More than 200 health services deals were reported in the second quarter of 2018, continuing the ongoing streak of mergers and acquisitions in the sector, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Hospices will see a 1.8 percent, or $340 million, payment increase in 2019 after CMS finalized its annual payment update.

The individual health insurance marketplace experienced a 12 percent decline in enrollment during the first quarter of 2018 compared to the same time period last year.

Considering healthcare will be a central topic in the run up to the 2018 mid-term elections, “Medicare for all” is a concept that is gaining traction among left-leaning politicians. A recent study, though, found that implementation of such a program would cost $32.6 trillion over 10 years.

Alan Andrew Beauchamp, Dallas-based Forest Park Medical Center’s co-founder and former manager, pleaded guilty in a $200 million healthcare fraud case. Beauchamp recruited high-volume specialty doctors and paid them $40 million in bribes and kickbacks to perform surgeries.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced a four-year, $300 million deal with 23andMe, a personal genomics and biotechnology company based in Mountain View, California. The British pharmaceutical company will have access to genetic information of 23andMe’s five million customers.

CMS released its plan to reduce paperwork and improve patient care on Friday, July 27, that could have implications for 40 percent of Medicare payments. The plan combines four levels of paperwork and four levels of reimbursement to be combined in a single form and one flat fee for each physician appointment.

Despite hitting a bump in the road with Medicaid work requirements in Kentucky, the Trump administration will continue to approve applications from other states. HHS Secretary Alex Azar, in a speech to the Heritage Foundation on Thursday, July 26, reiterated a commitment to establishing such requirements for able-bodied people who receive Medicaid.