President Donald Trump on Tuesday afternoon signed a massive funding package that ends a brief government shutdown and provides full-year funding for the federal government through the end of the year. The bill provides a five-year extension of the Acute Hospital Care at Home program and a two-year extension for Medicare telehealth flexibilities. The telehealth provisions in the bill include removing Medicare’s geographic requirements for telehealth and expanding the types of practitioners able to furnish telehealth services for the government health program.
Epic’s lawsuit against Health Gorilla is less about one alleged data misuse scheme and more about a deeper fault line in healthcare interoperability: data can move faster than the rules governing it. Experts say this problem could force the industry to redefine the boundaries of access, accountability and trust in data sharing. The complaint, filed January 13, claims that Health Gorilla enabled other companies to inappropriately access and monetize nearly 300,000 patient medical records. Health Gorilla has denied the allegations.
Medicare Advantage has long been viewed as a strong alternative to traditional Medicare, but the program has “deteriorated significantly” in recent years — benefiting commercial payers at the expense of patients and providers, according to Providence President and CEO Erik Wexler.
Mr. Wexler’s comments come shortly after Providence Clinical Network — which includes 15 hospitals in California — went out of network with UnitedHealthcare MA. But Providence is far from alone, as a rising number of hospitals and health systems take a firmer stance in contract negotiations with commercial MA plans, even if that means leaving networks they believe offer inadequate reimbursement.
Insurers warn flat 2027 MA rates could drive benefit cuts, market exits
Health insurers are warning that flat Medicare Advantage rates would likely force them to take a deep look at the benefits they offer. The news also dragged down the stock prices for multiple leading payers, with major MA players like UnitedHealth Group, Humana, Centene and Elevance Health all seeing a skid.
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