CMS Administrator Seema Verma went to bat for Medicaid work requirement programs, which have been implemented or approved in a handful of states, even as thousands of beneficiaries are on course to lose healthcare coverage as a result of these rules.

CVS Health’s $69 billion acquisition of health insurance giant Aetna is not going to complete without divestments. WellCare Health Plans, a Tampa-based managed care company, has agreed to acquire Aetna’s entire Medicare Part D prescription drug plan business, which encompassed 2.2 million members as of June 30.

Medicare patients who receive hospital outpatient care are more likely to be poorer and have more severe chronic conditions compared to those treated in an independent physician office, according to a study commissioned by the American Hospital Association.

In 2016, Medicaid spending reached $581 billion—the highest level ever for the federal program—and covered an estimated 72 million beneficiaries. Over the next decade, spending is projected to rise 5.7 percent a year, topping $1 trillion by 2026.

Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs)—the industry middlemen that negotiate drug prices—are passing on nearly all their savings to insurance providers, according to Terry Wilcox, co-founder and executive director of advocacy organization Patients Rising. His op-ed for The Hill placed the blame of high costs squarely on insurers.

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) wrote a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions in opposition to the $69 billion merger of CVS Health and Aetna.

Nine industry groups have joined in opposition to CMS’s proposed changes to the Medicare Shared Savings Program.

As the American population ages, the number of cases of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia is set to explode, according to the CDC.