The Trump administration is preparing to allow states to remodel their Medicaid programs with block grant proposals, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

An aggressive flu season in 2017 contributed to 145,000 global deaths, according to a recent study published by The Lancet. The high figure echoes early estimates of 80,000 flu deaths in the United States in the same year.

The top city for healthcare mergers and acquisitions is Boston, according to an analysis by Mergermarket and Acuris.

The accountable care organization industry is asking for a later deadline to apply for CMS’ revamped Medicare Shared Savings Program.

A former federal prosecutor has been appointed to lead an investigation into the Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital heart surgery unit, The Tampa Bay Times reported. The hospital, based in St. Petersburg, Florida, has been the focus of a scandal after a recent Tampa Bay Times investigation revealed the unit’s mortality rate had tripled in just a few years.

Chris Traylor has been named acting director of Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) after his predecessor, Mary Mayhew, resigned Jan. 4 after just three months on the job.

The emergence of private equity funding across physician practices has continued into 2019, with these firms targeting high-value platforms that can turn around a nice profit in a sale just a few years later. The phenomenon has led to a decline in independent physician practices and created new implications for care services, according to an article in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The $69 billion merger between CVS Health and Aetna is facing another potential obstacle, as the government shutdown could impact court proceedings currently holding up closure of the deal, Reuters reported.