Category: Healthcare Finance News

UnitedHealth Group profits are down in Q2, but revenue gains thanks to Optum and UHC

UnitedHealth Group is reporting a $4.3 billion dollar profit in the second quarter, almost $2.3 billion less than what it recorded during Q2 2020, according to information released by the company this week.

ACA special enrollment surpasses 2 million people with close to a month to go

With a month left until the August 15 deadline, more than 2 million people have signed up for healthcare coverage through the Affordable Care Act during the Biden Administration’s 2021 Special Enrollment Period, according to new enrollment

ROI in risk-based contracts requires data and analytics

Summit Health has seven commercial and Medicare risk-based contracts covering more than 165,000 lives. 
 

National Nurses United calls for resumption of mask mandates as COVID-19 cases spike

The National Nurses United union is calling for reinstatement of universal mask mandates, regardless of vaccination status, in response to rising incidents of COVID-19 across certain areas of the country.

New Alzheimer’s drug could cost Medicaid more than $2 billion

Aducanumab, a recently approved Alzheiemer’s drug with a price tag of about $56,000, could starin Medicaid budgets, costing the program more than $2 billion a year if most beneficiaries switch over to it, according to a new analysis from the Kaiser Fam…

CMS seeks to expand telehealth mental health access

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is proposing to lift restrictions on telehealth access in the home for the treatment of mental health disorders and to expand rural access to mental health services through interactive telecommunications.

CMS proposes higher performance threshold for MIPS

In a proposed physician fee schedule rule released on Tuesday, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services is proposing to require clinicians to meet a higher performance threshold to be eligible for incentives under the merit-based incentive payment…

Pandemic boosting healthcare consumerism, CVS Health finds

The lasting impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are many, and one side effect of the public health crisis is that the trend of consumerism in healthcare has accelerated, with more people taking control of their own care, according to the 2021 Health Care …

Nearly 70% of U.S. physicians are employed by hospitals or corporate entities

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the decade-long practice of hospitals and other entities acquiring physician practices, as physicians struggled to maintain private practices, according to a report from the Physicians Advocacy Institute and Avalere He…

CMS opens national coverage determination analysis on Alzheimer’s treatment

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said this week it’s opening a National Coverage Determination analysis, a process that will allow the agency to review and determine whether Medicare will establish a national coverage policy for monoclona…