Mass General Brigham’s plan to slash millions in costs gets green light

The Latest

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  AHA asks HHS to delay Oct. 6 deadline for information blocking compliance

  Health groups must start sharing health information electronically as regulators seek to make it easier for consumers to access their health data. But groups warn they’re not prepared to meet the deadline.

  Hospitals

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  Nebraska awards Medicaid managed care contracts to 3 insurers

  The health plans, selected from a field of five, will receive five-year contracts.

  Payer

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  NYT investigation finds Providence pressured poor patients to pay

  The report raises questions about how much charity care Providence provides. Last year, the health system spent less than 1% of its expenses on free or reduced care for patients.

  Hospitals

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  Moody’s downgrades Envision, citing high bankruptcy risk

  The private equity-owned physician staffing firm faces a deteriorating operating performance that could deplete its cash by the end of 2023, the rating agency warned.

  Payer

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  Overturning of Roe v. Wade

  Tracking state abortion bans in the US

  Abortion is legal in Ohio until Oct. 12 after a county judge issued an additional 14-day injunction against the state’s near-total ban.

  Updated 14 hours ago

  Government

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  CommonSpirit posts $1.3B full-year operating loss

  It’s the latest system to report that pressures from inflation and expenses are outpacing revenue growth.

  Hospitals

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  DOJ’s case against UnitedHealth’s Change buy was hampered by ‘serious flaws,’ judge finds

  The most serious flaws were failing to prove that UnitedHealth is likely to misuse Change Healthcare’s data to advantage the company, Judge Carl Nichols wrote.

  Payer

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  Tracker

  Strikes among healthcare workers in 2022

  A strike among 1,400 healthcare workers at six KPC facilities in Southern California was averted after the two sides reached an agreement Sunday, the day before the planned work stoppage.

  Updated Sept. 26, 2022

  Hospitals

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  Texas Medical Association files another lawsuit over surprise billing ban

  “We are, once again, asking for the law to be followed as Congress intended, and for the challenged provisions to be invalidated,” TMA’s president said.

  Hospitals

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  Violence against emergency room physicians is on the rise, survey finds

  Two-thirds of emergency room physicians reported being assaulted in the past year alone.

  Hospitals

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  COVID-19 testing startup Curative pivots to health plan offering

  The plan will offer $0 copays and $0 deductibles to employers in the Austin, Texas, area after a baseline health visit is conducted.

  Payer

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  Bipartisan Senate bill aims to boost mental health access, improve worker shortages

  The legislation comes as the Biden Administration aims to tackle the country’s worsening mental health crisis, which was exacerbated by the pandemic.

  Hospitals

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  Watchdog faults FDA for rushing COVID tests to market by easing emergency use rules

  The HHS Office of Inspector General found that by loosening emergency use authorization requirements to bring COVID-19 tests to market faster, the agency allowed inaccurate tests to be distributed.

  Government

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  Doctor, hospital lobbies move to dismiss lawsuit over surprise billing ban

  The groups hinted that another lawsuit may be on the way despite the bid to dismiss the original claims.

  Hospitals

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  Opinion

  Will the healthcare labor shortage fuel more consolidation?

  J.P. Morgan’s head of healthcare corporate client banking lays out trends to consider as private equity firms snap up physician groups.

  Medical Groups

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  Centene to pay Texas $166M in latest state settlement

  Of the settlements made public, the insurer’s settlements so far total at least $462.7 million.

  Payer

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  Emotional exhaustion worse for healthcare workers in second year of pandemic, research finds

  Nurses reported feeling more emotionally exhausted during the pandemic, with physicians also noticing an increase. The report comes as some nurses fight for better working conditions.

  Hospitals

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  HHS ‘roadmap’ aims to tackle nation’s mental health crisis

  The initiative prioritizes integrating behavioral health services into primary and other specialty care areas as well as community-based settings like schools.

  Government

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  Majority of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable, CDC says

  Mental health conditions were the No. 1 cause of pregnancy-related mortality, the agency said.

  Government

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  Judge denies DOJ’s move to block $13B UnitedHealth, Change deal

  The judge’s ruling follows a trial in which the DOJ argued that UnitedHealth’s bid for Change would disadvantage rivals and result in higher costs, lower quality and less innovative commercial health insurance.

  Payer

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  Fitch cuts Lifespan’s outlook to negative after weak Q3

  The credit rating agency’s downgrade for Rhode Island’s largest health system is another sign of mounting financial pressures on hospitals.

  Hospitals

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  Health sector causes 10% of greenhouse gas emissions, report finds

  The congressional report also found a majority of health systems surveyed had been affected by an extreme weather event.

  Hospitals

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  Healthcare saw less job loss than other industries during pandemic, research finds

  During the pandemic, unemployment rates among healthcare workers rose to 3.2% while those for non-healthcare workers rose to 6.1%, according to research published Monday in JAMA.

  Hospitals

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  Deep Dive

  Healthcare industry’s resiliency to surging inflation is poised to ebb

  Healthcare costs — unlike other goods and services — haven’t experienced immediate price increases amid record inflation. That’s starting to change.

  Hospitals

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  Providence plans $712M Southern California expansion

  The announcement comes on the heels of a restructuring plan and a $934 million operating loss during the first half of this year.

  Hospitals

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