healthy muse healthcare news.
Welcome back to the latest edition of the Healthy Muse, where you can get caught up on everything health care in just 5 minutes.
Noteworthy: we published an Election Special Edition last week. The 5-minute read will walk you through the major health care issues we’re facing and each candidate’s viewpoints on those issues.
- If you’re interested in reading, you can find the special edition here. If you find it helpful, please consider supporting the Healthy Muse and sharing with friends.
On to this week’s news!
Intermountain and Sanford Announce Midwest Mega-Merger.
Today, Intermountain Healthcare (Utah/Midwest) and Sanford Health announced their intention to merge into a health system titan. The merger is expected to close in 2021.
- Some nifty merger stats on the combined entity:
- $15 billion in annual revenue.
- Seven states across the Midwest with senior clinics across 24 states.
- 435 clinics, 70+ hospitals, and 89,000+ employees.
Bigger picture: The announcement comes on the heels of the failed merger between Sanford Health and UnityPoint late last year. Finally, keep an eye out for regulators. As mentioned on previous editions, the FTC has been scrutinizing hospital mergers much closer as of late.
Purdue Pharma Settles Opioid Case.
Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin (yeah, that opioid) pleaded guilty to federal charges last week.
- The firm will pay over $8 billion in damages after doing a whole lot of bad things involved with the opioid crisis responsible for an estimated 470k deaths.
Aftermath: Purdue Pharma will become a ‘public benefit company’ (AKA, will more or less shut down) and will continue to shell out billions more in cash to settle the thousands of lawsuits still out there.
- Some involved say that’s not enough and were disappointed that individuals involved at the time were not criminally charged.
- Other opioid things: Interestingly, Walmart preemptively sued the DOJ in its opioid case, claiming that the DOJ can’t pursue a case against it for ‘failing to thwart’ valid opioid subscriptions. The DOJ says that these prescriptions should have raised pharmacists’ alarm.
Coronavirus updates.
Case update: Cases continue to rise in the U.S. across 75% of the country. The U.S. observed the highest number of new COVID cases and the highest rolling 7 day average since this summer. Certain hospitals hot spot areas are struggling to keep up with the surge.
Vaccine update: The first vaccine candidates will not be available until J&J and AstraZeneca vaccine trials are resuming after independent safety boards recommended they continue. (More about the vaccines). Distribution strategy for the vaccines will center around drugstores.
Other updates: The FDA approved Gilead’s Remdesivir for COVID emergency use. While the drug doesn’t improve death rates, it does tend to help with faster recovery. Many members of Mike Pence’s staff tested positive. Fauci thinks it’d be great if everyone wore a mask via a national mask mandate. Per a Nature study, doing so could save 130k lives over a few months’ time frame.
Quick Hits
Biz Hits
- Here’s an interesting little health care nugget: Augmedix, a technology company focused on providing automated medical scribes for physicians is going public in yet another reverse merger.
- Read about how various health systems are gearing up for flu season.
Policy Hits
- The Senate will confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.
- After voting to expand Medicaid in 2018, Nebraska plans to implement a controversial two-tiered Medicaid work requirement structure along with the expansion. So far, Medicaid work requirements haven’t held up in court. (Read about the Nebraska plan here).
- Which states have expanded Medicaid? (Link)
- Read more about the ONC Cures Act final rule – a health care law expected to facilitate data sharing between providers, other providers, and patients in a big way.
- Other policy payment things: HHS walked back its CARES Act reporting requirement, and the AHA is asking Congress to further extend the Medicare Sequester suspension.
- Home health providers are close to receiving Medicare reimbursement for telehealth visits.
- CMS has delayed its radiation oncology payment model until July 2021 after backlash from the physician community.
Other Hits
- Here are 8 hospital mega-developments expected in the coming years. I’m talking $1 billion-plus here.
- What’s going on with HHS?
Thought-Provoking Editorials
A president looks back on his toughest fight: reforming American health care (New Yorker)
Healthy Muse Top Picks
Some high-quality health care newsletters released a slew of content this week. Read them here!
- Cash pay potential, insurance shortcomings. (Caseload)
- The upfront pricing phenomenon (Out-of-Pocket)
- Surescripts explained (Waiting Room)
- Clover Health is going public. (Acute Condition)
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About the Healthy Muse.
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