Oak Street Health posts $510M loss, outlines risks to CVS acquisition

Along with regulatory oversight and concerns about physician attrition due to the transaction, the merger could disrupt Oak Street by hurting relationships with its business partners — including Humana, according to a financial filing.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • March 1, 2023

UHS net income fell in Q4, full year 2022 as labor remained pricey

COVID-19 activity declined significantly through the year, allowing the hospital operator to reduce labor vacancies and stop capping bed capacities at behavioral health hospitals, executives said.

By Hailey Mensik • Feb. 28, 2023

Mayo Clinic’s income cut in half as labor costs climbed in 2022

The health system said contract labor increased 37% compared to the prior year as admissions declined year over year, due to capacity constraints and longer patient stays.

By Samantha Liss • Feb. 28, 2023

Teladoc reports historic net loss of $13.7B in 2022

The loss was mainly due to an impairment charge from the shrinking value of an earlier acquisition, but analysts said that the earnings provide a reset for Teladoc's financial expectations heading into 2023.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Feb. 23, 2023

Amwell fueled R&D expenses as it focused on Converge platform

Annual R&D costs were the highest since Amwell went public in 2020, but costs are expected to decline this year, according to company leadership.

By Sydney Halleman • Feb. 23, 2023

UnitedHealth closes $5.4B buy of home health business LHC

LHC will become part of UnitedHealth’s health services arm Optum to help deliver integrated care, as demand for home and community care increases.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Feb. 22, 2023

Amazon closes $3.9B buy of One Medical

The acquisition, which closed without a challenge from regulators, gives Amazon a footprint in primary care and reinvigorates the company’s long-held plans to sell healthcare services to employers.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Feb. 22, 2023

LHC to delist from Nasdaq, suggesting UnitedHealth could complete acquisition next week

LHC’s delisting, a sign that the deal’s close could be imminent, doesn’t come as a surprise, as the Nasdaq notified the home health provider it wasn’t in compliance with the stock market’s listing standards in January.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Feb. 16, 2023

CHS posts 2022 profit dip on heels of cyber breach

The earnings come two days after CHS announced that it experienced a security breach that potentially exposed the health information of 1 million patients.

By Sydney Halleman • Feb. 16, 2023

Senator blasts Ascension, alleging it runs like private equity fund rather than nonprofit health system

Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., said the system “appears to be evaluating each staffing decision, service line, and hospital location as solely a business decision while seeking to bolster cash to put towards its investment funds.”

By Hailey Mensik • Feb. 15, 2023

Kaiser’s $4.5B loss in 2022 driven by labor expenses, investment losses

Kaiser is the latest non-profit to report annual losses as hospital operators face soaring labor costs, investment losses and rising medical expenses driven by inflation.

By Sydney Halleman • Feb. 13, 2023

Tenet’s net income tumbled in 2022, but labor expenses show signs of easing

The for-profit hospital operator’s profit fell 55% year over year, according to an earnings report out Thursday.

By Hailey Mensik • Feb. 9, 2023

Molina expects contract wins to offset Medicaid losses

The forecast comes as its competitor, Centene, expects to lose as many as 2.2 million Medicaid members when pandemic protections end and states resume eligibility checks.

By Samantha Liss • Feb. 9, 2023

Centene reaches $215M settlement with California

This latest settlement is the largest the payer has reached so far regarding state overcharging allegations.

By Samantha Liss • Feb. 9, 2023

Biden zeroes in on drug costs during State of the Union address

The president called for extending Medicare's $35 insulin price cap to all Americans and blasted “big pharma” for record profits while at the same time “unfairly charging people hundreds of dollars.”

By Shannon Muchmore • Feb. 8, 2023

CVS, Oak Street stump for $10.6B combination by outlining plans for growth

Linking Oak Street with CVS assets could drive new patients to Oak Street. It could also help Aetna retain more MA members and drive greater use of CVS’ pharmacy and PBM, management said Wednesday.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Feb. 8, 2023

CVS buys Oak Street Health for $10.6B

The acquisition is a major development in the strategic positioning of large retailers in the primary care space, analysts said.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Feb. 8, 2023

Private equity notched second-highest year of healthcare dealmaking in 2022, Pitchbook finds

Deal activity is expected to slow in the first half of 2023 amid staffing-related margin pressures, liquidity constraints and a difficult PE fundraising market, according to the market data firm.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Feb. 6, 2023

Cigna addresses MA overhaul, fresh off $6.7B in profit

CEO David Cordani discussed the CMS’ recent changes to the Medicare Advantage program, Cigna’s multibillion-dollar investment in VillageMD and more in the payer’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Friday.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Feb. 3, 2023

CMS issues 2% MA rate hike for 2024

Trade association AHIP said it was “concerned with the potential adverse impact of the rate notice,” especially in light of other recent regulation seeking to claw back overpayments to MA payers.

By Shannon Muchmore • Feb. 2, 2023

Humana expects 14% hike in 2023 MA enrollment as it taps new leaders

The payer said it expects to pick up 625,000 individual Medicare Advantage members in 2023.

By Samantha Liss • Feb. 1, 2023

Consolidated systems charge more for ‘marginally’ better care, study finds

Care delivered by physicians in health systems costs between 12% and 26% higher than care delivered by independent physicians, according to a study published in JAMA Network.

By Hailey Mensik • Feb. 1, 2023

Persistent, heightened labor expenses pummeled hospitals last year, Kaufman Hall reports

Negative margins and heightened labor expenses continued for hospitals in 2022, causing them to suffer their worst financial year since the pandemic began, according to the report.

By Hailey Mensik • Jan. 31, 2023

Addressing 3 pandemic-induced payment integrity challenges

With the right payment integrity approach and finely tuned focus, payers will find the exceptional service execution required to thrive in today’s environment.

By Subrahmanyam Mantha, VP of Payment Integrity, Sagility • Jan. 30, 2023

HCA shares slide after company forecasts drop in 2023 profit

The operator cited widespread inflation and continued effects from the COVID-19 pandemic as potential drags on its guidance this year.

By Sydney Halleman • Jan. 27, 2023