Promising Better, Cheaper Care, Kaiser Permanente’s National Expansion Faces Wide Skepticism
By Harris Meyer
Kaiser Permanente, the California-based health care giant, is looking to dramatically expand its national presence. It’s committed $5 billion to a new unit called Risant Health and has agreed to acquire Pennsylvania-based Geisinger, but skeptics wonder how it will export its unique model to other states.
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Daily Edition for Wednesday, August 9, 2023
New KP hospital opens, staffing levels, mental health, maternal mortality, long covid, opioids, housing, Wegovy, and more are in the news.
Pioneering Study Links Testicular Cancer Among Military Personnel to ‘Forever Chemicals’
By Hannah Norman and Patricia Kime
The military first documented health concerns surrounding chemicals known as PFAS decades ago yet has continued to use firefighting foam made with them. Despite scores of lawsuits by its personnel and high rates of testicular cancer among troops, it has been slow to investigate a connection.
Daily Edition for Tuesday, August 8, 2023
Maternity care, EG.5 covid variant, hospital costs, homelessness, opioids, cancer, blood donations, and more are in the news.
What One Lending Company’s Hospital Contracts Reveal About Financing Patient Debt
By Noam N. Levey
Within two years of North Carolina’s public university system going into business with AccessOne to finance patients’ payment plans, nearly half of its patients were in loans that charged interest. As federal scrutiny increases on lenders, California Healthline is sharing that contract and others obtained through public records requests.
Seeking Medicare Coverage for Weight Loss Drugs, Pharma Giant Courts Black Influencers
By Rachana Pradhan
Novo Nordisk, the dominant company in the multibillion-dollar market for weight loss drugs, focuses on Black lawmakers and opinion leaders to spread the message that obesity is a chronic disease that needs treatment.
