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Health insurers commit to helping seniors receive the COVID-19 vaccine
This week, health insurers committed to supporting a new effort to promote health equity by removing barriers to vaccinations for 2 million Americans most at risk of COVID-19, adhering to the philosophy that every American deserves access to safe, effe…
Humana, University of Houston announce value-based care specialization program
Humana and the University of Houston have announced the launch of a Value-based Care Specialization online program to support providers, academia and other business and industry professionals — as well as the public — in learning about the fundamenta…
Elizabeth Fowler to lead CMMI as HHS announces new spate of hires
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has announced additional Biden Administration appointments, including the naming of Elizabeth Fowler to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation as director and deputy administrator.
As head…
Kindred Healthcare and Mercy acquire Everest Rehabilitation Hospital of Oklahoma City
Kindred Healthcare and Mercy Hospital Oklahoma City have acquired Everest Rehabilitation Hospital of Oklahoma City, the organizations announced today. Kindred and Mercy will operate the hospital, now renamed Mercy Rehabilitation Hospital Oklahoma City …
Lowering anesthesiology costs is a tangible benefit of value-based care frameworks
In an effort to shift the foundation of healthcare reimbursement, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is making a push for a larger percentage of reimbursements to be tied to value-based care contracts. Anesthesiology will be at or near the …
Financial incentives for hospitals spur rapid changes to opioid use disorder treatment
Hospital emergency departments not only care for patients with overdose and other complications from opioid use, but they also serve as vital touch points to engage patients into longer-term treatment. After an overdose, patients are at risk for repeat…
OIG: Hospitals are upcoding severity levels for Medicare patients
Inpatient hospital stays have become more expensive to the Medicare program, and it’s a trend that began even before the COVID-19 pandemic. A new report from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General uncovered a possi…
Cigna’s Evernorth subsidiary purchasing MDLive in bid to expand telehealth services
Telehealth has come of age during the COVID-19 pandemic, and major insurer Cigna is betting on it continuing, with its healthcare services subsidiary Evernorth poised to purchase telehealth provider MDLive.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but the d…
Biden Administration secures supply of new COVID-19 therapeutic treatment
As of Friday, the Biden Administration has secured a supply of a recently authorized COVID-19 therapeutic treatment, with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense collaborating to purchase 100,000 courses of a seco…
Human rights law can provide a fair, transparent framework for vaccine allocations
As governments around the world wrestle with the question of designing a fair system to allocate their COVID-19 vaccine supplies for maximum protection against the pandemic, a team of researchers, led by Dr. Sharifah Sekalala of Warwick Law School, pro…
