Category: Health Insurance

Children’s Mercy Kansas City names Dr. Alejandro Quiroga as president and CEO 

Children’s Mercy Kansas City has announced the appointment of Dr. Alejandro Quiroga as president and Chief Executive Officer, effective January 2, 2025. 
Quiroga comes to Children’s Mercy from Corewell Health in Michigan, where he served as president o…

OCR settles with UCLA over disability access

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has reached a Voluntary Resolution Agreement with the Regents of the University of California over its early intervention program over complaints that the program violated disab…

Removing a Splinter? Treating a Wart? If a Doctor Does It, It Can Be Billed as Surgery

Minor interventions are increasingly being rebranded and billed as surgery, for profit. This means a neurologist spending 40 minutes with a patient to tease out a diagnosis can be paid less for that time than a dermatologist spending a few seconds squirting a dollop of liquid nitrogen onto the skin.

KFF Health News’ ‘What the Health?’: A Killing Touches Off Backlash Against Health Insurers

The shocking shooting death of UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive in Midtown Manhattan prompted a public outcry about the problems with the nation’s health care system, as stories of delayed and denied care filled social media. Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump continues to avoid providing specifics about his plans for the Affordable Care Act and other health issues. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Stat join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Francis Collins, who was the director of the National Institutes of Health and a science adviser to President Joe Biden.

FTC warns against deceptive health plan marketing

The Federal Trade Commission is warning companies that market or generate sales leads for health plans not to engage in deceptive practices in an effort to stave off malfeasance in the industry.

Senate bill proposes to rein in PBMs by forcing them to sell pharmacy businesses

A proposed bipartisan, bicameral bill introduced in the Senate would prohibit an insurer or a parent company of a pharmacy benefit manager from owning a pharmacy business.
If passed, big insurers such as CVS Health, which owns Aetna; Cigna; and UnitedH…

UNC to establish AI-driven oncology center

A team of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill researchers has been awarded up to $10 million in Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) funding to develop the Cancer Identification and Precision Oncology Center (CIPOC).

Premiums to increase if ACA enhanced subsidies expire, CBO says

The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the expiration of enhanced subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans – which are set to expire in 2026 – could drive up premiums in the individual market.

Brian Thompson named in lawsuit alleging insider trading

Hollywood Firefighters Pension Fund based in Florida is suing UnitedHealth Group executives, including the late Brian Thompson, for alleged insider trading.
The lawsuit, filed in May in federal court in Minnesota, also names UnitedHealth Group CEO Andr…

Not-for-profit hospital outlook upgraded to neutral

U.S. nonprofit hospitals have made some meaningful strides over the past few months – enough for Fitch Ratings to revise its outlook from deteriorating to neutral, the rating agency said this week.