Author's posts
$250M health system initiative to launch ‘healthcare high schools’
A new initiative and partnership between public schools and major health systems will create healthcare-centric high schools in various communities around the country that will graduate students directly into high-demand healthcare jobs with sustainabl…
Premium hikes outpacing employee wages, especially for Blacks, Hispanics
Employee wages have been unable to keep pace with the rising costs of premiums in employee-sponsored coverage, and the disparity is having an outsized effect on Black and Hispanic employees in particular, a new study in JAMA Network Open has found.
Solid operating margins have hospitals looking to strategic growth, says Kaufman Hall
Hospitals in the U.S. can begin to transition from financial stability to strategic growth after a month in which operating margins and other performance metrics improved, according to the newly released Flash Report from Kaufman Hall.
BCBSA seeks to reduce racial maternal care disparities
The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association is kick-starting an effort to reduce ethnic and racial disparities in maternity care in about 600 acute care and pediatric hospitals across the country.
Increased utilization negatively affecting UnitedHealth’s medical loss ratio
UnitedHealth Group closed out the final quarter of 2023 with $5.5 billion in profit, an increase from the $4.8 billion it posted in Q4 of 2022, the company revealed in its latest earnings report.
New Hampshire hospitals nearing 100% capacity as respiratory diseases spread
Respiratory illnesses such as the flu, RSV and COVID-19 are on the rise once again, and as hospitals and health systems grapple with how to handle the surge, one state is seeing its provider workforce buckle: Hospitals in the state are nearing 100% cap…
Elevance Health increasing access to smartphones in bid to tackle digital divide
At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, Elevance Health said it would launch a program offering smartphones with unlimited data, talk and texting service at no cost to eligible individuals enrolled in some of its affiliated Medicaid health plans.
CES…
Baptist Health abandoning Medicare Advantage plans from UnitedHealthcare, Centene
Since January 1, Baptist Health, based in Louisville, Kentucky, has been out-of-network with UnitedHealthcare and Centene’s Wellcare Medicare Advantage plans, citing denied and delayed prior authorization requests and payments from the insurers.
It was…
Gender wage gap in healthcare is complicated
The gap in wages between genders has been a pervasive issue in healthcare and many other industries, but the wage gap between men and women is becoming more complicated in the sector, with the gap decreasing in some health-centric occupations but not i…
HHS pushing for equitable access to COVID-19 therapies
This week U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra met virtually with pharmacy leaders, pharmacy benefit managers and insurers to discuss HHS’ commitment to increase equitable access to COVID-19 therapeutics.
