Alignment Health is accusing CMS and a third-party contractor of surveying Spanish-speaking members in English and using an "arbitrary" calculation method to reduce the ratings of Medicare Advantage plans.

The final list also included diabetes drugs sold by Boehringer Ingelheim and Merck. The first round of drug price negotiations reduced the Medicare prices for 10 popular drugs by up to 79%. 

The Drug Enforcement Administration is proposing the adoption of some COVID-era prescription practices around certain controlled substances. The agency published a framework to guide any such changes Jan. 17. 

Stephen Browning, the FDA's assistant director of hemodynamics and heart failure diagnostics, spoke with Cardiovascular Business about the agency's perspective on AI-enabled cardiovascular devices and many other topics.

The agencies said private equity firms are rolling up healthcare sectors through serialized purchases that fly under the radar of regulators, creating an unsustainable level of consolidation. 

A new report from the Office of the Inspector General found the FDA failed to properly record meetings with drug manufacturers, ultimately approving drugs later shown to have safety and efficacy issues. 

Maquet Cardiovascular, a subsidiary of Getinge, is recalling two of its endoscopic vessel harvesting devices due to issues with different pieces bending, peeling or detaching during use. Some of the company's other EVH devices were recently involved in a separate recall for similar reasons. 

Tracy Young, CRNA, vice president at the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology, details the ongoing fight between providers and insurers over how anesthesiologists get paid.