WSJ: Walmart in talks to buy Humana

In the latest example of an outside force making a move into healthcare, retail giant Walmart—the largest company in the world by revenue—is reportedly in preliminary discussions to acquire health insurer Humana, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Not far from any policy debate is the oft-repeated fact that healthcare makes up one-sixth of the U.S. economy. Newly published research took a deeper dive to investigate the impact of medical schools and teaching hospitals. And, as one would guess, they contribute a lot of the American economy, accounting for 3.1 percent of gross domestic product.

Drug-related deaths more than tripled between 1999 and 2015—and many of those can be attributed to opioids. But the numbers may be more alarming than previously thought, according to a new report from Kaiser Health News and Side Effects Public Media.

Efforts from Republicans in Washington, D.C., failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but that hasn’t stopped some states from taking matters into their own hands. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is expected to sign legislation that would allow insurers to sell certain plans that don’t meet ACA regulations.

President Donald Trump announced long-embattled Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin will be replaced by White House physician Ronny L. Jackson, MD.

Jefferson Health and Einstein Healthcare Network, both based in Philadelphia, have announced they’ve signed a letter of intent to merge, the latest in a string of acquisitions by Jefferson.

The debate over the future of healthcare in the U.S. is really a discussion about inequity, according to America’s Essential Hospitals president and CEO Bruce Siegel, MD, MPH, saying disparities will still need to be addressed even if the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid expansion remain in place.

Discussions to create the largest hospital system in the country by combining Ascension and Providence St. Joseph Health have ended, with the two companies deciding to focus on restructuring existing operations, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Mergers and acquisitions that have consolidated healthcare markets in California have raised prices for procedures and insurance premiums, especially in the northern part of the state, according to a report from the University of California, Berkeley’s Petris Center on Health Care Markets and Consumer Welfare.