Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Insurers Are Making It Hard To Get At-Home Ventilators
AP: Insurer Delays And Denials Hamper Patients Seeking At-Home Breathing Machines
Lou Gehrig’s disease took away Grace Armant’s ability to speak, but the 84-year-old still has plenty to say about her insurance. UnitedHealthcare has rejected several requests from her doctors for coverage of a machine Armant needs to breathe as she deals with the fatal illness. ... Doctors around the country say UnitedHealthcare and other insurers have made it harder to get coverage for certain home ventilators that patients like Armant need as their lungs fail. (Murphy, 3/9)
Stat: UnitedHealth Quietly Bought Dozens Of Outpatient Centers
UnitedHealth Group quietly acquired dozens of outpatient facilities in 2023, with a particular focus on surgery centers, according to a STAT review of company financial filings. Those acquisitions — nearly all of which the company never announced — build on the network of some 90,000 physicians UnitedHealth Group has amassed in recent years. (Herman, 3/11)
The Washington Post: Social Factors May ‘Disproportionately’ Affect Transplant Process
More than 100,000 people in the United States are on wait lists for an organ transplant. With a shortage of needed organs, transplant centers must choose among hopeful patients, accepting those candidates deemed to have the greatest need and highest chances of success. What many people don’t realize is that medically qualifying for a transplant is just part of that process. (Markovitz, 3/10)
Modern Healthcare: HIMSS 2024: What To Expect In Orlando
The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society’s annual conference is set to commence in Orlando, Florida on Monday. It will be the first HIMSS gathering since the nonprofit health IT advocacy organization sold the industry conference to London-based events company Informa in August. Informa took over operations, sales and marketing of the annual event while HIMSS has continued to shape the show’s content. (Turner, 3/8)
KFF Health News: The Medicare Episode
On this episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” host Dan Weissmann breaks down the complicated and expensive world of Medicare with practical tips to pick the right plan and avoid penalties. (3/11)
