Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Companies Seek Strength In Odd-Couple Partnerships In An Industry Defined By Upheaval
The New York Times: As Health Care Changes, Insurers, Hospitals And Drugstores Team Up
They seem like odd couples: Aetna, one of the nation’s largest health insurers, is in talks to combine with CVS Health, which manages pharmacy benefits. The Cleveland Clinic, a highly regarded health system, joined forces with an insurance start-up, Oscar Health, to offer individuals a health plan in Ohio. Aetna also has new partnerships with large health systems that include hospitals and doctors’ groups in Northern California and Virginia. (Abelson, 11/26)
Modern Healthcare: Providers And Vendors Team Up For User-Friendly EHRs
Electronic health records are notoriously clunky. Vendors, with the help of their provider clients, are out to change that. Such interaction is crucial, given that clinicians spend about half the workday working with EHRs. And many of those hours are during patient encounters. (Arndt, 11/25)
Modern Healthcare: Medical-Device Companies Alpha Source And BC Technical Complete Merger
Medical-device repair company Alpha Source completed the acquisition of imaging system developer BC Technical to create one of the largest independent imaging services and equipment repair companies, the organizations announced Tuesday. The deal will expand Alpha Source's ultrasound and bone density equipment service to include maintenance services and refurbished equipment for CT, MRI and molecular scans. (Kacik, 11/22)
Kaiser Health News: Taken For A Ride? Ambulances Stick Patients With Surprise Bills
One patient got a $3,660 bill for a 4-mile ride. Another was charged $8,460 for a trip from one hospital that could not handle his case to another that could. Still another found herself marooned at an out-of-network hospital, where she’d been taken by ambulance without her consent. These patients all took ambulances in emergencies and got slammed with unexpected bills. Public outrage has erupted over surprise medical bills — generally out-of-network charges that a patient did not expect or could not control — prompting 21 states to pass laws protecting consumers in some situations. (Bailey, 11/27)
Kaiser Health News: Surprise Ambulance Bills: A Consumer’s Guide
What’s a surprise ambulance bill? When the ambulance service that picks you up is out-of-network, your insurer pays what it considers fair. And then — surprise! — the ambulance service sends you a bill for the rest. (Bailey, 11/27)
