptions. Some face large IRS bills for … Read More
April 1, 2024
(Axios) – There’s been a major shift in what Americans say — or won’t say — about our weight. Why it matters: The blockbuster success of anti-obesity drugs is driving efforts to frame obesity as a chronic disease with clear … Read More
April 1, 2024
(USA Today) – If the Koncaks’ struggles with health care costs as older adults sound familiar, it’s because they are. Even with insurance, Americans struggle to pay for expenses like premiums, copayments, coinsurance, and uncovered health services. As a result, … Read More
March 29, 2024
March 28, 2024
(Wall Street Journal) – The first major U.S. health insurers have agreed to start paying for the popular anti-obesity drug Wegovy for certain people on Medicare with heart-related conditions. CVS Health, Elevance Healthand Kaiser Permanente said they would cover Novo … Read More
March 27, 2024
(KFF News) – The toll the American health care system extracts is, in some respects, the price of extraordinary progress in medicine. But it’s also evidence of the poor fit between older adults’ capacities and the health care system’s demands. … Read More
March 27, 2024
March 25, 2024
(Knowable Magazine) – Historically, dentistry and medicine have operated as parallel fields: Dentists take care of the mouth, physicians the rest of the body. That is starting to change as many initiatives across the United States and other countries work … Read More
March 25, 2024
(Wall Street Journal) – Hospitals are adding billions of dollars in facility fees to medical bills for routine care in outpatient centers they own. Once an annoyance, the fees are now pervasive, and in some places they are becoming nearly … Read More
March 22, 2024
(NPR) – For the first time, Medicare will allow coverage of one of the new blockbuster weight-loss drugs for enrollees in Part D plans. The plans may now cover Wegovy when prescribed to prevent heart attacks and strokes, according to … Read More
March 20, 2024
(Wall Street Journal) – Steward Health Care System, which operates the hospital, brought in a pest-control company, which discovered another 3,000 or so Brazilian free-tailed and evening bats in the building. “That’s been a known issue,” said retired nurse Vonnay … Read More
March 20, 2024
(CNN) – A new gene therapy for the fatal genetic disorder metachromatic leukodystrophy, or MLD, will carry a wholesale price of $4.25 million, its manufacturer announced Wednesday, making it the world’s most expensive medicine. Lenmeldy was approved by the US … Read More
