Government: Page 20


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    Sponsored by Point Click Care

    Navigating government affairs in healthcare: Driving quality improvements

    In healthcare, serving people is the real Job 1. But we can only do that job effectively through a relentless focus on quality.

    By Bill Charnetski, PointClickCare Executive Vice President of Health System Solutions & Government Affairs • Sept. 9, 2024
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    FTC opposes Indiana’s first hospital merger under controversial COPA law

    Federal antitrust regulators are asking Indiana to block Union Hospital and HCA-owned Terre Haute Regional Hospital’s request for a certificate of public advantage, which allows states to greenlight potentially problematic mergers.

    By Sept. 6, 2024
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    Mississippi awards Medicaid contracts to Centene, Molina, TrueCare

    The Magnolia State has finally issued new contracts for its Medicaid managed care program, two years later than intended after UnitedHealth and Elevance challenged the awards following unsuccessful bids.

    By Sept. 5, 2024
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    Win McNamee/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    ARPA-H program to focus on AI degradation in medical tools

    The agency will fund work to identify and auto-correct AI-enabled tools that are misaligned with their underlying training data.

    By Nick Paul Taylor • Sept. 3, 2024
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    PBM executives threatened with fines and jail time for alleged perjury in House hearing

    Testimony from the heads of Express Scripts, Optum Rx and Caremark in July defending pharmacy benefit managers’ business practices could be coming back to bite them.

    By Aug. 29, 2024
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    HHS withdraws appeal in online tracking lawsuit

    The dismissal is a win for providers, who argued federal regulators’ guidance on online trackers would limit their ability to share health information with their patients.

    By Updated Aug. 30, 2024
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    Semaglutide coverage for weight loss could cost Medicare billions: study

    If all newly eligible patients received semaglutide, Medicare Part D spending could increase by $34 billion to $145 billion each year, according to new research.

    By Aug. 27, 2024
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    OIG estimates 1 in 4 for-profit nursing homes not complying with infection control staffing rules

    Facilities reported challenges hiring and retaining qualified infection prevention personnel, according to the analysis by the HHS’ Office of Inspector General.

    By Aug. 26, 2024
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    National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. (2020). "Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2" [Image]. Retrieved from Flickr.
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    Updated COVID shots from Pfizer, Moderna cleared by FDA

    The approval of both vaccines, designed to better match the coronavirus strains currently circulating, comes just ahead of the fall and winter seasons.

    By Ned Pagliarulo • Aug. 22, 2024
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    Surprise Billing

    CMS has received 12K complaints of No Surprises noncompliance; won $1.7M in restitution

    The most common complaints against providers were for surprise billing, while the top complaints for health plans included incorrectly calculating qualifying payment amounts.

    By Aug. 22, 2024
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    Michael M. Santiago / Staff via Getty Images
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    New Jersey to erase $100M of medical debt

    Nearly 50,000 residents will see their debt forgiven. The initiative comes as other states and federal regulators have moved to lessen the burden of medical debt.

    By Aug. 22, 2024
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    The image by Renegomezphotography is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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    Judge strikes down FTC noncompete ban nationwide

    Obviating the ban has big implications for U.S. healthcare, an industry that frequently relies on noncompetes to lock medical workers into employment agreements with hospitals, insurers and other employers.

    By Ryan Golden , Aug. 21, 2024
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    Humana pays $90M to settle whistleblower allegations of Medicare Part D fraud

    The insurer, which did not admit wrongdoing, agreed to the deal on the eve of a jury trial.

    By Aug. 20, 2024
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    FTC noncompete ban suffers another blow

    The ruling — which applies only to one Florida-based real estate broker — comes just weeks before the ban is slated to take effect.

    By Ryan Golden • Aug. 19, 2024
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    Tracking Steward's decline

    Massachusetts makes deal to force Steward hospital sales

    Gov. Maura Healey’s office has brokered agreements for Steward to sell five hospitals to other operators, ensuring they’ll remain open as the health system’s bankruptcy proceedings drag on.

    By Aug. 19, 2024
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    Court strikes down HHS change to low-income payment formula in win for Texas hospitals

    The case centered on whether patients who receive funds from a pool of state money for uncompensated care could be included in calculating hospitals’ disproportionate share funding.

    By Aug. 19, 2024
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    Alex Wong via Getty Images
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    Medicare drug price cuts could have limited early impact, but grow with time

    Some industry watchers described the level of price discounts announced by Medicare as a "relief," though they warned of bigger future implications for drug research.

    By Jonathan Gardner • Aug. 16, 2024
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    Texas sues Biden administration over nursing home staffing mandate

    It’s the latest legal challenge against the mandate finalized this spring, which requires long-term care facilities to provide at least 3.48 hours of care per resident each day.

    By Aug. 15, 2024
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    Scott Olson via Getty Images
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    Medicare reveals results of drug price negotiations

    The agency said the first round of pricing talks, which involved drugs like the blood thinners Eliquis and Xarelto, will result in $6 billion in savings for taxpayers.

    By Ned Pagliarulo • Aug. 15, 2024
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    Overturning of Roe v. Wade

    Texas women say hospitals violated EMTALA by denying emergency abortions

    The patients’ complaints to the HHS allege two Texas hospitals denied them emergency abortion care for ectopic pregnancies, risking their lives and damaging their future fertility.

    By Aug. 13, 2024
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    Sarah Silbiger via Getty Images
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    In tone-setting verdict, FDA rejects MDMA as a therapy aid for PTSD

    The decision to turn down an application comes at a pivotal time for psychedelics research, which has recently gained momentum after decades of dismissal.

    By Jacob Bell • Updated Aug. 9, 2024
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    Rebecca Pifer/Healthcare Dive
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    CMS finalizes notice on Medicare coverage for breakthrough devices

    The CMS will consider five medical device candidates yearly for national coverage through the new pathway, called Transitional Coverage for Emerging Technologies.

    By Elise Reuter • Aug. 8, 2024
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    Uninsured rate jumps to 8.2% amid Medicaid unwinding: CDC

    Growth in the nation’s uninsured rate could become steeper if subsidies in the Affordable Care Act exchanges expire on schedule next year, according to health policy experts.

    By Aug. 7, 2024
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    Surprise Billing

    Appeals court hands providers latest win in No Surprises litigation

    The 5th Circuit Court’s decision vacates instructions that arbiters should first consider the qualifying payment amount in deciding payments over contested out-of-network bills. Providers argued that unfairly advantaged insurers.

    By Aug. 6, 2024
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    Karen Ducey/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    Experts fear patient harm from FDA’s lab developed test rule

    Decreased access to diagnostic tests, worsening patient care and practice closures are among the concerns the AMA and others have raised as the regulation takes effect.

    By Susan Kelly • Aug. 5, 2024