Category: Healthcare Finance News

Five Blues plans launch Evio, a for-profit company focused on lowering drug prices

Five nonprofit Blue Cross Blue Shield plans have stepped forward to create a new independent, for-profit pharmacy solutions startup called Evio, the plans announced today.

Centene settles PBM lawsuits with Ohio, Mississippi for $143 million

Centene has settled lawsuits in Ohio and Mississippi alleging the company overcharged the states’ Medicaid programs for pharmacy services, according to Centene and the states’ attorneys general. 

LifePoint Health enters into agreement to acquire Kindred Healthcare

Lifepoint Health entered into an agreement to acquire specialty hospital company Kindred Healthcare this week, signaling the creation of a healthcare delivery network that allows Lifepoint to tap into Kindred’s specialty hospital and rehabilitative exp…

Hospitals are not complying with price transparency rule, two studies find

Recent studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and the American Journal of Managed Care show that most of the hospitals sampled are not complying with the January 1 mandate to post their negotiated rates with payers.

Fewer MA plan members actively managed their health during the COVID-19 pandemic

In a year when it seemed like everyone was focused on healthcare, fewer Medicare Advantage plan members actively managed their care. 
According to the J.D. Power 2021 U.S. Medicare Advantage Study, although overall customer satisfaction with Medicare A…

COVID-19 recovery is hampered by mounting physician shortages, AAMC finds

Recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic was never going to be an easy proposition for the healthcare industry, but efforts to bounce back are complicated by an ongoing shortage of physicians, which is poised to worsen over the next decade-plus.

New School of Nursing facility is aimed at alleviating rural nursing shortage 

Institutions of higher education play a key role in addressing disparities caused by nursing shortages, according to Anne Heyen, an assistant teaching professor in the MU Sinclair School of Nursing and lead author of a new study looking at shortages in…

MediRegs taps into physician demand for standardized telehealth care

Physicians are looking for guidance on telehealth, including updated regulatory and reimbursement policy.

More than 30% of hospitals are near the “danger zone” of denial rates

Hospital claim denial rates have hit new highs, with a 20% increase in those rates over the past five years, suggesting that better claims denial management processes are necessary, finds a new survey from research firm Harmony Healthcare.

Biden Administration invests $3 billion from ARP as part of COVID-19 antiviral development strategy

Drawing from the American Rescue Plan, President Joe Biden’s administration is setting aside more than $3 billion to accelerate the discovery, development and manufacturing of antiviral medicines. The move is part of what the Biden Administration is ca…