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.

Eight years ago, Tom Price, MD, warned how “defensive medicine” drove healthcare costs, estimating 26 cents of every dollar went to unnecessary tests to protect physicians and hospitals from malpractice suits. The estimate wasn’t taken seriously back then, but researchers are now offering an estimate that 5 percent of costs can be attributed to such practices.

On Tuesday, July 24, CMS released a new rule that will allow risk-adjustment payments, which were halted July 7 and threatened to destabilize health insurance marketplaces by keeping billions of dollars from insurers.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted to repeal the 2.3 percent medical device tax that was implemented as part of the Affordable Care Act. The House voted 283 to 132, with 57 Democrats joining Republicans.