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Centene divests Magellan Rx to Prime Therapeutics for $1.3 billion
Centene has sold off Magellan Rx to Prime Therapeutics for $1.5 billion, a move that will add Magellan’s specialty drug management to Prime’s pharmacy benefit management tools.
The end result, the companies said, will be a “diversified pharmacy solutio…
AHA prods feds to allow addiction treatment prescriptions through telehealth
The American Hospital Association has penned a letter to the Drug Enforcement Administration, asking the agency to extend and provide clarity to pandemic-era rules that allowed providers to prescribe addiction treatment drugs via telehealth.
Medicare Advantage coverage rising for those with retiree health benefits
As Medicare Advantage continues to grow, it’s expected to surpass Original Medicare in enrollment numbers for 2023 as more insurers enter the market, with an increasing number of employer- and union-sponsored retiree health plans offering Medicare-elig…
UnitedHealthcare loses another lawsuit to TeamHealth in billing fight
UnitedHealthcare, the nation’s largest insurer, has lost its latest legal battle against provider group TeamHealth, with a three-judge arbitration panel in Florida ruling late last week that TeamHealth was owed $10.8 million due to underpayments from U…
Top Stories: Audits show overcharges to Medicare Advantage plans; Attorneys general urge Apple to add reproductive data protections
New audits have raised the question: Are the feds being overbilled in their Medicare Advantage payments? I’m Jeff Lagasse with Healthcare Finance News, and we’ll take a closer look at that and other big news in this week’s Top Stories, including state …
Percent of Texas hospitals at serious risk of closure has nearly doubled since 2020
Nearly one out of every 10 Texas hospitals is at serious risk of closure, and nearly half of all Texas hospitals are facing negative operating margins this year, according to a new report released this week from Kaufman Hall.
The culprit: COVID-19.
Optum Labs funds opening of digital health research center at Cornell
Optum Labs, the research and development arm of UnitedHealth Group, and Cornell Tech have created a collaborative research hub at Cornell University in New York, which will focus on precision behavioral health and advancing equity in healthcare.
The mo…
ACA-linked readmission rate improvements misleading
Hospital readmission rates began to improve upon implementation of the Affordable Care Act’s Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program, but a new JAMA Network Open analysis has found that the readmission gains due to the HRRP were smaller than originally…
Millions in Medicare Advantage overcharges revealed in audits
Federal audits released last week show widespread overcharges and other errors in payments to Medicare Advantage health plans for seniors, with some plans overbilling the government more than $1,000 per patient a year on average, according to Kaiser He…
Cost of burnout-related physician turnover totals $5 billion annually
Frenzied work conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to burnout among clinicians, but some of this hardship can be alleviated by letting healthcare professionals know they’re valued and appreciated, and not going through their ordeal alone…
