Latest Morning Briefing Stories
Medicare Cuts Payments To 721 Hospitals With Highest Rates Of Infections, Injuries
The 1 percent penalty, mandated by the health law, will hit one of every seven hospitals in the country and fall particularly hard on academic medical centers.
Rx For Reform: NC Pharmacists Try To Boost Health And Cut Costs
The federal government has invested $15 million in a North Carolina experiment that gives community pharmacists a new role in patient care.
Popularity Of Outpatient Surgery Centers Leads To Questions About Safety
The recent death of Joan Rivers, who suffered cardiac arrest at a center in New York, highlights some of the concerns among consumer advocates.
Few Women Have Coverage For Egg Freezing
Although egg freezing is the perk du jour at some high profile companies, too often such options are not available, even for women with serious illnesses such as cancer.
Patients At Seven Miami-Dade Hospitals Are More Likely To Develop Infections
The data comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which tracks six types of frequently occurring infections in hospitals as part of an effort to reduce them.
Obamacare Co-Ops Cut Prices, Turn Up Heat On Rival Insurers
For-profit carriers complain the upstarts have an unfair edge because of low-interest federal loans.
Wellness At Work: Popular But Unproven
Almost all large employers offer at least one wellness plan, but studies showing these efforts really save money are scarce.
Obamacare Creates Boom For Federal Contractors
Surging contracts related to the Affordable Care Act have helped make the Department of Health and Human Services a fount of revenue for private business.
Growth In U.S. Health Spending In 2013 Is Lowest Since 1960
The report credits slower growth in spending for private health insurance, Medicare, hospitals, physicians and clinical services.
Big Data Offer New Strategy For Public Health Campaigns
In Chicago, data analytics methods once used in political campaigns helped identify women needing mammograms.
Consumers Will Pay More Out Of Pocket Next Year For Specialty Drugs
More insurers selling Affordable Care Act plans will charge consumers higher rates for medicines that treat multiple sclerosis, hepatitis C and other serious illnesses, Avalere studies say.
Medicare Tightens Non-Emergency Use Of Ambulances To Combat Fraud
Advocates say many poor seniors who need dialysis and cancer treatments will have few transportation options.
More Competition Helps Restrain Premiums In Federal Health Marketplace
In counties that are adding at least one insurer next year, average premiums for the least expensive silver plan are rising 1 percent on average, compared to 7 percent in counties where the number of insurers is not changing, KHN analysis finds.
Alaska Doctors Overwhelmed By New Federal Rules
The new requirements for electronic medical records and other technological upgrades can be a heavy burden for Alaska’s small medical practices and aging physician workforce.
Some Experts Dispute Claims Of Looming Doctor Shortage
Nurse practitioners and physician assistants can fill some primary care gaps, but specialists say an aging population will need more intensive care.
Hospitals And Pharmacies Grapple With Rising Drug Prices
Spending on drugs by Ascension, a large Midwestern health care system, has increased $36 million in the last year — with two-thirds of that attributed to costlier generics.
Costly Hepatitis C Treatments Help Drive 12 Percent Drug Spending Jump
Increases are expected to moderate as more brand-name drug patents expire and the impact of the liver disease treatments lessens.
Big Changes For 2015 Workplace Plans: Watch Out For These Six Possible Pitfalls
Consumers who get health insurance through their employers need to pay close attention this year to their enrollment materials.
Pacemakers Get Hacked On TV, But Could It Happen In Real Life?
Concerns about the potential vulnerability of medical devices are getting the attention of regulators, health care providers and manufacturers.
Laws Spreading That Allow Terminal Patients Access To Experimental Drugs
Five states have approved the measures this year, but critics note that they don’t address the issues of patient costs and don’t mean the drug makers will necessarily make the medications available.
