Social Security and Medicare remain under intense financial pressure with the retirement of millions of baby boomers and a devastating pandemic putting increased pressures on the two programs’ finances.
Hospitals claim Medicare Advantage authorizations are keeping patients from being discharged into post-acute settings in a timely manner, a particular problem during COVID-19.
Most people on Medicare don't know anything about value-based care or how it affects them, experts said. It's holding up the transition from volume to value.
M&A activity in the telehealth space has been booming as companies like Amwell seek to expand services and differentiate themselves in a crowded market.
Zoom in on states with overall good vaccination rates and you see a checkerboard effect, with rural areas far lagging urban zones.
Televisits took off during the worst days of the pandemic, but states are now rolling back the temporary rules that facilitated them. That’s adding fuel to debates about states’ authority over medicine.
Mercy, Integris and SSM Health said they had no ICU beds available and OU Health had none for COVID patients in the state’s largest city.
Some Georgia hospitals began to see oxygen shortages about 10 days ago, especially smaller, rural hospitals that weren't used to administering so much oxygen to so many patients.
Sutter Health got inflated payments because it said people in its Medicare Advantage plans were sicker than they actually were, officials said.
"Obviously, it's going to be a real challenge for these small, rural hospitals to mandate a vaccine when they're already facing such significant workforce shortages," said Alan Morgan, head of the National Rural Health Association.
