In two separate announcements from HHS, the agency said while the risk pool for the health insurance exchanges has improved, it’s “exploring options” to adjust the Affordable Care Act’s risk adjustment program to account for sicker, more expensive enrollees.

Entering the digital age offers plenty of potential for the healthcare industry like more access to care and less waiting time. But with the pros comes the con—and the implementation of health IT costs doctors more than $32,000 per year, according to Forbes.

New conditions, participating states and telemedicine opportunities will be included in the second year of CMS’s Medicare Advantage (MA) Value-Based Insurance Model.

The antitrust lawsuit against Aetna’s proposed acquisition of Humana won’t be settled as early as the insurer had hoped. A federal judge set a trial date of Dec. 5, with the decision to come after the year-end deadline to close the deal.

Reducing the constantly increasing cost of healthcare is at the top of the list for anyone purchasing healthcare. The problem is finding where to cut these costs and figuring out why they have been increasing over the years.

More than two million healthcare providers throughout the country will receive letters from U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, MBA, later this month. It will include information for doctors about how to best help patients and families dealing with opioid addictions and how to prevent those at risk from becoming addicted in the first place. 

Terri McGuire Mollica, the former CFO of Birmingham Health Care, has been sentenced to 17 years after pleading guilty to stealing $1.7 million from a center that catered to the homeless, reports AL.com.

The physical network of healthcare—hospitals, rehabilitation facilities, etc.—can be integrated with the digital network of EHRs and interoperability platforms to improve care and reduce costs.