Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
More Hospitals, Health Care Investors Pull Out Their Pocketbooks
Modern Healthcare: Mayo Clinic, Kaiser Permanente Invest $100 Million In Hospital-At-Home Model
Mayo Clinic and Kaiser Permanente invested $100 million in Medically Home as they map out a national blueprint for complex in-home care, the organizations announced Thursday. The hospital-at-home model can treat routine infections to chronic diseases, including emergency care, cancer, acute COVID-19 cases, infusions, lab and imaging tests, rehabilitation, behavioral health and transfusions. Nurses, physician assistants and community paramedics will deliver in-person care with the help of a 24/7 command center staffed by clinicians and an integrated care team. (Kacik, 5/13)
Georgia Health News: Rapidly Growing Piedmont Seeks Deal With Augusta System
Piedmont Healthcare, fresh off a deal to buy four hospitals from HCA, is looking to continue its expansion into new areas of Georgia. The Atlanta-based system announced Wednesday that it has signed a letter of intent with University Health Care System in Augusta, exploring the possibility of adding it to the Piedmont family. University includes three hospital campuses, three nursing homes and nine urgent care facilities. Its main asset is University Hospital, with more than 500 beds. (Miller, 5/12)
Stat: Ginkgo Plans A $17.5 Billion Merger With SPAC That Took DraftKings Public
Ginkgo Bioworks, one of the hottest biotech startups in Massachusetts, said Tuesday that it plans to go public through a merger with a so-called blank check company backed by Harry Sloan and Jeff Sagansky, the veteran media industry executives who helped take the Boston sports-betting company DraftKings public last year. The deal values Ginkgo at $15 billion, making the merger one of the biggest of its kind. (Saltzman and Gardizy, 5/12)
San Francisco Chronicle: Hyatt Hotel Heir Donates $60 Million For UCSF Psychiatric Hospital
Hyatt Hotel heir John Pritzker was 19 when his older sister took her own life in 1972. The family didn’t discuss or even mention her mental illness for years. And that is the motivation behind the planned Nancy Friend Pritzker Psychiatry Building in San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood. The Lisa and John Pritzker Family Fund has donated $60 million toward construction of a five-story structure a block from UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. (Whiting, 5/12)
Modern Healthcare: Aetna Launches Virtual Group Therapy Series For Women
Aetna has launched a virtual group therapy program for women, as part of its work to increase behavioral health access to populations disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Throughout the month of May, the insurer will host six free, virtual group therapy sessions for women-identifying enrollees, under a program named Here 4 U. These sessions will be led by an experienced mental health professional and are aimed at creating a space for beneficiaries to anonymously share how COVID-19 has impacted them. (Tepper, 5/12)
In related news —
Oklahoman: Tax Exemption Will Boost Training For Oklahoma Medical Professionals
A new state law that creates a sales tax exemption for the University Hospitals Authority and Trust will grant OU Health funding to train more medical professionals. The law recently approved by the Oklahoma Legislature and Gov. Kevin Stitt restores a sales tax exemption that will allow the health system to train 160 additional nursing graduates and nurse practitioners annually and 70 additional medical residents within three years. State lawmakers and University of Oklahoma officials said Senate Bill 79 will help address Oklahoma's nurse and physician shortage and improve medical care across the state. (Forman, 5/12)
Stat: How Cityblock Is Tapping Into Tech To Better Care For Medicaid Patients
Health tech startup Cityblock Health, with its mission of delivering stepped-up primary care to Medicaid patients, is finding its footing in the very cracks that the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed. It’s leveraging its signature technology to help this highly marginalized population. (Chakradhar, 5/12)
Stat: There’s A Gold Rush In Health Tech. Here’s How Smart Money Stays Ahead
Investors are pouring into the health tech sector, with venture funding roughly doubling in 2020. That’s good for individual companies, but when valuations begin to depart from reality, it takes discerning investors to pick winners in the space. “It wasn’t always such a clear return profile, and there was a lot of skepticism,” Deena Shakir, a partner at Lux Capital, said Wednesday at the STAT Health Tech Summit. “But now everyone’s jumping on the train.” (Garde, 5/12)
Stat: The Many Benefits Of Expanding State All-Payer Claims Databases
Appointments to the newly created State All Payer Claims Databases Advisory Committee in March were an encouraging sign, because these databases offer policymakers, researchers, and other stakeholders ready access to comprehensive, easy-to-analyze, longitudinal information on the use of health care services and their costs. Including information from self-insured employers would make them even more valuable tools. (Freedman, 5/13)
KHN: You’ve Added Your Kids To Your Health Plan. What About Mom?
When Laura Chavez’s 74-year-old mom needed eye surgery last month, Chavez paid cash for the procedure. The cost? $15,000 — and that was for just one eye. She couldn’t afford both. Her mom, Esperanza Chavez, doesn’t qualify for Medicare because of her immigration status. And she can’t find a private health insurance plan under $1,000 a month. (Young, 5/13)
