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Independent pharmacies accuse Express Scripts of price fixing in lawsuit
A handful of independent pharmacies are suing Express Scripts for allegedly signing a three-year deal with pharmacy benefit manager Prime Therapeutics to fix reimbursement rates, a violation of the Sherman Act.
Blue Cross NC to acquire FastMed’s North Carolina locations
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina has agreed to acquire all North Carolina-based locations of FastMed, a company that offers telehealth, urgent and primary care, occupational health and preventive services.
In all, Blue Cross NC will acquire…
Physician cash compensation increasing and projected to rise
Cash compensation for medical and surgical specialists climbed higher in 2023 and will only increase over the next several years, finds a new physician compensation report from SullivanCotter.
Healthcare chatbots may promote racist misinformation
Chatbots based on large language models (LLMs) are being integrated into healthcare systems, but these models may be perpetuating harmful, race-based medical beliefs that could be particularly harmful to Black patients, according to a new study publish…
Healthcare associations push back on CMS’ sepsis rule, advocate tweaks
The Infectious Diseases Society of America and a coalition of medical professional societies have released recommendations for modifying the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services sepsis metrics to improve sepsis care and outcomes, saying hospitals…
Payers criticize mental health parity proposed rules
Over the past several days health insurers have criticized the Biden Administration’s proposed regulatory updates to mental health parity requirements, with some decrying what they deem as burdensome compliance requirements.
Cardiologists top list of highest-paid physician specialties
Practicing medicine is generally seen as a well-paying field, but some positions pay better than others. Physicians and surgeons make higher wages than both the general population and other healthcare providers, and of all specialties, cardiologists to…
Family premiums in employer plans will likely rise 7% after a year of no growth
Family premiums for employer plans will likely rise an average of about 7% this year, with a new KFF analysis predicting the premiums will average $23,968 and employees will contribute $6.575 toward that premium on average – a $500 increase year-over-y…
Walgreens, Alignment rolling out co-branded Medicare Advantage plans
Walgreens and Alignment Healthcare have signed an agreement to offer new $0-premium co-branded Medicare Advantage plans in select markets throughout Arizona, California, Florida and Texas starting January 1, 2024.
This will reach about 1.6 million Medi…
Elevance Health logs $1.3 billion in profit in Q3
Elevance Health raked in $1.3 billion in profit during the third quarter, and while this was a decrease from the $1.6 billion posted in Q3 2022, overall revenue climbed year over year, hitting $42.5 billion compared to $39.9 billion last year.
