Jeff Lagasse

Author's posts

Aspirus Health, St. Luke’s to affiliate, expand nonprofit healthcare system

St. Luke’s Duluth and Aspirus Health, based in Wausau, Wisconsin, have signed a letter of intent for the two organizations to affiliate, creating a healthcare system serving residents of northeastern Minnesota, northern and central Wisconsin and the Up…

HHS issues proposed rule to improve child care access

The Department of Health and Human Services, through the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), has issued a proposed rule strengthening key policies in the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), a program that subsidizes child care costs for…

AHA asks Senate for more emergency preparedness funds

The American Hospital Association has written a letter to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) saying that the Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP), part of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA), doesn’t p…

Drug shortages lead to higher prices, trouble filling prescriptions

Shortages of prescription drugs can lead to higher drug prices and impact consumer’s ability to fill their prescriptions, but there are steps that can be taken to avoid these issues, according to a new report by the office of the Assistant Secretary fo…

Express Scripts to offer Humira biosimilars

Express Scripts, the pharmacy benefits management business of the Cigna Group’s Evernorth, will add three additional biosimilars to its National Preferred Formulary that it said will compete with Humira, the world’s top-selling pharmaceutical drug, in …

Significant differences uncovered between MA, FFS enrollees

Medicare Advantage and fee-for-service Medicare enrollees have some significant differences in the year prior to enrollment in Medicare at age 65, including differing demographic and socioeconomic characteristics – traits that should be afforded more a…

Health Connect America fined more than $4.6M for alleged Medicaid fraud

Franklin, Tennessee-based Health Connect America, with locations in Big Stone Gap and Culpeper, Virginia, has agreed to pay more than $4.6 million to resolve allegations that it billed Virginia Medicaid for services not provided, according to the U.S. …

One in four skip wellness appointments, regular checkups

Many Americans appear to be rolling the dice on their health, with a new Aflac survey showing that about one in four regularly skip checkups because they feel healthy in the moment.
The Wellness Matters survey, conducted among 2,001 employed adults in …

NAHC sues Medicare to preserve home health service benefit

The National Association for Home Care and Hospice has filed a lawsuit against the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the United States Department of Health and Human Services, challenging the validity of a change in Medicare home health pa…

Healthcare job cuts increase 97% from 2022

Healthcare companies and health-centric product manufacturers have seen job cuts in their industry increase 97% since the first six months of 2022, ranking it fourth among all industries in terms of the number of job cuts during the first half of this …