OIG audit targets Aetna’s Medicare Advantage plans as government cracks down on fraud
CVS contends the reviews are a regular part of doing business in federal programs, and it “expects CMS and the OIG to continue these types of audits.”
Boston Scientific, Stryker get extra year of add-on payments as CMS adjusts to pandemic
Comments “overwhelmingly supported” the plan to use pre-pandemic data on the cost of inpatient stays to inform CMS’ rates for fiscal 2022.
CVS profit dips to $2.8B as patients return, COVID-19 costs persist
Falling vaccination rates lead the company to expect the pandemic to be a “modest negative for 2021,” CFO Shawn Guertin said. Previously, it expected COVID-19 to have little to no impact on full-year earnings.
FTC warns it may challenge deals later as it’s hit by ‘tidal wave’ of merger filings
“Companies that choose to proceed with transactions that have not been fully investigated are doing so at their own risk,” the regulator said Tuesday.
Telehealth waivers wind down, restricting some providers from delivering care across state lines
A number of states allowed medical professionals licensed elsewhere to hold virtual visits with their residents during the pandemic. While some are making those rollbacks permanent, others are going back to pre-pandemic rules.
After controversial approval, doctors are still debating how to use Biogen’s Alzheimer’s drug
Nearly two months since Aduhelm became available, many physicians have yet to use the first treatment approved in the U.S. to slow Alzheimer’s disease.
CMS axes hospital price transparency mandate from 2022 inpatient payment rule
Hospitals will also receive a 2.5% pay bump for inpatient stays in 2022 under the new rule. That’s lower than the 2.8% proposed in the initial draft released April, but “largely within the range of market expectations,” one analyst wrote.
Medicare-reliant hospitals perform worse financially, more likely to face closure or acquisition: Health Affairs
But researchers cautioned policymakers not to view the results as a reason to avoid reducing Medicare reimbursement.
Despite volume rebound, hospital margins still tight from pandemic, Kaufman Hall says
Health system revenues in June surpassed both 2019 and 2020 levels, though expenses were higher than two years ago, the report found.
Zocdoc taps Morgan Stanley exec as CFO
After over two decades as head of Americas Technology Banking at Morgan Stanley, Edward Liu will oversee all of the New York-based digital healthcare marketplace’s finances.