Individuals from Mississippi were indicted for defrauding insurance companies for $200 million with high-priced compounded formulations and bribing providers—including dentists, physicians and nurse practitioners—to prescribe those medications to patients they never examined.

Prices continue to climb on the Affordable Care Act exchanges, with some estimates calling for 30 percent increases to typical silver-level plans in 2019. But despite the additional challenges faced by individuals on the marketplaces, insurers see clear skies ahead.

Ralph W. Muller, MA, chief executive of the University of Pennsylvania’s health system in Philadelphia, will step down in 2019. Leading the school health system since 2003, he has helped it expand to six hospitals.

After a year of soul searching and strategic review, GE announced its move today to spin off GE Healthcare into a standalone company over the next 12 to 18 months. The goal, the company said, is a leaner corporate structure with substantial reductions in debt.

Change Healthcare has announced the development of a module for their Assurance Reimbursement Management program that assists providers submit claims.

In a 396-14 vote, the House of Representatives passed the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act, or H.R. 6—bipartisan opioid legislation that aims to curb drug abuse.

After his appointment as CEO of the new Amazon-Berkshire Hathaway-JPMorgan Chase healthcare venture, Atul Gawande, MD, stated the undertaking will look to target wasteful spending, while providing better outcomes and satisfaction and removing “some of the middlemen" from the system.

While debates about immigration—and the controversial approach to separating families at the southwestern border of the U.S.—dominate the news, advocates warn that children may be at risk for losing healthcare coverage through Medicaid, according to a recent report from Kaiser Health News.