The healthcare sector will continue to eclipse more of the economy over the next several years, with national healthcare expenditures hitting 19.4 percent of GDP by 2027, according to the Office of the Actuary at CMS. From 2018 to 2027, healthcare expenditures will grow an average of 5.5 percent annually, hitting nearly $6 trillion.

After acquiring Aetna for nearly $70 billion, CVS Health has taken a financial hit. During the three months ending Dec. 31, 2018, CVS Health lost $421 million in net income, according to its end-of-year financial results.

The healthcare sector has been on fire over the last several years, with investors in the space seeing big returns on stocks. Even during periods of volatility across the stock market at the end of 2018, the healthcare sector remained consistent, with “stellar returns,” Bloomberg reported.

CMS has proposed covering a new form of cancer therapy, CAR T-cell therapy, under Medicare. The proposal would create a uniform standard of covering the treatment, which uses a patient’s own immune system to fight the disease.

Emergency department (ED) visits for people with at least one of six prevalent chronic conditions contributed to approximately 50 percent of all annual visits at nearly 750 hospitals in 2017. 

HHS and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) introduced a new payment model for emergency ambulance services that would allow Medicare beneficiaries to receive care on the scene or at lower acuity sites, such as urgent care clinics.

Veterans Affairs Medical Centers (VAMC) with higher levels of employee organizational satisfaction also tend to have higher safety scores and patient satisfaction ratings, according to new research published in the American Journal of Medicine.

The Trump administration’s recent proposal to eliminate rebates between drug manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) is not a big surprise to those who have been paying attention to the rhetoric of CMS and HHS officials, but the impact of swapping rebates for direct discounts is still a big question.