Policy & Regulations

This channel includes news coverage of healthcare policy and regulations set by Congress, the states, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and medical associations and societies. 

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Warren Buffett: Healthcare venture with Amazon, JPMorgan not aimed at small savings

In an interview on CNBC, billionaire Warren Buffett said the healthcare-focused venture formed by his Berkshire Hathaway along with Amazon and JPMorgan has greater aims than trimmed some healthcare costs or cutting out middlemen.

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InstaMed’s Deirdre Ruttle: ‘Very little tolerance’ for inefficiency as Apple, Amazon make waves

Patients are getting fed up with healthcare organizations who haven’t made their payment processes and communications as convenient as other industries. With Silicon Valley giants like Apple and Amazon eyeing the healthcare space, the time to ditch old, inefficient methods is now, according to Deirdre Ruttle, vice president of strategy at payment networks company InstaMed.

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Expanding short-term insurance would increase premiums, uncompensated care

Premiums on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges could be in for another double-digit increase if HHS moves ahead with a proposed rule to expand the availability of short-term insurance plans which don’t comply with the ACA.

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Non-ACA-compliant plans in spotlight in Idaho, Iowa

HHS Secretary Alex Azar is set to meet this week with Idaho Gov. Butch Otter and the state’s insurance director, Dean Cameron, over their recently announced plans to allow insurers to offer coverage that doesn’t follow the Affordable Care Act (ACA), while Iowa is considering a similar move through its state legislature.

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What the AMA suggests Congress includes in opioid legislation

To help combat opioid addiction and abuse, the American Medical Association (AMA) suggested the Senate consider more than a dozen policies on everything from allowing Medicare to cover methadone in outpatient treatment programs to creating an addiction treatment-centered alternative payment model.

5 things to know about liberal group’s ‘Medicare Extra’ plan

The Center for American Progress (CAP), a liberal-leaning think tank, has added a proposal to the debate on how to achieve universal health coverage but without moving the U.S. to a single-payer healthcare system—though providers would be paid less than they currently are by private insurance and hospitals would need to adapt to a big expansion of bundled payments.

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Bon Secours, Mercy Health announce merger

Two Catholic health systems, Maryland-based Bon Secours and Cincinnati’s Mercy Health have announced plans to merge into a 43-hospital system stretching across seven states in the eastern half of the U.S.

HHS receives 300 religious rights complaints in a month

A month after HHS’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) launched its new division focused on investigating religious or moral objections by healthcare professionals, more than 300 individuals have sent in complaints about their rights being violated, according to The Hill.

Around the web

The FTC alleges that pharmacy benefit managers have set up a system where they get rich, while patients are forced to pay rising insulin costs. The agency also called out drug manufacturers such as Eli Lilly, Sanofi and Novo Nordisk, saying their own actions have raised serious concerns.

In the post-COVID era, wages for permanent RNs are rising, and wages for travelers are decreasing. A new report tracked these trends and more. 

Two medical device companies have announced a transaction that could shake up the U.S. electrophysiology market. 

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