Congress eyes tackling healthcare consolidation

“I think there’s common ground here,” one Republican congressman said during a House Budget Committee hearing. Squaring up against healthcare monopolies would be a major pivot for the GOP.

Small business health insurance coverage at risk as costs rise, EBRI finds

Even as overall employer-based coverage increased in the U.S., small companies pulled back.

UnitedHealth pledges to return ACA profits to customers

The announcement came one day before CEO Stephen Hemsley testified on healthcare affordability in front of two congressional committees.

Amazon launches health AI chatbot for One Medical members

The assistant, which can answer health questions and help schedule appointments, comes on the heels of other health-focused AI tools from OpenAI and Anthropic.

ECRI names misuse of AI chatbots as top health tech hazard for 2026

The nonprofit said technologies like ChatGPT have suggested incorrect diagnoses, invented body parts and otherwise provided information that could lead to harm.

Community Health Systems to sell Alabama hospital for $450M

The for-profit hospital giant has been aggressively divesting assets as it looks to pare down debt. With the sale of Crestwood Medical Center, CHS has passed its $1 billion target for divestitures, one analyst noted.

Healthcare False Claims settlements reached record $5.7B in 2025

The healthcare fraud settlements under the False Claims Act last year more than tripled the amount from 2024.

Acadia Healthcare rehires former CEO amid financial, legal challenges

Debra Osteen, the behavioral healthcare provider’s CEO from December 2018 through March 2022, will take up the post again effective immediately. The company’s stock has declined nearly 70% over the past year.

Intuitive says general surgery, acute care fuel US robot momentum

CEO Dave Rosa said a strong rollout for the da Vinci 5 surgical robot in 2025 exceeded expectations, with the system driving greater utilization than the earlier Xi model.

Hospital M&A declined in 2025 amid policy uncertainty, financial stress: report

More than 43% of transactions announced last year included a financially distressed party — a record high, according to Kaufman Hall.

Trinity Health to lay off 10.5% of revenue cycle headcount

The Michigan-based health system said financial headwinds, including heightened costs, low reimbursement from payers and federal policy changes, motivated the cuts.

Medicare Advantage overpayments will total $76B this year: MedPAC

The findings are “very depressing,” one commissioner said. Still, it’s a smaller sum than in 2025, thanks to the continued phase-in of a new risk adjustment model.

MedPAC steps away from advocating doctor pay be tied to inflation

The advisory group wants Congress to approve a 0.5 percentage point increase for doctors in Medicare next year. But some commissioners dissented over MedPAC’s about-face on underlying payment reform.

HCA names new chief nurse executive

Erica Rossitto succeeds Sammie Mosier, HCA’s previous chief nurse executive who died in December.

Trump unveils healthcare affordability plan

The “Great Healthcare Plan” is vague, but would send money directly to ACA enrollees and entrench Trump’s drug pricing deals.

Kaiser affiliates to pay $556M to resolve Medicare Advantage fraud allegations

The Justice Department claims some Kaiser health plans submitted invalid diagnostic codes to reap higher reimbursement from Medicare. It’s the largest settlement linked to MA upcoding to date, according to one law firm.

Hospital-at-home programs face uncertainty as another deadline looms

The Acute Hospital Care at Home Program could lapse on Jan. 30 without congressional action, creating significant administrative complexity for providers, experts say.

Utilization, intensity drove US health spending to $5.3T in 2024: CMS

The U.S. spent 7.2% more on healthcare in 2024. Most of the acceleration was because of greater use and intensity of medical goods and services, not growth in healthcare prices, CMS actuaries said.