The more than 400 accountable care organizations (ACOs) participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) in 2016 generated $652 million in gross savings, with the majority coming from groups which have been in the program since 2012 or 2013.

CMS Administrator Seema Verma, MPH, said the agency is launching a new initiative called “Meaningful Measures” aimed at focusing quality reporting on outcome-based measures, rather than processes.

U.S. News and World Report evaluated more than 15,000 nursing homes for its 2017-18 Best Nursing Home list. Some 2,285 of them—15 percent of all of those evaluated—made the list by earning a rating of 4.5 or higher on a 5-point scale.

The reported $66 billion proposal by CVS Health to buy Aetna may have been a reaction to Amazon’s anticipated entry into the pharmacy business, which could lead to a flurry of merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the sector.

The definition of “essential health benefits” which Affordable Care Act-compliant health plans have to cover would be up for states to decide under a rule proposed by CMS, echoing similar provisions which had been included in Republican legislative efforts to repeal and replace the ACA.

Federal funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) expired at the end of September, and with no quick renewal expected from Congress, states are on their own to keep the program afloat. According to a report from the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, six states won’t be able to do so past early January.

One of the largest for-profit hospital operators in the U.S., Tenet Healthcare, has halted plans to sell itself after the early exit of CEO and chairman Trevor Fetter, Reuters reports.

Retail and pharmacy giant CVS in reportedly in talks to buy Aetna, one of the largest health insurers in the U.S., in a deal valued at more than $66 billion.