Month: July 2021
As the sun began to burn through the morning marine layer, patrons of the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, Calif., were still adjusting to the new normal, which was pretty much the old normal — an order from Los Angeles County to wear masks indoors in businesses and public places.
A new analysis found only 5.6% of hospitals were fully compliant with a major price transparency rule, with most failures centered on not posting payer-negotiated prices. The analysis released Friday by the group PatientRightsAdvocate.org is the latest evidence of widespread noncompliance with the rule, which went into effect back in January. “These findings align with previous research indicating ...
The Biden administration wants to include a per-bed monetary penalty for larger hospitals that do not comply with a price transparency rule after several analyses have shown widespread noncompliance among facilities. The administration included the provision in the proposed 2022 Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) proposed rule released Monday by the Centers for Medicare & ...
The United States could see a wave of Covid-19 vaccine mandates as soon as the Food and Drug Administration grants full approval to one or more of the shots, public health experts predicted. The three vaccines authorized by the FDA for emergency use against the coronavirus have proven safe and effective under that expedited review process and in the ...
President Joe Biden’s latest executive order promoting competition in the U.S. economy could be a boon to private equity and disrupt the medical profession’s long-standing guilds, depending on how far federal officials want to take matters. The order empowers federal agencies to use existing federal law to lower healthcare costs, particularly prescription drugs. While few ...
The World War II veteran needed to repay the loan for the water pump installed on his 1-acre property in rural Tulare County, the only source of water to his mobile home. He carefully socked away a few thousand dollars so he could make the payoff — only to find that those savings put him over the asset threshold to remain on Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program for low-income people.
California announced new coronavirus rules for public schools on Monday that let students and teachers sit as close to each other as they want while making sure no one will miss class time even if they are exposed to someone with the virus.
President Biden is calling on federal health officials to intensify efforts to drive down prescription drug prices as part of an executive order he signed Friday to spur federal agencies to promote economic competition.
Democratic lawmakers are grappling with how to extend health insurance to millions of poor Americans in states that have refused Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, believing their upcoming party-line “human infrastructure” package represents the best chance to plug the health law’s biggest gap.
The hospital lobby pushed back against the president’s executive order. The American Hospital Association said hospital mergers already are subject to an “enormous amount of rigorous scrutiny” from federal and state regulators. The lobby pointed the finger at the insurance industry, and urged the administration to focus its efforts there instead. The Federation of American ...