The Latest
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Deep Dive
Antitrust agencies are relying on consumers to report anticompetitive behavior. That trust might be misplaced.
Regulators want consumers to flag business practices harming market health in the healthcare sector, which could result in a tsunami of new tips — for good and ill, according to experts.
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Sponsored by Keypath Education
More than just shortages, the nursing workforce risks a crisis of experience
Building a sustainable nursing workforce requires more than just filling vacancies. How can we prepare and support new nurse graduates to develop a competent and resilient nursing workforce?
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Walgreens inks GLP-1 clinical trial deal with major German drugmaker
Under the deal, Walgreens will find candidates who are overweight or have obesity or diabetes and connect them with a Phase III clinical trial for Boehringer’s GLP-1 drug survodutide.
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Tracker // Overturning of Roe v. Wade
Tracking state abortion bans in the US
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs signed legislation Wednesday repealing the state's near-total abortion ban from 1864. After the repeal goes into effect, abortions will be prohibited after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Updated May 3, 2024 -
Change Healthcare cyberattack
Congress grills UnitedHealth CEO over Change cyberattack
Legislators slammed Andrew Witty over the company’s lack of cybersecurity practices and the impact of the breach, which may have compromised the data of a third of Americans.
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Cigna writes down VillageMD investment amid shrinking value
Walgreens’ decision to slash VillageMD’s clinical footprint has reverberated to the financial accounts of the primary care chain’s minority owner — Cigna.
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Amwell expects revenue impact from Defense contract in Q4
The telehealth vendor has struggled with a declining stock price and mounting losses.
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CVS slashes 2024 outlook — again — as Medicare seniors drive spending
Runaway inpatient spending in particular caused CVS’ insurance costs to snowball after returning “to patterns we have not seen since the start of the pandemic,” its CFO said.
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Debt covenant violations tick up among nonprofit providers: report
Since 2022, S&P Global Ratings has tracked an increase in violations of debt agreements as macroeconomic pressures and low operating margins challenge providers.
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CVS acquires Medicare Advantage broker Hella Health
The acquisition comes amid rising regulatory scrutiny of insurance brokers and notable turbulence in MA.
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Change Healthcare cyberattack
Change Healthcare, compromised by stolen credentials, did not have MFA turned on
Failing to turn on multifactor authentication, a common cybersecurity safeguard, “underscores pure negligence on the part of UnitedHealth,” one expert said.
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Tenet raises full-year revenue guidance on $2.2B in Q1 profit
CEO Saum Sutaria says the health system is a “new company” following nine hospital sales in the first quarter.
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Walmart Health shuts down
The unexpected closure of Walmart’s 51 health centers and virtual care business highlights the difficulty of providing healthcare at this moment in time.
Updated May 2, 2024 -
Hospitals’ COVID reporting burden to lighten as pandemic-era policies expire
On Wednesday, hospitals will no longer be required to report COVID-19 admissions, capacity or occupancy data to the federal government.
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Ascension taps new CFO
Saurabh Tripathi, former CFO of Highmark Health, assumed the role on Monday.
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FTC broadens health breach notification rule to include apps
Regulators have been pursuing more enforcement actions against health applications sharing consumers’ data. Friday’s final rule should give those actions more heft.
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Ransomware attacks on healthcare impact nearly five times more sensitive data: report
Twenty percent of a typical healthcare organization’s sensitive data holdings are affected in a ransomware encryption event, compared with an average of just 6% in other industries.
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Opinion
Medical research is changing, data privacy laws have not
Congressional inaction regarding health privacy laws robs Americans of ownership over their health data, argues Senator Bill Cassidy, ranking member of the Senate HELP committee.
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FDA finalizes lab developed test rule despite industry opposition
Risks associated with the tests have increased, requiring greater oversight to protect patients, the agency contends.
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Kaiser exposed up to 13.4M plan member records to third parties
The largest data breach reported so far this year comes as regulators reconsider healthcare’s use of tracking technologies.
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Rising inpatient volumes boosted HCA’s first quarter earnings
The Nashville, Tennessee-based operator is the latest for-profit system to report stronger-than-expected inpatient volumes and tempered expenses.
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Centene looks beyond Medicaid redeterminations
The nation's largest Medicaid insurer expects to return to normal operations this year, though redeterminations continue to dog Centene through a mismatch between rates and acuity.
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UPMC to cut 1,000 roles
About 1% of UPMC's total workforce will be impacted by the reductions, according to a spokesperson.
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Teladoc reports mixed results following long-time CEO’s departure
The virtual care giant’s earnings were dragged by flagging growth in its BetterHelp segment, which suffered an 11% drop in paying users year over year.
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Molina to challenge Medicaid contract losses in Florida, Virginia
Despite business growth in the first quarter, Molina reiterated its prior 2024 guidance out of caution that it won’t be able to reprocure the contested contracts.
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CHS kicks off 2024 with a net loss as expenses remain high
The health system made progress on controlling expenses by cutting contract labor costs and insourcing physicians, but costs still dragged on earnings.