Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Facebook's Recent Moves Shred Any Myths That It's Not Pushing Into Health Care Landscape Like Its Peers
Stat: 5 People Behind Facebook's Push Into Health Care
When it comes to building out a health business, Facebook is often seen as having much more modest ambitions than its Big Tech competitors. If that was ever true, it’s looking less so now — even as the company faces a backlash over revelations about its use of customers’ personal information. Last week alone, Facebook rolled out a set of maps aimed at aiding the fight against disease outbreaks, while Google’s one-time chief health strategist announced he would join Facebook as its head of health strategy. (Robbins and Thielking, 5/29)
Modern Healthcare: Centene Nabbed Lower WellCare Price Thanks To Market Downturn
A downturn in the market during the fourth quarter of 2018 helped Centene score a better price for WellCare Health Plans, a purchase the companies expect to close in the first half of 2020. The deal price fluctuated widely over the seven months of negotiations, reaching as high as $380 per share, consisting of as much as 55% cash with the rest being shares of Centene common stock, according to the companies' joint proxy statement filed last week. (Livingston, 5/28)
Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Executives Call For Stark Law Reform
Beth Hughes' job involves closely partnering with physicians to sync Sioux City, Iowa-based MercyOne's operations and move the health system forward. But one regulation continues to stand in her way—the Stark law, the president of MercyOne's Western Iowa region said. The anti-kickback statute is meant to curb Medicare and Medicaid spending by prohibiting financial compensation for referrals. But it has impeded new payment models by limiting incentives used to reward progress, providers said, noting that they can incur significant financial penalties even if they didn't intend to violate the Stark law. (Kacik, 5/28)
The Star Tribune: Allina-Aetna Says Its Enrollment Hits 12,000
Allina Health and Aetna Insurance Co. enrolled about 12,000 people in coverage during the first quarter of operations for the firms' joint venture, according to a regulatory filing this month. Membership in the new joint-venture company, which is based in St. Louis Park, was roughly split between people with coverage via employer groups and those with Medicare health plans. (Snowbeck, 5/28)
Kaiser Health News: Not Funny: Midwife Slapped With $4,836 Bill For Laughing Gas During Her Labor
Nurse-midwife Karli-Rae Kerrschneider wanted the same supportive birth experience she promises her own patients — and that included the use of nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, to dull her discomfort. The delivery of the gas during labor has come back in vogue in the U.S. in the past few years as a less invasive alternative to an epidural administered by an anesthesiologist. With a tank in the hospital room, a woman in labor can take breaths of the gas as she needs it. (Weber, 5/29)
