Legislation changing several Medicare policies most affecting hospitals, including exempting “mid-build” off-campus outpatient facilities from the site neutral payment provisions in last year’s budget, has advanced out of the House.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) would receive an additional $2 billion in funding under a Senate appropriations bill, according to The Hill.

A finalized rule for the Medicare Shared Savings Program released by CMS aims to offer stronger incentives for accountable care organizations (ACOs) by allowing an additional year in Track 1 participation and using regional spending data to adjust cost targets.

WARSAW, Ind. and AUSTIN, Texas, June 07, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ZBH) (SIX:ZBH) (Zimmer Biomet or the Company), a global leader in musculoskeletal healthcare, and LDR Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:LDRH) (LDR), a global medical device company focused on designing and commercializing novel and proprietary surgical technologies for the treatment of patients suffering from spine disorders, today announced that both Boards of Directors have approved a definitive agreement under which Zimmer Biomet will commence a tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of LDR for $37.00 per share in cash, which implies a transaction value of approximately $1.0 billion.  The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2016.

Here’s a roundup of healthcare news from Minnesota, Illinois, California, Florida and Alaska.

Privatizing the Veterans Administration healthcare system “would be a mistake,” President Barack Obama said in an interview with the Colorado Springs Gazette.

With large insurers like UnitedHealthcare and Humana announcing their departure from the health insurance marketplaces and some remaining insurers proposing bigger-than-expected increases in premiums, some health experts are predicting the Affordable Care Act is sending the industry into a so-called death spiral. UCLA Center for Health Policy Research Director Gerald Kominski, PhD, would argue otherwise.

As California’s law legalizing physicians aiding in ending the life of the terminally ill goes into effect, Lonny Shavelson, MD, is opening a practice in Berkeley, California, specifically dedicated to serving patients who want to die.