Raising a RUC-kus, Blues’ antitrust deal appealed, & a UAE deal
You’re reading the web edition of Health Care Inc., STAT’s weekly newsletter following the flow…
Category: Medicare
STAT+: Experts urge Medicare to overhaul secretive panel that helps determine doctors’ pay
A heavyweight group of former Medicare officials and payment experts are calling on the federal…
DHS issues rule to revise Trump’s ‘public charge’ policy, easing access to health services for immigrants
The Department of Homeland Security on Thursday issued a new rule to revise a Trump…
STAT+: UnitedHealth signs a deal with Walmart for a new Medicare Advantage plan
UnitedHealth Group is poised to widen its lead in the Medicare Advantage market through a…
Opinion: Congress should not compel Medicare to pay for liquid biopsies
When the two Republican senators from Mississippi cosponsor legislation with the two Democratic senators from…
STAT+: Pharma donations to patient charities may violate the ‘spirit’ of anti-kickback laws
There is a federal law that prohibits drug companies from directly covering out-of-pocket spending by…
STAT+: Doctors, seniors groups flag concerns with Medicare Advantage
Doctors, patients, and seniors groups are airing new grievances about Medicare Advantage, arguing the growing…
Opinion: Surgeons fold against Medicare’s stacked deck
Casinos dazzle you with flashing lights, high-stakes tables, and the chance to win millions of…
Opinion: The Inflation Reduction Act: One step closer to pharmacoequity?
President Biden’s signing of the Inflation Reduction Act on Tuesday marked a health care law…
Opinion: Medicare cuts would undermine the movement to increasing in-home care
The COVID-19 pandemic supercharged in-home care in the U.S. Suddenly it became possible to get…
Here’s who Democrats’ drug pricing bill will actually help
WASHINGTON — Millions of patients in the Medicare program could eventually see lower prescription drug costs…
STAT+: The Senate’s drug pricing bill is an inevitable solution. It will still have plenty of unintended consequences
There’s really no ignoring the inexorable math that led the Senate to approve a plan…
A lobbying frenzy over surprise billing, employer dialysis questions, and a big broker throwdown
You’re reading the web edition of Health Care Inc., STAT’s weekly newsletter following the flow…
STAT+: Health care industry swarms Washington as surprise billing rules get ironed out
Solving surprise medical bills was supposed to be straightforward. It has been anything but. Already,…
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The glaring health equity gap in Democrats’ drug pricing plan
WASHINGTON — As Democrats close in on the biggest overhaul of the Medicare prescription drug…
STAT+: Medicare reverses course on plan to hide hospital safety data next year
Medicare will continue to report hospital safety data as usual next year after the program,…
Wall Street’s love affair with insurers, hospitals pressure Medicare, and swimming in a risk pool
You’re reading the web edition of Health Care Inc., STAT’s weekly newsletter following the flow…
Opinion: Value-based payment has produced little value. It needs a time-out
The value-based payment crusade is now two decades old. But despite the tens of billions…
STAT+: ‘What can we do?’: Pharma lobbyists face their biggest test in a decade, as Democrats barrel toward a vote on drug pricing
WASHINGTON — The pharmaceutical industry, notorious for its deep pockets and aggressive lobbying tactics, has a…
Patients’ new credit card crunch, Amazon’s getting serious, and inflation has entered the chat
You’re reading the web edition of Health Care Inc., STAT’s weekly newsletter following the flow…
Powerful Senate Democrat outlines ‘plenty’ more drug pricing reforms to follow Medicare negotiation
WASHINGTON — Democrats may be closer than ever to passing sweeping drug pricing reforms, but…
STAT+: Medicare offers financial perks for rural hospitals that convert to its new provider type. Will they bite?
The federal government is hashing out the details on a new type of rural hospital,…
STAT+: UnitedHealth Group says Medicare Advantage saves money, but the data say otherwise
This past June, UnitedHealth Group’s top two executives, Andrew Witty and John Rex, told a…
STAT+: Drug companies will have to start refunding Medicare for certain drugs that get thrown out
Starting next year, pharmaceutical companies will have to repay Medicare for any unused amount of drugs…
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STAT+: Here’s what Democrats changed in their latest drug pricing bill
WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats have put final tweaks on their drug pricing proposal, as they…
STAT+: Medicare wants to stop publishing some hospital safety data next year
Ann MacDonald took painstaking effort to choose the very best surgeon for her mom’s colon…
Opinion: Wheelchair users live outside the home, not just inside. Medicare policies need to acknowledge that
My daughter, Katherine, is 21 years old. She has cerebral palsy and has relied on…
Opinion: Now is not the time for Congress to further cut hospitals’ Medicare payments
As the U.S. slowly emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic, hospitals hope get back to some…
STAT+: Medicare could have saved billions on drugs if it paid what Mark Cuban charges at his new pharmacy
Amid growing anger over the cost of medicines, a new analysis finds that Medicare could…
STAT+: Supreme Court sides with hospitals on Medicare drug pay dispute
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday sided with hospitals in a legal dispute over…
STAT+: Justice Department says sweeping lab test fraud in Texas involved dozens of doctors and front companies
A new Justice Department lawsuit describes a sweeping fraud scheme in which dozens of Texas…
Biden administration won’t lower seniors’ Medicare premiums this year, despite changes to coverage of new Alzheimer’s drug
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Friday said it will not lower Medicare premiums for…
STAT+: Proton cancer centers continue to proliferate, despite shaky benefits and checkered financiers
On May 12, the South Florida Proton Therapy Institute issued a warning to its investors:…
AstraZeneca’s ambitious vaccine dreams are finally, officially dead
You’re reading the web edition of D.C. Diagnosis, STAT’s twice-weekly newsletter about the politics and…
STAT+: Former top Medicare official says Medicare Advantage’s coding industry offers ‘no benefit to society’
Parts of the Medicare Advantage program — essentially, private Medicare plan options — are ripe…
Opinion: Medicare at 60 would have harmful unintended consequences
In an era of rising inflation and trillion-dollar deficits, there appears to be growing bipartisan…
STAT+: Five of Congress’ 10 biggest health earmarks went to Missouri clinics and universities
WASHINGTON — Hospitals, health clinics, and medical schools across the country had hoped to cash…
STAT+: UnitedHealthcare restricts coverage of Aduhelm, following Medicare
UnitedHealthcare is restricting insurance coverage of Aduhelm across all of its health plans, saying the…
Opinion: CMS needs to include measures for social drivers of health
Every day, physicians encounter patients in their practices who show the toll of skipping meals…
Opinion: Making Medicare, Medicaid innovation tests voluntary undermines evaluation opportunities
The U.S. health care system is often inefficient, ineffective, and inequitable. Compared to other high-income…
STAT+: Will Biogen sue Medicare over its restrictions on the Alzheimer’s drug, Aduhelm? And other big legal questions about the decision
WASHINGTON — Biogen and other drugmakers have already hinted they might sue Medicare over its…
STAT+: New bipartisan insulin policy aims to entice drugmakers to lower prices
WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of four key lawmakers unveiled a long-shot policy that aims…
STAT+: ‘Precedents are important’: Aduhelm coverage restrictions could shape the future of accelerated approval
Whither accelerated approval? Amid the hubbub over new Medicare coverage restrictions for Alzheimer’s treatments, a…
Opinion: CMS made the wrong decision on Aduhelm. But there might be a silver lining
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued on Thursday its hotly debated final…
STAT+: Warren, Grassley threaten to slap FDA with a 30-day deadline for OTC hearing aid rules
WASHINGTON – A bipartisan duo of senators is done waiting for the Food and Drug…
Medicare finalizes its restrictions on new Alzheimer’s drug, despite pressure from drugmakers
WASHINGTON — Medicare on Thursday finalized its plan to restrict coverage for the controversial, pricey…
STAT+: Many Medicare Part D beneficiaries don’t fill prescriptions for high-priced medicines
Medicare Part D beneficiaries who have low incomes and receive government subsidies were nearly twice…
Opinion: Report: U.S. nursing home care is ineffective, inefficient, inequitable, fragmented, and unsustainable
Nursing homes have been at the epicenter of the pandemic, though they have fallen off…
Faced with high drug prices, seniors are abandoning cancer drugs at the pharmacy
The pressure on Medicare just keeps ramping up Medicare is set to decide this month…
Opinion: Home care instead of hospital care: Congress should extend a crucial waiver
Hospitals can be places of healing and, at times, harm, particularly for older adults with…