Author's posts
Medicare to cover expensive CAR T-cell cancer therapy, but questions remain on full cost to hospitals
The therapy costs $375,000 or $475,000, with hospital stays due to adverse effects adding hundreds of thousands of dollars to care.
Humana and ADVault expand MyDirectives for advance care planning
Medicare began reimbursing physicians for advance-care planning counseling in 2016, but only about a third of adults have such a document.
Aetna helps drive CVSHealth’s 175% net income increase for quarter
CVSHealth continues to make inroads into traditional healthcare, with HealthHUBS in 1,500 locations by 2021.
CVSHealth uses analytics to expand diabetes program, launch hypertension model
The goal is to reduce the incidence of diabetes in a given population by 58% in three years.
Anthem’s PBM IngenioRx is attracting outside insurers
In the build-out of IngenioRx, Anthem has opened a 24/7 pharmacy care center in Las Vegas that will offer dedicated specialty patient care.
California earthquakes highlight need to make evacuation decisions quickly
Ridgecrest Regional spent $72 million on a building that withstood an earthquake, but broken water pipes forced an evacuation anyway.
CMS increases wage index for rural hospitals
The rule increases new technology add-on payment from 50 to 65% for cases with high costs involving eligible new technologies.
HHS and FDA propose plan for importation of prescription drugs from other countries
Manufacturers have wanted to offer lower cost versions but were locked into contracts with other parties in the supply chain, HHS Secretary Alex Azar says.
In Wednesday’s second Democratic debate, 7 of 10 candidates support Medicare for All
Expanding coverage, lowering healthcare costs, central to Democratic agenda.
Healthcare’s number one financial issue is cybersecurity
