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Uninsured rate on the decline, according to government data
Data from the 2022 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) shows that the uninsured rate in the U.S. is on the decline, with about 27.6 million people of all ages (8.4%) uninsured last year – down from the 30 million (9.2%) people who were uninsured in…
Top Stories: Patient information exposed in PharMerica breach
A long-term care pharmacy company has been hit with a data breach. How bad was it? We’ll assess the damage and look at other big news in this week’s Top Stories, including the fate of CVS’ clinical trials business and the latest on a digital menopause …
Insurers likely to pay $1.1 billion in rebates this fall
Health insurers will have to pay roughly $1.1 billion in rebates this fall, thanks in part to decreased healthcare utilization as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Medicare for All bill revived by House and Senate progressives
Senator Bernie Sanders and other progressives in the House and Senate have resurrected a Medicare for All bill that would seek to use the federal program as a springboard to a single-payer health system.
Sanders (I-Vermont) was joined by Representative…
CA governor signs bill allocating $150M to struggling hospitals
California Governor Gavin Newsom, with the support of the California Legislature, signed a bill this week creating a new $150 million Distressed Hospital Loan Program to provide zero-interest cash flow loans to nonprofit or public hospitals experiencin…
EHRs negatively affect well-being of healthcare teams, study finds
Electronic health records are the dominant form of communication among healthcare teams, but while a JAMA Network Open study found that they do facilitate straightforward, task-related communication, they limit “rich and social” communication.
In other…
OCR settles HIPAA investigation into protected health information at MedEvolve
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights has settled with MedEvolve for $350,000 over potential HIPAA violations regarding a data breach in which a server containing protected health information was left unsecure and ac…
Five plead guilty in fraudulent nursing diploma scheme
Five defendants out of dozens have pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in the Southern District of Florida, for their alleged participation in a scheme that created an illegal licensing and employment shortcut for aspiring nurses, according to the …
Envision Healthcare files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Envision Healthcare has officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, entering into a Restructuring Support Agreement (RSA) supported by about 60% of the company’s approximately $7.7 billion in debt obligations.
The terms of the RSA establish the framewo…
Medicare spending could increase $2 to $5 billion if coverage expands for lecanemab
The anti-dementia medication lecanemab, and its ancillary costs, could add $2 to $5 billion in annual Medicare spending if the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services revises its coverage decision, according to a research letter in JAMA Internal Med…
