Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Employment In Health Care Grew Faster In 2023 Than It Has For 30 Years
Axios: Health Care Jobs Grew At Fastest Rate In Over 30 Years
Health care employment grew at its fastest clip since 1991 last year as the industry's pandemic recovery continued and demand for care picked up. Health care is playing a big role in fueling a strong labor market, even as the industry grapples with high levels of burnout. Health care jobs expanded by 3.9% in 2023, much higher than the 1.5% growth rate across all other industries, according to new Altarum data. (Millman, 2/2)
In other health care industry developments —
Reuters: Cano Health Files For Bankruptcy, Receives $150-Mln Financing Commitment
Cano Health filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware late on Sunday and said it entered into a restructuring support agreement to reduce debt and solicit potential offers, including the sale of the firm. (2/5)
The Boston Globe: Steward Health Care Has Deal To Keep Mass. Hospitals Open For Now
Steward Health Care said Friday that it has secured the financing it needs to keep its Massachusetts hospitals open as it works on a deal to potentially transfer ownership of some medical centers to other companies. In an email sent to its 16,000 Massachusetts employees, Executive Vice President Dr. Michael Callum said Steward had agreed upon the principal terms for a “significant financial transaction,” to stabilize the company, and that the money would begin coming in imminently. (Bartlett, 2/2)
The Boston Globe: Steward Health Care's Texas And Nationwide Sites Share Challenges
Bail us out or we will leave. That was the message from Steward executives, according to Peter Sakai, who leads San Antonio’s Bexar County. Sakai and other local officials who met with the company said the news came too late for them to prevent the closure. ... Steward disputes that local officials were blindsided. But the closure represents an increasingly familiar story for the hospital chain. The for-profit health system has shuttered a number of hospitals in recent years, and its financial woes have now put at risk services for thousands of patients in Massachusetts. (Platoff and Gerber, 2/3)
CBS News: Waukegan Hospital Loses Trauma Center Designation
Vista Medical Center East lost its designation from the Illinois Department of Public Health, and State Sen. Adriane Johnson (D-Buffalo Grove) said this will cause people with serious injuries "to have to be transported to hospitals more than 20 minutes away." "The Waukegan community is facing a detrimental downturn in trauma-focused care with the revocation of Vista Medical Center's trauma center designation. A lack of accessible, reliable, high-quality health care is already the reality for many, and the recent announcement will create even more damage for local residents. Simply put: Without proper intervention, lives will be lost," she said in a statement. (Lawrence, 2/4)
Crain's Chicago Business: Lurie Children's Hospital Network Disrupted By Outage
Lurie Children’s Hospital is now in its third day of a systemwide network outage due to a “cybersecurity matter” that’s disrupting all communication and patient care. Lurie’s said it is working to establish a call center in the meantime to address patient and provider needs. “We are taking this very seriously, are investigating with the support of leading experts, and are working in collaboration with law enforcement agencies,” Julianne Bardele, Lurie’s director of public affairs and communications, said in a text message to Crain’s. (Davis, 2/2)
Crain's Chicago Business: Breaking Down Walgreens' Potential Shields Health Solutions Sale
Walgreens Boots Alliance in recent years has spent billions of dollars on various assets it said would prop up a new healthcare business intended to support the pharmacy chain’s long-term prospects. Shields Health Solutions, a specialty pharmacy firm, was among the companies Deerfield-based Walgreens added to its portfolio. Walgreens paid more than $2.34 billion over two separate investments into Shields, an asset that was supposed to be key to Walgreens’ transition into a full-fledged healthcare company. (Davis, 2/2)
Charlotte Ledger: Atrium Health: A Unit Of ‘Local Government’ Like No Other
To an outsider, Atrium Health might look no different than its Charlotte competitor Novant Health. Like other nonprofit hospital chains nationwide, both have gobbled up community hospitals, specialty clinics and physician practices in their quest to grow. But Atrium has a key advantage: It is a “unit of local government.” (Crouch, 2/5)
On Medicare Advantage —
Modern Healthcare: Cigna To Focus On Evernorth Services Amid Medicare Advantage Sale
Two days after announcing it would sell its Medicare business, Cigna Group outlined plans to double down on growth opportunities for its Evernorth Health Services unit. Cigna CEO David Cordani told analysts on the company's fourth-quarter earnings call Friday it is looking to grow Evernorth's reach with health plan partners and remains interested in investments in digital-first and data-led capabilities. It also expects to benefit from the continued growth of Medicare Advantage, despite its pending exit, by offering pharmacy benefits to these plans. (Berryman, 2/2)
Stat: Devoted Health’s Losses In Medicare Advantage Persist
Devoted Health has been one of the most prominent health insurance and provider startups of the past decade — founded and overseen by several alumni of former President Barack Obama’s administration. But it has not turned a profit after five years of selling Medicare Advantage plans to older adults, according to a STAT analysis of Devoted’s financial filings. And Devoted isn’t sharing many details about its progress, either. (Herman, 2/5)
Stat: The Two-Midnight Rule Is Changing Medicare Advantage Finances
Starting this year, private Medicare plans have to cover their members’ hospitalizations at the higher inpatient rate if their doctors predict they’ll have to stay beyond two midnights. It’s the same rule — appropriately called the two-midnight rule — that traditional Medicare has followed for a decade. After it came out that Medicare Advantage plans were routinely denying coverage for necessary services, the federal government decided they ought to be held to the same standard, at least when it comes to hospital care. (Bannow, 2/5)
