Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Nurse Strike In New York City: Thousands May Participate
Bloomberg: NYC Hospital Nurses Prepare To Strike
Another three New York City hospitals reached tentative contract agreements with unions overnight Friday, leaving about 8,700 nurses still prepared to strike on Monday to protest what they say are unsafe staffing levels. (Coleman-Lochner, 1/7)
CBS News: Some 7,000 Nurses At Two Of NYC's Largest Hospitals Poised To Go On Strike
Nurses at two of New York City's largest hospitals were set to go on strike Monday in a dispute over pay and staffing levels after a weekend of negotiations that has yet to produce a deal for a new contract. The walkout, set to begin at 6 a.m., would involve as many as 3,600 nurses at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan and 3,500 at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. (1/9)
In other industry news —
Axios: Hospitals Vie For "Essential" Designation And More Money To Serve The Poor
With more than half of U.S. hospitals expected to lose money over the last year, some industry groups are pressing the Congress to decide which should be designated "essential" to qualify for more federal funds. Billions of dollars could be on the line. But there's no standard definition of an essential hospital, and many facilities claim to be safety nets. (Dreher, 1/9)
AP: Drugstores Make Slow Headway On Staffing Problems
A rush of vaccines, virus tests and a busy flu season started overwhelming pharmacies more than a year ago, forcing many to temporarily close when workers weren’t available. Major drugstore chains have raised pay and dangled signing bonuses to add employees. They’re also emphasizing the lunch breaks and sending routine prescription work to other locations to improve conditions in their pandemic-battered pharmacies. (Murphy, 1/7)
Health News Florida: More Orthopedists Sell Out To Private Equity Firms, Raising Alarms About Costs And Quality
Dr. Paul Jeffords and his colleagues at Atlanta-based Resurgens Orthopaedics were worried about their ability to survive financially, even though their independent orthopedic practice was the largest in Georgia, with nearly 100 physicians. They nervously watched other physician practices sell out entirely to large hospital systems and health insurers. They refused to consider doing that. (Meyer, 1/6)
Politico: The Fight Over How To Deliver Bad News To Patients
Congress was full of good intentions when it directed the Department of Health and Human Services to make sure patients get their test results as soon as they’re available. But the implementation of that directive has set off a battle between doctors on one side and HHS and patient advocates on the other, and raised a fundamental question: How should patients get bad news? The debate underscores how medicine’s digital transformation is changing the doctor-patient relationship and upending ingrained practices. (Leonard, 1/9)
Anchorage Daily News: Alaska’s Medicaid Backlog Violates Federal And State Law, Attorneys Say
Alaska has violated state and federal law by failing to process Medicaid applications in a timely manner, according to an Anchorage-based civil rights law firm that settled a class-action lawsuit in federal court with the state three years ago. (Maguire, 1/7)
Stat: BioMarin Execs Express Confidence On Hemophilia Gene Therapy
For years, BioMarin CEO Jean-Jacques “J.J.” Bienaime has been saying that Roctavian — the company’s gene therapy to treat hemophilia A — could be the biggest product the biotech firm has ever launched. Based on a meeting with STAT Sunday, his hopes don’t seem to have dimmed a bit despite the regulatory delays the product has faced in the U.S. (Herper, 1/8)
Modern Healthcare: Teladoc Health-Livongo Merger Wraps Up With App Launch At CES
Virtual care provider Teladoc Health is refreshing its app more than two years after acquiring Livongo Health for $18.5 billion. Teladoc introduced the new app at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show conference, held in Las Vegas. The app will provide primary care, mental health and chronic care management services across a single platform in either English or Spanish. (Turner, 1/6)
The Wall Street Journal: AstraZeneca To Buy U.S. Cardiorenal-Drug Maker
Anglo-Swedish pharma giant AstraZeneca PLC has agreed to buy CinCor Pharma Inc., including global rights to its baxdrostat cardiorenal drug, for an upfront transaction value of around $1.3 billion. ... The deal is expected to close in the first quarter.AstraZeneca said the acquisition will bolster its cardiorenal pipeline by adding baxdrostat, an inhibitor that has shown promise in clinical trials lowering blood pressure in treatment-resistant hypertension. (Hoppe, 1/9)
