Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Slow Medicare Coverage Legislation Leads To Telehealth Disruption Alerts
Stat: Telehealth Providers Warn Of Care Disruptions As Deadline Looms
Around November, Kivo Health, a telehealth provider of pulmonary rehabilitation services, will need to start warning older patients that their sessions may not be covered by Medicare in the new year. (Aguilar, 7/29)
Modern Healthcare: Centene Eyes Medicaid Expansions As Membership Dips
Leading Medicaid insurer Centene aims to expand into additional states after losing millions of members during the eligibility redeterminations process, CEO Sarah London said Friday. During the second quarter, Centene's Medicaid enrollment fell 18.2% to 13.1 million as states neared the end of a year-plus effort to unwind federal continuous coverage rules enacted to preserve benefits during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the insurer's remaining Medicaid enrollees proved costlier than expected, Centene reported Friday. (Berryman, 7/26)
Modern Healthcare: Steward Health Care To Close 2 Massachusetts Hospitals
Steward Health Care plans to shut down two Massachusetts hospitals next month, bringing the total number of closures in the commonwealth this year to three. ... A Steward spokesperson said in a statement issued Friday the organization is in final negotiations to sell six Massachusetts hospitals but could not find buyers for Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer. In April the system closed a rehabilitation hospital in Stoughton. (Kacik, 7/26)
Asheville Watchdog: Coalition Wants HCA To Give Up Mission Hospital
A broad coalition of western North Carolina doctors, patient advocates, clergy members, a state senator and others are calling on HCA Healthcare to give up the Mission Health network, decrying the level of care it has provided since its $1.5 billion purchase in 2019. (Jones, 7/27)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Mercy Health Paid Former Top Exec $1M After His Departure
Mercy Health paid former executive Donn Sorensen almost $1 million in 2022 after his departure from the Chesterfield-based health care giant, recently released tax documents show. This was in addition to the combined total of nearly $7 million he received over the previous two years. (Barker, 7/26)
Also —
CBS News: UC Davis Health Diagnosing More Lung Cancer At Stage 1 Than Ever Before Thanks To Breakthrough Technologies
Breakthrough technology is helping UC Davis Health treat more cases of lung cancer in its earliest stages. It's the first hospital system in Northern California to marry two cutting-edge advanced imaging technologies that make finding abnormalities in the lungs faster and safer. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths nationwide, expected to take the lives of 125,000 Americans this year alone. ... "This is the Cios Spin, here. What it does is take 3D images of the patient's lungs," said Dr. Chinh Phan, showing CBS13 the machine. (Sharp, 7/26)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Cadavers That 'Bleed' And 'Breathe' Lead To Surgical Simulation Center Planned For St. Louis
Aspiring surgeons and medical devices have long been tested on cadavers, but this experience doesn’t translate to living patients. Now, a Missouri company has figured out how to make bodies bleed, breathe and handle like a live person. (DeSalvio, 7/26)
