Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Delaware Takes Aim At Hospital Costs And Private Equity
Fierce Healthcare: Delaware Passes Laws On Hospital Price Caps, PE Purchases
A trio of healthcare bills passed through Delaware Governor Matt Meyer’s desk Monday that, among other actions, brings a temporary ban on private equity’s hospital purchases and sets a multi-year phase-in of hospital price caps. The legislation was applauded by the Delaware Healthcare Association (DHA), which had initially pushed back against an earlier iteration of the price caps when that bill was first introduced in March. (Muoio, 7/21)
More healthcare industry news from Colorado and Ohio —
The Colorado Sun: 2 Large Hospital Systems Announce New Partnership In Colorado
Two giants of the Colorado healthcare market — hospital systems AdventHealth and Intermountain Health — announced Tuesday that they are coupling up. (Ingold, 7/21)
Healthcare Dive: Cardinal Inks 2 Acquisitions In Bid To Expand At-Home Services
The Ohio-based company agreed to buy a diabetes health business and medical supplier Strive Medical to boost its growing in-home solutions unit. (Halleman, 7/21)
In other developments from across the U.S. —
CIDRAP: Preemptive Prescribing Of An Antibiotic Significantly Reduced STI Rates At A San Francisco Clinic
A San Francisco sexual health clinic significantly reduced rates of bacterial sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among patients by preemptively prescribing the antibiotic doxycycline for use after unprotected sex (DoxyPEP). (Boden, 7/21)
MPR News: Deaths Of Brainerd Middle Schoolers Prompt Calls To Address Bullying, Mental Health
The Brainerd-Baxter community is grieving after two middle-school students died by suicide within a few weeks. The deaths have sparked difficult conversations about bullying and mental health, along with the roles of schools and communities in protecting young people. (Marohn, 7/22)
Chicago Tribune: July Heat Wave Death Toll Up To 6, Cook County ME Office Says
At least six people in Cook County are dead after successive heat waves blanketed the city in July, marking the area’s deadliest month for heat-related deaths in more than a decade, according to data from the medical examiner’s office. (Hempel-Edgers, 7/21)
Stat: In The Ashes Of Paradise, Researchers Study Health Impact Of Wildfires
About once a month, Alika Maunakea and Ruben Juarez and their staff fly medical equipment from the University of Hawai‘i on O‘ahu to the west side of Maui. On the edge of the Lāhainā burn zone, the two researchers transform the local health center into an impromptu lab. (Chen and Milner, 7/22)
Los Angeles Times: Toddler Bitten By A Rattlesnake Hidden Underneath Amazon Package
A 3-year-old girl’s joy at picking up an Amazon package addressed to her at the family’s rural Santa Clarita home turned to terror last week when she picked it up and became the latest Californian to be bitten by a rattlesnake. The girl is expected to survive. (Garcia, 7/21)
