More Orthopedic Physicians Sell Out to Private Equity Firms, Raising Alarms About Costs and Quality
While some doctors seem eager for a huge payoff, others are warily watching what happens when private equity firms take charge of orthopedic practices.
Hospital Probed for Allegedly Denying an Emergency Abortion After Patient’s Water Broke
Federal officials have ordered the probe after reports that a woman whose water broke at 18 weeks could not get medical care recommended by her doctors to end the pregnancy because hospital officials were concerned about Missouri’s strict abortion law.
Court Ruling May Spur Competitive Health Plans to Bring Back Copays for Preventive Services
The Affordable Care Act required that health insurers provide many medical screenings and prevention services at no out-of-pocket cost to health plan members. But insurers and employers may consider adding cost sharing for preventive services now that a federal court ruled the ACA’s mandate is unconstitutional.
Patients and Doctors Trapped in a Gray Zone When Abortion Laws and Emergency Care Mandate Conflict
Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, ER doctors say they — and their patients — are trapped between state anti-abortion laws and the federal law requiring that care be delivered in emergency situations. Women’s lives hang in the balance.
Biden’s FTC Has Blocked 4 Hospital Mergers and Is Poised to Thwart More Attempts
The president has directed the Federal Trade Commission to carefully consider health industry mergers that may stymie competition and drive up prices. The new Democratic majority appears eager to look beyond traditional hospital consolidations to deals that involve products, services, or staffing.
FTC Official: Antitrust Push in Health Care Must Focus on a Merger’s ‘Human Impact’
Mark Seidman, an assistant director in the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition, talks with KHN about efforts to police consolidation among hospitals and other health care providers.
Digital Mental Health Companies Draw Scrutiny and Growing Concerns
Consumers who have trouble getting in to see a therapist are turning to online behavioral health providers that offer quick access. But there’s limited research on their effectiveness.
States Watching as Massachusetts Takes Aim at Hospital Building Boom and Costs
A Massachusetts health care cost watchdog agency helped block plans of the state’s largest hospital system to expand into the suburbs. Now, other states are looking at whether Massachusetts’ decade-old model of controlling health costs is worth emulating.
Biden Pledges Better Nursing Home Care, but He Likely Won’t Fast-Track It
CMS chief Chiquita Brooks-LaSure says the agency reserves its power to quickly institute new regulations for “absolute emergencies.” On staffing, nursing home residents might need to wait years to see any real change.
Resistance to a Boston Hospital’s Expansion Centers on Rising Prices
Mass General Brigham’s $2.3 billion expansion plan is raising state officials’ concerns that it will reduce competition and raise the price of care in Massachusetts. It also signals a national shift from a focus on hospital mergers and purchases of physician practices — which boost the cost of care — to individual hospitals’ expansions to gain a bigger share of the market.