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A year after private equity-backed Noble Health shuttered two rural Missouri hospitals, a slew of lawsuits and state and federal investigations grind forward. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey recently confirmed an “ongoing” investigation as former employees continue to go unpaid and cope with unpaid medical claims.
Hospitals in New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma are among the first to apply for a new rural hospital payment model that shifts the focus of services away from overnight stays to outpatient and emergency care. Still, experts say the law needs to be amended to provide the right mix of care for rural communities.
Patients who depend upon special drugs to treat rare diseases are caught in the crossfire as drugmakers and the FDA battle over regulations that reward companies for developing treatments for relatively small pools of patients.
Congress’ $1.7 trillion omnibus spending package included a two-year extension of pandemic-era funding that helped telehealth services grow nationwide. But that cash bridge, embraced by those delivering services to patients in rural areas, doesn’t provide much certainty for the future of remote medicine.
A months-long KHN examination of the system meant to bar fraudsters from Medicaid, Medicare, and other federal health programs found gaping holes and expansive gray areas through which banned individuals slip to repeatedly bilk taxpayer-funded programs.
Two Missouri towns are without operating hospitals after private equity-backed Noble Health left both facilities mired in debt, lawsuits, and federal investigations. The hospitals’ new operator, Platinum Health, agreed to buy them in April for $2 and laid off the last employees in early September.
The U.S. Labor Department investigates Noble Health after former employees of its shuttered Missouri hospitals say the private equity-backed owner took money from their paychecks and then failed to fund their insurance coverage.
A new federal rescue program that pays rural hospitals to shutter underused inpatient units and focus solely on emergency rooms and outpatient care hasn’t generated much interest yet.
Noble Health swept into two small Missouri towns promising to save their hospitals. Instead, workers and vendors say it stopped paying bills and government inspectors found it put patients at risk. Within two years — after taking millions in federal covid relief and big administrative fees — it locked the doors.
After years of failure, the Maryland company aims to attract the vaccine-hesitant with an alternative to mRNA shots. But will it find a market?
The number of pharmacies dispensing 340B discounted drugs soared to more than 31,000 this year. Drugmakers struck back by halting some discounts. Hospitals say they are losing millions of dollars — and cutting back services to patients — as a result.
Check out the latest bonus episodes from the award-winning "Where It Hurts" podcast.
Despite big 2020 campaign promises to deliver lower costs on prescription drugs, Democrats have failed to unite around a legislative plan.
With real-time data streaming in from highly specialized researchers in the U.S. and abroad, NIH scientists became convinced that boosting the covid-19 vaccine was needed to save lives, prompting the president to announce a plan with a Sept. 20 start date. Scientists at the regulatory agencies weren’t yet convinced. A meeting Friday will determine what happens next. Here’s the story from behind the scenes.
Federal officials are preparing to offer those who received Pfizer or Moderna covid vaccines a third dose in September. But the FDA and CDC are still reviewing the data for final clearance.
As pharmaceutical companies declare a need for boosters, scientists and doctors emphasize there’s no proof yet.
Novavax is a vaccine company that, despite $2 billion in new federal and international funding, still hasn't come through with a licensed covid vaccine. It hopes it can still help to fight the global covid scourge, but will it deliver?
All agree that covid vaccines are urgently needed to stop the pandemic, but simply waiving patents fails to provide technological know-how and address supply chain challenges.
Fort Scott, Kansas, was hit hard by the pandemic, and it no longer has a hospital. But residents remain skeptical about the impact of the coronavirus.
After nearly a decade’s worth of federal inspections, reprimands and corrective action plans, has Pfizer fixed the facility that will be filling vials of its covid vaccine?
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