Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
UnitedHealthcare Reaches Agreement With Cancer Center Over Coverage
CNN: Insurer And Cancer Center Reach Agreement In Contract Dispute That Left Thousands Of Patients In Limbo
Tuesday morning, the nation’s largest insurance company, UnitedHealthcare and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center announced they had reached a multi-year agreement that will allow some 19,000 UnitedHealthcare and Oxford health plan customers to remain in-network for their cancer care. (Goodman, 7/1)
Modern Healthcare: Ascension Sells 4 Hospitals To Beacon Health System
Ascension Health has sold four Michigan hospitals to Beacon Health System. The transaction closed Tuesday and includes four hospitals — Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo, Borgess Allegan in Allegan, Borgess-Lee in Dowagiac and Borgess-Pipp in Plainwell — plus 35 outpatient clinics and an ambulatory surgery center, according to a Tuesday news release from Beacon. Beacon is rebranding the Ascension Southwest Michigan hospitals to Beacon Kalamazoo, Beacon Allegan, Beacon Dowagiac and Beacon Plainwell. (Hudson, 7/1)
Modern Healthcare: Sharp HealthCare Layoffs To Hit 315 Employees
Sharp HealthCare will lay off 315 employees and reduce executive pay as the nonprofit health system grapples with rising costs and reimbursement pressure. The layoffs largely affect nonclinical workers, including senior leadership, and amount to 1.5% of its workforce, the San Diego, California-based system said in a statement Monday. Sharp President and CEO Chris Howard plans to reduce his compensation by 25%, and other senior executives will take a 15% pay cut. (Kacik, 7/1)
Modern Healthcare: Health Systems Are Restructuring Leadership To Save On Costs
Health systems are revamping leadership teams and organizational structures to operate more efficiently, but some may fall for a short-sighted cash grab if restructuring isn’t handled carefully. Reimbursement pressures and potential funding cuts are leading many systems to rethink their governance models and trim their ranks. At the same time, growing industry consolidation and an aging workforce are leading to executive reshuffling. (Kacik and Hudson, 7/1)
Modern Healthcare: How Mass General Brigham Is Testing Virtual Reality For Training
Hospitals are experimenting with virtual reality headsets to better train staff on infection-control procedures by keeping portable equipment clean. About one in 31 patients in acute care hospitals, inpatient rehabilitation facilities and long-term acute care hospitals contract those infections every day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC and other federal agencies such as Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are working to develop tools, recommendations and programs for infection-prevention strategies. Health systems are too. (Dubinsky, 7/1)
In pharma and tech updates —
AP: Anne Wojcicki's Nonprofit Gets Court Approval To Buy 23andMe For $305 Million
Anne Wojcicki’s bid to buy 23andMe, the genetic testing company she cofounded nearly 20 years ago, has received the court greenlight. That means Wojcicki’s nonprofit TTAM Research Institute will purchase “substantially all” of San Francisco-based 23andMe’s assets for $305 million. The transaction — which arrives more than three months after 23andMe filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy — is set to officially close in the coming weeks. (Grantham-Philips, 7/2)
Stat: Woebot Health Shuts Down Pioneering Therapy Chatbot
Woebot Health this week shut down its core product, a pioneering therapy chatbot. Its demise was hastened by the new wave of conversational artificial intelligence that Woebot foreshadowed. (Aguilar, 7/2)
CNN: Major Insurance Changes Are Coming To GLP-1 Drugs For Weight Loss. Here’s How That Could Affect Patients
Last week, Tara Eacobacci had an appointment with her doctor that was devoted exclusively to the topic of health insurance. A major change to her prescription benefits meant the medication she was using to manage her weight – a treatment that had taken years of trial and error to get right – would no longer be covered by insurance. (McPhillips, 7/1)
