Breaking News in Healthcare Reform
Snippets of news & commentary with a special focus on
health policy, Medicare for All & California
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“…this increase in the use of the [Independent Dispute Resolution] process suggests that certain providers and hospitals may be attempting to exploit the arbitration process solely to increase profits.”
No Surprises Act Prevented 10 Million Surprise Bills in 2023, Survey Finds
Healthcare Finance News | Jeff Lagasse | February 2, 2024
“The administration’s newly finalized rules will require insurance companies who work in federal programs to speed up the approval process and make decisions within 72 hours for urgent requests.”
‘Make Money by Denying Care’: New US Rules Aim to Curb Use of Approval by Private Health Insurances
The Guardian | Jessica Glenza | February 2, 2024
“…why not solve the problem by eliminating all privatization, including billions in tax subsidies and overcharges which bring no value to health care delivery?”
High Costs Are Dooming Traditional Medicare
CounterPunch | Ed Grystar | February 2, 2024
“…this is not about market power. This is people’s health and lives that are being bought and sold. That’s extortion. It is doable because those hospital systems bought up physician practices (often using capital from private equity)….”
Dr. Michael Fine: What’s Crazy About Health Insurance and Private Equity
Whats Up Newp | Michael Fine, MD | February 1, 2024
“Democratic Assemblymember Corey Jackson … is proposing asking voters to change California’s Constitution to allow the state to fund programs aimed at ‘increasing the life expectancy of, improving educational outcomes for, or lifting out of poverty specific groups based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, or marginalized genders, sexes, or sexual orientations.’”
California Introduces First-in-Nation Slavery Reparations Package
Politico | Lara Korte | January 31, 2024
“The changing attitudes could reshape health care in the South by allowing nearly half a million uninsured people to obtain coverage, improving the finances of some of the nation’s most beleaguered hospitals and helping communities with high rates of chronic disease, maternal mortality and avoidable deaths.”
‘The Politics Have Changed’: South Warms to Expanded Health Benefits
Politico | Megan Messerly | January 31, 2024
“MA’s profitability may be shrinking…. Between 2019 and 2022, the profit margin in MA declined from 4.9% to 3.4%, while earnings per member declined 28%.”
Medicare Advantage Profitability is Declining, Moody’s Says
Healthcare Dive | Emily Olsen | January 30, 2024
“…the history of emergency medicine is bound up in the experiences of Black and Latinx communities’ exclusion from the health care setting.’”
The Emergency Room Is Where The United States’ Social Problems Come Home to Roost
STAT News | Uché Blackstock | January 30, 2024
“…the Biden administration’s plans have been met with lawsuits by drug companies that have products up for negotiation. Merck, Johnson & Johnson, Bristol Myers Squibb, AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk, Novartis and Boehringer Ingelheim are all in the process of suing to halt the negotiation process.”
Will Medicare Push Drug Prices Down in 2024?
Newsweek | Aliss Higham | January 29, 2024
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