A philanthropist has given $200 million to Mayo Clinic in what is the largest-ever donation to the nonprofit hospital system.

On the surface, hospital mergers may seem like an opportunity to create benefits for consumers, including more resources for top-notch care and lower costs. However, cheaper prices aren’t a likely outcome, according to an analysis by The New York Times.

CMS sent state Medicaid directors an email on Nov. 13 announcing new opportunities to design service delivery systems for treating mental health. The announcement eases previous prohibitions against using Medicaid funding to pay for short-term residential treatment in an institution for mental disease.

Envision Healthcare has reached a new statewide agreement with Cigna Healthcare of Arizona. The multiyear agreement ensures Envision’s clinicians are in-network.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, has signaled that the agency will strengthen its expanded access (EA) program to enable more patients to access investigational medical products and treatments for serious or life-threatening diseases.

CMS proposed regulatory reform of the Medicaid managed care program on Nov. 8, giving states more freedom over network-adequacy standards.

A federal judge has temporarily shut down Florida-based company Simple Health Plans after the Federal Trade Commission accused the agency of collecting more than $100 million in fraudulent insurance payments and leaving its enrollees with thousands of dollars in medical debt.

After holding control of Congress for eight years and attempting to eradicate the Affordable Care Act dozens of times, Republicans lost the majority in the House on Nov. 6 during the midterm elections. The partisan shakeup could have several impacts on the nation's healthcare agenda.