Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Report: Medicare Spent $380M On Organs Never Used In Medicare-Covered Transplants
MedPage Today: Medicare Paid $380 Million On Organs Never Used For Enrollees
Medicare paid an estimated $380 million over a 6-year period for acquiring organs that weren't transplanted in Medicare enrollees because of conflicting federal program rules, according to a report from the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG). (Frieden, 9/9)
More Medicare news —
Axios: Medicare Advantage Plans Appear To Be Cutting Benefits In 2027
Next year is shaping up to be tumultuous for Medicare Advantage as insurers continue to shore up their profits. Benefit cuts and insurer exits from certain markets mean more upheaval for seniors — and right before the midterm elections. (Owens, 9/10)
Axios: Medicare Drug Coverage Faces An Ominous Spending Outlook
There are troubling new signs that the overhaul of Medicare drug coverage in the Inflation Reduction Act is dramatically driving up program spending. (Bettelheim, 9/9)
In other healthcare industry developments —
Chicago Tribune: Weiss Memorial Hospital Loses Illinois Hospital License
Weiss Memorial Hospital has lost its Illinois hospital license, even as its owners and community leaders continue to discuss plans to reopen the facility. (Schencker, 9/9)
Modern Healthcare: Trinity Health To Cut More Than 550 IT Roles
Trinity Health will cut 557 positions this fall. Affected jobs include analysts, desk support, engineers and system administrators, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed in Michigan last week. Phased layoffs will occur in October and November, according to the notice. (Hudson, 9/8)
Modern Healthcare: University Of Iowa Health Care Drops $2B Patient Tower Plan
University of Iowa Health Care is scrapping its $2 billion-plus patient tower project and will instead upgrade existing facilities, the system said Wednesday. Financial headwinds and an increased need for updated facilities and additional patient beds sooner led to the decision, the system said in a Wednesday news release. The tower project, which began in June 2025, was slated to be completed in 2032. The upgrades will cost an estimated $400 million and take about four years to complete, a spokesperson for UI Health Care said. (DeSilva, 9/9)
Modern Healthcare: CVS Health Faces More Hospital 340B Payment Lawsuits
A growing number of hospitals have sued CVS Health over the 340B Drug Pricing Program, looking to recoup nearly $300 million from the insurer, pharmacy benefit manager and pharmacy operator. A Froedtert Health hospital in Milwaukee sued CVS last month for allegedly keeping 340B money that should’ve gone to the hospital. The complaint mirrors four lawsuits brought by nonprofit hospital systems since May. A CVS Health spokesperson said in a statement the company plans to vigorously defend itself against the Froedtert lawsuit. (Kacik, 9/9)
Bloomberg: UnitedHealth Sells Interest In Florida WellMed Clinics To TPG
UnitedHealth Group Inc. has sold an interest in some of its Optum Health operations in Florida to private equity company TPG Inc. as the health conglomerate is working to recover from a collapse in profits last year. “We didn’t need the dollars, we have the dollars to invest, but we needed the focus and somebody that could actually work with us locally,” UnitedHealth Chief Financial Officer Wayne DeVeydt said in an interview with Bloomberg News. Working with TPG will allow the business to grow more quickly than it would be able to if UnitedHealth were running everything while also executing a broader turnaround, he said. (Swetlitz, 9/9)
Modern Healthcare: Molina, Centene Squeezed By State Medicaid Cuts For Immigrants
States are rolling back health coverage for undocumented immigrants — and pressuring health insurance finances in the process. Changes in federal policy related to President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and the Medicaid cuts in his tax law are driving states to remove immigrants from the rolls or shift them from Medicaid managed care into the fee-for-service program. It’s going to cost companies such as Centene, Molina Healthcare and CalOptima more than $1 billion, the companies project. (Tepper, 9/9)
MedPage Today: ADA Says Its Investigation Of Meeting Controversy Isn't Done Yet
Just a few days after the American Diabetes Association (ADA) announced that it completed its investigation into events that occurred at its annual meeting in June, it now says the work isn't done. Over the Labor Day weekend, the ADA issued a statement that its audit and governance committee, which conducted the investigation at the request of the board of directors, will provide "additional information" to the board that "may clarify or correct the information previously provided and could result in further actions by the Board." (Fiore, 9/9)
Modern Healthcare: How Duke Health, Stryker Use Apple Vision Pro In Hip Surgery
A Duke Health orthopedic surgeon recently used augmented reality to replace the physical monitors he normally relies on during a hip arthroscopy, a shift that could improve the surgical workflow and reduce costs. Stryker Corp.’s SportSuite Vision, which received De Novo authorization from the Food and Drug Administration in July, is an application for the Apple Vision Pro that brings the video captured by a tiny camera inserted through a small cut into a joint, CT images and other surgical information into the headset. The surgeon can arrange and view that information in their field of vision and manipulate a 3D model of the hip in real time. (Dubinsky, 9/9)
Also —
The New York Times: CCRCs Are Expanding Retirement Home Care To Seniors’ Own Homes
Not a single step interrupts the path, lined with thyme, to the front door of Joan Brasier’s ranch house in Asheville, N.C. With its remodeled primary bath and easy-to-clean surfaces, Ms. Brasier intends to stay in her home with her husband, Paul Wilczynski, for the foreseeable future. It’s the unforeseeable, though, that has worried them. She and Mr. Wilczynski, both retired, want to travel. But they were concerned about spending money for fun today that they may need for care tomorrow, even though their careful calculations showed they could most likely afford it. (Cleaver, 9/6)
KFF Health News: When A Friend Becomes A Caregiver
For several years, Nicole Straight and Patricia Wood, who lived across the street from each other in Sausalito, California, were more neighbors than friends, exchanging sociable greetings and occasionally having coffee. Then, last October, Wood took a fall, broke her neck, and spent three months in rehabilitation. When she returned to the house she shares with her niece, she couldn’t walk without assistance. “I still don’t dare go up and down stairs unless someone is with me,” said Wood, 93. (Span, 9/10)
