Policy & Regulations

This channel includes news coverage of healthcare policy and regulations set by Congress, the states, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and medical associations and societies.

Stewardship Health sale to private equity finalized for $245M
The physician group, once part of Steward Health Care, has been rebranded as Revere Medical.
Baxter producing IV solutions ahead of schedule at Asheville-area site
The company said its largest production line at its North Carolina plant is operational, accounting for 25% of total output. The site was damaged by flood waters from Hurricane Helene.
Hackers were inside an Iowa hospital’s network for two weeks
St. Anthony Regional Hospital confirmed patient data was taken by cybercriminals, but the August incident is still being investigated.
Bill introduced in Congress would raise physician reimbursement by 1.9%
The Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act aims to change the annual Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services physician fee schedule, which cut reimbursement by 2.8% for 2025.
Good AI governance can spell the difference between smashing success and mere learning experience
Discussions of AI governance may cause many an eye to glass over, but the discipline is as crucial to the ascent of AI in healthcare as big training datasets drawn from diverse patient populations.

HHS proposal would expand clinical trial data disclosure requirements

The Department of Health & Human Services has released a proposed rule that would require companies to report summary results for drugs and devices that are never approved and not just for products that reach the marketplace, reports the American Association for the Advancement of Science. 

November 19, 2014

HealthCare.gov attracts steady traffic on first live weekday

The first weekday of the sign-up season for HealthCare.gov attracted plenty of traffic, although some users did encounter a few minor bumps, reports ABC News.

November 18, 2014

Early praise for Healthcare.gov

Healthcare.gov opened for browsing over the weekend, and users are offering some early praise on the design improvements, reports Bloomberg Businessweek.  

November 13, 2014

Feds lower expectations for open enrollment period

The Department of Health & Human Services has lowered its prediction for the number of enrollees from 13 million to 9-9.9 million for coverage through state and federal exchanges for 2015, reports Modern Healthcare. 

November 11, 2014

Multi-year health insurance plans hold promise

Multi-year insurance products on health insurance exchanges could prompt insurers to invest in more services with long-term benefits. This in turn, would reduce healthcare costs and some of those savings could result in lower premiums for consumers, according to a Health Affairs blog written by a senior scientist and policy researcher at Rand Corp.

November 10, 2014

Supreme Court to hear new challenge to ACA

The Supreme Court has agreed to another challenge of the Affordable Care Act—and will determine how far the federal government can extend its program of subsidies to buyers of health insurance, according to SCOTUSblog, the official blog of the U.S. Supreme Court. 

November 7, 2014

Feds to require hospitalization coverage for large companies

The Obama administration is planning to close a loophole in the Affordable Care Act which allows larger companies to refuse to cover in-patient hospital stays in their insurance plans, an anonymous source told USA Today.

November 5, 2014

Re-election of Republican governors narrows possibilities of Medicaid expansion

The re-election of Republican governors in Florida, Georgia, Wisconsin, Maine and Kansas narrows prospects for Medicaid expansion in those states, according to Tampa Bay Times.

November 5, 2014

Around the web

Cardiovascular Business

Q&A: Why are cardiovascular devices involved in so many recalls? FDA policies may be to blame

Cardiovascular devices are more likely to be in a Class I recall than any other device type. The FDA's approval process appears to be at least partially responsible, though the agency is working to make some serious changes. We spoke to a researcher who has been tracking these data for years to learn more.

Cardiovascular Business

Cardiologist compensation still rising, especially in invasive and interventional cardiology

Updated compensation data includes good news for multiple subspecialties. The new report also examines private equity's impact on employment models and how much male cardiologists earn compared to females.

Cardiovascular Business

FDA’s tirzepatide decision creates uncertainty for patients—and leads to a lawsuit

When drugs are on the FDA’s shortage list, outsourcing facilities can produce their own compounded versions. When the FDA removed tirzepatide from that list with no warning, it created a considerable amount of chaos both behind the scenes and in pharmacies all over the country.

Policy & Regulations

Stewardship Health sale to private equity finalized for $245M

Baxter producing IV solutions ahead of schedule at Asheville-area site

Hackers were inside an Iowa hospital’s network for two weeks

Bill introduced in Congress would raise physician reimbursement by 1.9%

Good AI governance can spell the difference between smashing success and mere learning experience

Around the web