Author's posts
Stem cell pain-relieving shots linked to bacterial infection outbreak
Health officials are reporting an outbreak of bacterial infections in patients who got injections of stems cells derived from umbilical cord blood.
Obamacare’s fines are not the big stick everybody thought
There was just a slight dip in enrollment of coverage next year through HealthCare.gov. That’s the case even though the Republican-led Congress repealed fines for being uninsured effective Jan. 1.
SNAP proposal for tougher work requirements likely bad for public health
Public health advocates said the Trump administration’s plan to enforce tougher work requirements on food stamp recipients was a step in the wrong direction.
DOJ, CVS reject judge’s suggestion to expand monitor’s role in merger
The Justice Department is still bristling at a federal judge threatening a hold-up of the last step in CVS Health-Aetna’s $70 billion merger.
CMS wants to use more patient-specific data for Medicare Advantage payments
The CMS wants to change the way it pays Medicare Advantage plans by using more encounter data in the risk-adjustment model and taking into account the total number of conditions a patient has.
Kaiser settles lawsuit alleging ‘patient-dumping’
Kaiser Foundation Health Plan has settled a 2014 lawsuit alleging it illegally shifted severely mentally ill patients hospitalized in Kaiser facilities from its commercial plans to public payers like Medicaid.
Envision Healthcare strikes up in-network payer contracts amid scrutiny over surprise billing
More than 90% of Envision Healthcare’s business is now attributed to in-network contracts.
Number of outpatient facilities surge as industry values more convenient, affordable care
The number of outpatient centers have swelled, illustrating healthcare’s transition from vast acute-care footprints to more convenient outpatient space.
Walgreens makes a deal with Alphabet’s Verily
The Deerfield pharmacy chain and a sister company of Google aim to create technology that will help patients stay on their meds, manage diabetes and eventually “prevent, manage, screen and diagnose disease.”
Tennessee physicians win $58 million judgment against Wellmont Health
An appeal is expected in a lawsuit in which a physician IPA won a $58 million class-action judgment against Wellmont Health System based on allegations that the system tried to undermine the IPA and signed payer contracts outside the network.
