Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Meditation, Mental Health Tech Firms Headspace And Ginger To Merge
Stat: Headspace And Ginger To Merge Into $3 Billion Company
Headspace and Ginger, two of the most prominent companies in the increasingly competitive mental health space, on Wednesday announced plans to merge. The new company, called Headspace Health, will have a reported value of $3 billion, placing it in the top echelon of companies vying to own significant chunks of the mental health market. (Aguilar, 8/25)
Modern Healthcare: Intermountain Healthcare Raises Minimum Wage To $15
Intermountain Healthcare will increase its minimum wage to $15 for clinical and non-clinical workers effective Sept. 19, the company announced Wednesday. About 2,200 employees who make less than $15 per hour will get a pay boost. Intermountain also will give raises to 12,800 workers who currently earn more than $15 per hour. Most wage hikes will be between 3%-7%, resulting in a total cost of $29 million, according to Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Healthcare. All employees already received raises in April, and some nurses received another in June. (Christ, 8/25)
Modern Healthcare: HCA Opens New Nashville Nursing Campus
HCA Healthcare has expanded its nurse pipeline with a new campus located in its headquarter city of Nashville, Tennessee. The move, announced on Wednesday, marks the third new campus the Galen College of Nursing has opened since being acquired by HCA in January 2020. Other campuses are in Miami and Austin. Galen now has a total of eight campuses, with existing ones in Louisville and Hazard, Kentucky, San Antonio, Texas, Tampa Bay, Florida, and Cincinnati, Ohio. (Ross Johnson, 8/25)
WJCT 89.9 FM Jacksonville: Florida Blue’s Parent Acquiring Puerto Rico Blue Cross Plan In Deal Valued At $900M
Jacksonville-based GuideWell Mutual Holding Corp., the parent company of Florida Blue, announced Tuesday it is acquiring the Blue Cross Blue Shield plan of Puerto Rico called Triple-S Management for $900 million in equity value. GuideWell expects to close on the deal in the first half of 2022 by acquiring all outstanding shares of Triple-S Management common stock for $36 per share in cash. (8/25)
Modern Healthcare: Payers, Patient Advocates Warn Against Overuse Of Arbitration In Surprise Billing Disputes
Patient advocates, unions and business groups are urging President Joe Biden's administration to make clear that arbitration should only be used as a "last resort" in out-of-network billing disputes. In a letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and other cabinet officers, AFL-CIO, the American Benefits Council and dozens of other groups representing large employers, union members and patients expressed concern that providers could abuse the arbitration process under the new surprise billing ban to inflate costs. (Hellmann, 8/25)
