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☆ CVS, UnitedHealth, Cigna sue to block FTC case over insulin prices
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-19 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

CVS Health , UnitedHealth Group and Cigna sued the Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday, claiming that the agency's case against drug supply chain middlemen over high insulin prices in the U.S. is unconstitutional. The FTC's in-house administrative process initiates a proceeding before an administrative judge who would hear the case. FTC commissioners then vote on that opinion. The Tuesday complaint argues that the FTC's process violates the companies' due process rights under the Fifth Amendment. The complaint comes a month after CVS, UnitedHealth Group and Cigna demanded FTC Chair Lina Khan and two other commissioners recuse themselves from the agency's in-house suit.

Persons: Cigna, CVS's Caremark, Douglas Farrar, Lina Khan Organizations: CVS Health, UnitedHealth, Federal Trade Commission, Eastern, of, FTC, Cigna's, CVS Locations: U.S, of Missouri, Caremark

☆ CVS, UnitedHealth say FTC should take Lina Khan and two commissioners off drug middlemen case
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-09 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

CVS Health and UnitedHealth Group are demanding Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Lina Khan and two other commissioners recuse themselves from a lawsuit accusing the companies and other drug middlemen of boosting their profits while inflating insulin costs for Americans. In separate motions filed Tuesday night with the FTC, CVS and UnitedHealth argued that all three commissioners have an extensive track record of making public statements that indicate "serious bias" against the companies' so-called pharmacy benefit managers. CVS said those statements demonstrate that the commissioners have "prejudged this matter," so their participation in the case "violates due process." The FTC filed the suit last month against the three largest PBMs, CVS Health's Caremark, UnitedHealth Group 's Optum Rx and Cigna 's Express Scripts. The FTC has been investigating PBMs and their role in insulin prices since 2022.

Persons: Lina Khan, UnitedHealth, Khan, Alvaro Bedoya, Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, PBMs Organizations: Financial Services, General Government, Federal Trade Commission, CVS Health, UnitedHealth, Federal Trade, CVS, Amazon, FTC, Zinc Health Services, GPO, Emisar Pharma, OptumRx Locations: Rayburn, U.S, Caremark

☆ ‘Greed, greed, greed’: Sanders demands Ozempic maker lower prices
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-24 | by ( Meg Tirrell | Tami Luhby | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

“We are very committed to making sure that Americans have access at an affordable price point for our medicines,” Jorgensen replied. Similarly, Wegovy’s list price is $1,349 in the US, but it costs $186 in Denmark, $140 in Germany and $92 in the United Kingdom, he said. Tuesday’s hearing boiled down to a familiar argument over who is responsible for the US’s higher prices: drug companies that set starting – or “list” – prices or pharmacy benefit managers, the middlemen that negotiate discounts on those list prices in exchange for favorable insurance coverage and access. Jorgensen said Novo Nordisk pays back about 75% of its medicine sales in rebates, discounts and fees, so the net price it receives is far lower than the list price. “The broad totality is that less patients have access to our medicines when we lowered the price,” Jorgensen told Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-New Hampshire, after she pressed him to reduce list prices.

Persons: Sen, Bernie Sanders, ” Sanders, Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen, ” Jorgensen, “, Sanders, Jorgensen, it’s, Maggie Hassan, drugmakers, ”, PBMs, scot, ” Sen, Tim Kaine, Roger Marshall, Eli Lilly, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, Tammy Baldwin Organizations: CNN, Nordisk’s, US, Health, Education, Labor, Pensions, Yale, Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic, Novo Nordisk, Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, Nordisk, Novo Nordisk’s, Federal Trade Commission, CVS, Cigna’s, Republican, Wegovy’s, CNN Health, Medicare, Services Locations: United States, Danish, America, Canada, Denmark, Germany, United Kingdom, New Hampshire, Big, Virginia, Kansas, Novo, Wisconsin

The Federal Trade Commission said Friday that it is suing three drug middlemen, accusing them of inflating insulin prices. PBMs work with insurance companies to negotiate discounted prices from drug companies in exchange for including the drugs in their coverage. The drug was priced at $274 in 2017, as a result of the PBMs rebate system strategy, the FTC said. In July, Democratic and Republican lawmakers blamed executives from Caremark, Express Scripts and Optum Rx for sky-high prescription drug prices in the U.S. during an oversight committee hearing. The lawsuit also comes as states — most recently Vermont — have sued PBMs, alleging they drive up drug costs.

Persons: Cigna, Eli Lilly, Rahul Rao, It’s, Raja Krishnamoorthi, PBMs Organizations: Federal Trade Commission, FTC, CVS, Cigna's, Zinc Health, Ascent Health, Emisar Pharma Services, UnitedHealth, CVS Health, Novo Nordisk, Democratic, Republican, Caremark, New York Times, Republicans, ” Rep Locations: U.S, FTC’s, Vermont

☆ FTC sues drug middlemen for allegedly inflating insulin prices
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-20 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The Federal Trade Commission on Friday sued three large U.S. health companies that negotiate insulin prices, arguing the drug middlemen use practices that boost their profits while "artificially" inflating costs for patients. It comes three days after Express Scripts sued the FTC, demanding that the agency retract its allegedly "defamatory" July report that claimed that the PBM industry is hiking drug prices. It also alleges that PBMs favor those high-list-price insulins even when more affordable insulins with lower list prices become available. President Joe Biden's signature Inflation Reduction Act has capped insulin prices for Medicare beneficiaries at $35 per month. The FTC said it remains "deeply troubled" by the role insulin manufacturers play in higher list prices, arguing that they inflate prices in response to PBMs' demands for higher rebates.

Persons: Lina Khan, UnitedHealth, drugmakers Eli Lilly, Caremark, PBMs, Rahul Rao, Rao, Joe Biden's, Biden, Eli Lilly, Eli Lilly's Organizations: Federal Trade Commission, CVS, Cigna's, FTC, Sanofi, Novo Nordisk, Express, Competition Locations: Rayburn, Washington ,, U.S, drugmakers, FTC's

☆ A General Catalyst-backed startup is mass-buying virtual care tech from big players like Walmart. Here's why Fabric is still betting on telehealth.
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-17 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Read previewHealthtech startup Fabric launched out of stealth in March 2023 to help patients get care faster and automate administrative work for providers. In June, Fabric bought Walmart's virtual care business, MeMD, after the retailer announced it would shutter its 51 health clinics. MeMD was Fabric's third acquisition — the startup previously bought asynchronous virtual care platform Zipnosis from Bright Health, as well as generative AI startup Gyant. The startup has acquired TeamHealth VirtualCare, the virtual care business inside giant physician practice group TeamHealth, Business Insider has learned exclusively. While virtual care saw a tsunami of VC interest during the pandemic, investors and healthcare companies alike are now pulling back.

Persons: —, it's, MeMD, TeamHealth VirtualCare, UnitedHealth Group's Optum, Aniq Rahman, Rahman, we've, Hemant Taneja, Commure, We've, Moat Organizations: Service, Fabric, Bright Health, Business, Google Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, General Catalyst, Bright, Walmart, Vast Ventures, Oracle Locations: Florence

☆ Shingles vaccines may reduce dementia risk, two large new studies suggest
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-30 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

In 2017, a stronger vaccine, Shingrix, became available. “While research into whether vaccines affect dementia risk continues, people should be aware that there are other factors that have definitively been linked to an increased dementia risk. This study also found that the new shingles vaccine was associated with a larger degree of benefit than the older one. Although the findings are intriguing, the association needs more study before researchers can know for sure that the shingles vaccine is definitively behind the benefit. So for the time being, the best reason to get a shingles vaccine is still to avoid the misery of shingles.

Persons: stow, Shingrix, that’s, ”, Paul Harrison, ” Harrison, Dr, Andrew Doig, ” Doig, it’s, Sheona Scales, Scales, Sanjay Gupta, Phil Dormitzer Organizations: CNN, US Centers for Disease Control, Nature, GlaxoSmithKline, GSK, University of Oxford, University of Manchester, Alzheimer’s Research, Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, Oxford, CNN Health Locations: United States

☆ Lawmakers introduce bipartisan bill aiming to crack down on drug middlemen as scrutiny ramps up
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-23 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Bipartisan lawmakers introduced a new bill on Tuesday that aims to crack down on the business practices of drug supply chain middlemen who are widely accused of inflating prescription medication prices and harming U.S. patients and pharmacies. The legislation aims to ensure community pharmacies can provide care to patients enrolled in federal health-care programs while being reimbursed "fairly and transparently" by so-called pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs. Those middlemen also create lists of medications, also known as formularies, that are covered by insurance and reimburse pharmacies for prescriptions. Auchincloss said those practices have allowed PBMs to trap $300 billion in revenue in the middle of the drug supply chain between manufacturers and patients. Legislation targeting PBMs advanced through House and Senate committees with bipartisan support last year, and one proposal overwhelmingly passed the House in December.

Persons: Jake Auchincloss, Diana Harshbarger, Auchincloss, Biden Organizations: Medicare, CVS, PBMs, House, Federal Trade Commission, CNBC

☆ The 'Trump trade' has divided health-care stocks into two camps. How to play the next moves
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-19 | by ( Pia Singh | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

UNH 1M mountain UnitedHealth stock over the past month. Think Centene , Molina Healthcare , UnitedHealth and Humana , among others. Managed-care companies historically buck the broader trend of health stocks and outperform in the first year after an election, according to Raymond James. Unlike UnitedHealth, shares have fallen — down 3% — since the June debate. Raymond James sees Oscar Health , HCA Healthcare and Tenet Healthcare as beneficiaries of a victory by the left.

Persons: Raymond James, Chris Meekins, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, quieted, Biden, Meekins, Centene, Trump, Bernstein, Jefferies, David Windley, UnitedHealth, Ben Hendrix, Optum, John Ransom, Piper Sandler, Ransom, Lance Wilkes, Oscar, — Ransom, Oscar's Organizations: Affordable, Trump, UnitedHealth, Republican, Biden, GOP, Federal Trade Commission, Department of Justice, ACA, Medicare, Molina Healthcare, RBC Capital Markets, CVS Health, RBC Capital, DOJ, Humana, Healthcare, GoodRx Holdings, Democratic, Oscar Health, Tenet Healthcare, Aetna Locations: Molina, UnitedHealth, U.S, Thursday's, Florida, Texas

Joe Raedle | Getty ImagesAn Express Scripts spokesperson said "the prices of insulin and other medicines are set by their manufacturers, who have raised list prices repeatedly." The FTC's investigation into insulin prices also examines drugmakers, but it is unclear whether they will be named in the upcoming lawsuits, Politico reported, citing sources. Eli Lilly , French drugmaker Sanofi and Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk control roughly 90% of the U.S. insulin market. They also create lists of medications – or formularies – that are covered by insurance and reimburse pharmacies for prescriptions. Pharmacist Thomas Jensen looks over a prescription drug at the Rock Canyon Pharmacy in Provo, Utah, on May 9, 2019.

Persons: Lina Khan, Tom Williams, Joe Raedle, Eli Lilly, Sanofi, Thomas Jensen, George Frey Organizations: Trade, Financial Services, General Government, CQ, Inc, Getty, Federal Trade Commission, CNBC, UnitedHealth, CVS, Politico, Novo Nordisk, Pharmacy Locations: Miami , Florida, Danish, U.S, Provo , Utah

☆ Does America’s Largest Health Care Company Control Your Doctor’s Office? Help The Times Report
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-10 | by ( Chris Hamby | More About Chris Hamby | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Health care in America is changing. The days of small, independent medical practices have mostly passed. UnitedHealth Group, which owns the nation’s largest insurer, also employs or is affiliated with roughly 90,000 doctors — more than any other company. Through its lesser-known subsidiary Optum, it operates primary care practices, specialty clinics, home health agencies, urgent care centers and other facilities across the country. Step 1: Unsure whether Optum owns or contracts with your clinic?

Persons: Optum Organizations: UnitedHealth, Times Locations: America

☆ Federal Trade Commission to sue drug middlemen over prices of medications including insulin, source says
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-10 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino Mary Catherine Wellons | Annika Kim Constantino | Mary Catherine Wellons | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Joe Raedle | Getty ImagesAn Express Scripts spokesperson said the "prices of insulin and other medicines are set by their manufacturers, who have raised list prices repeatedly." They also create lists of medications — or formularies — that are covered by insurance and reimburse pharmacies for prescriptions. The investigation into insulin prices also examines drugmakers, but it is unclear whether they will be named in the upcoming lawsuits, Politico reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Eli Lilly , French drugmaker Sanofi and Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk control roughly 90% of the U.S. insulin market. Pharmacist Thomas Jensen looks over a prescription drug at the Rock Canyon Pharmacy in Provo, Utah, on May 9, 2019.

Persons: Lina Khan, Tom Williams, Joe Raedle, PBMs, Eli Lilly, Sanofi, Thomas Jensen, George Frey Organizations: Trade, Financial Services, General Government, CQ, Inc, Getty, Federal Trade Commission, CNBC, UnitedHealth, CVS, FTC, Politico, Novo Nordisk, Pharmacy Locations: Miami, U.S, Danish, Provo , Utah

Companies known as pharmacy benefit managers, or P.B.M.s, are at the center of a system that can make it extraordinarily difficult to get your medication. These companies are hired by your employer or your health insurer to manage your prescription drugs. We just published an article explaining how P.B.M.s work, and we’re continuing to report on this subject. We want to hear about your experiences — positive or negative — with these companies. Maybe they put up roadblocks that made it hard for you to get your medication.

Persons: It’s Organizations: CVS, The New York Times

☆ Overpaying for Medicine
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-21 | by ( Reed Abelson | Rebecca Robbins | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But there’s another reason: middlemen known as pharmacy benefit managers, or P.B.M.s. But in their quest for higher profits, they are quietly driving up prescription drug costs. Your pharmacy benefit manager is often invisible to you unless you’re having trouble filling a prescription. (You probably rely on one of the big three: CVS Health’s Caremark, Cigna’s Express Scripts or UnitedHealth Group’s Optum Rx.) Today, we published a story about these companies, how they affect drug spending and how they amassed so much control with so little transparency.

Persons: you’re Organizations: Cigna’s

☆ Senators demand UnitedHealth own patient data hack
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-07 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Federal law known as the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) generally requires health care providers to notify people within 60 days of discovering a breach affecting their personal health data. The Department of Health and Human Services is already investigating whether UnitedHealth is compliant with HIPAA obligations to protect patient data. HHS can use HIPAA to fine companies for failing to protect patient data. The department announced a $4.75 million settlement in February with a nonprofit hospital system in New York for “data security failures” that the department said resulted in an employee stealing and selling patient data. On May 31, the HHS Office for Civil Rights clarified that health care providers can delegate that obligation to Change Healthcare.

Persons: Andrew, New Hampshire Democratic Sen, Maggie Hassan, Tennessee Republican Sen, Marsha Blackburn, ”, Eric Hausman, Hassan, Blackburn, Sen, Ron Wyden, UnitedHealth’s Organizations: Washington CNN, UnitedHealth, New, New Hampshire Democratic, Tennessee Republican, of Health, Human Services, CNN, HHS, Healthcare, Civil Rights, American Hospital Association, Optum, Capitol, Senate, Oregon Democrat, Federal Trade Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC Locations: New Hampshire, Tennessee, New York, Wyden

Daiwa raised its price target to $1,325 on Nvidia, calling for more than 15% upside. Mizuho, meanwhile, upgraded PayPal to buy from neutral with a price target that implies more than 45% upside. — Brian Evans 5:46 a.m.: Daiwa increases Nvidia price target, says company is AI's 'big winner' Shares of soaring chipmaker Nvidia have more room to run, according to Daiwa Capital Markets. Analyst Louis Miscioscia raised his price target on the chipmaker to $1,325 from $900, which implies more than 15% upside from Wednesday's close. Nvidia stock has gained roughly 132% in 2024, adding to last year's 238% surge, as investors cheer the company's AI prospects.

Persons: Daiwa, Mizuho, Okta's, OKTA, Peter Levine, Brian Evans, Maheep Mandloi, — Brian Evans, Baird, Michael Ha, Ha, Louis Miscioscia, Miscioscia, Dan Dolev, Dolev, Fred Imbert Organizations: CNBC, Nvidia, PayPal, Mizuho Securities, Solar Mizuho Securities, UnitedHealth, Daiwa, Markets, Mizuho, comm Locations: Wednesday's, OptumCare

☆ Damaging hacks expose the weak underbelly of America’s health care system
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Washington CNN —A pair of recent ransomware attacks crippled computer systems at two major American health care firms, disrupting patient care and exposing fundamental weaknesses in the US health care system’s defenses against hackers. Health care lags other industries such as big financial institutions and energy providers when it comes to IT security, according to some experts. The two ransomware attacks hit different nerves of the health care system. Momentum is also growing on Capitol Hill to force health care organizations to meet basic cybersecurity standards. More broadly, the Justice Department last week announced a task force to examine “health care monopolies and collusion” that will guide the department’s approach to “civil and criminal enforcement in health care markets,” where warranted.

Persons: cybersecurity, ” Joshua Corman, Sen, Ron Wyden, ”, cybercriminals, Biden, Anne Neuberger, Mark Warner, ” Carter Groome, Corman, ‘, ” Sen, Marsha Blackburn, Andrew Organizations: Washington CNN, Biden, “ Industry, CNN, Oregon Democrat, ransomware, Change Healthcare, White House, American Hospital Association, Department of Health, Human Services, Virginia Democrat, Healthcare, cybersecurity, Health, Cavalry, UnitedHealth, Optum, Tennessee Republican, Justice Department, UnitedHealth Group, Wall Street, Department Locations: St, Louis, United States, Virginia, Tennessee

☆ Bankrupt Steward Health puts its hospitals up for sale, discloses $9 billion in debt
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Schrock said Steward has real value, despite carrying a $9 billion debt load. “It never really stabilized the company,” Schrock said. Steward is putting all of its hospitals up for sale. It intends to hold auctions on June 28 for its hospitals outside of Florida and July 30 for its nine hospitals in Florida. Schrock said those timelines were negotiated as part of the new $75 million bankruptcy loan, and that Steward would seek more time to sell its hospitals if necessary.

Persons: Steward, Ray Schrock, Chris Lopez, “, ” Schrock, “ There’s, Schrock, Lopez, ” Organizations: Health Care, Stewardship Health, Care, Medical Properties Trust Locations: Houston, Massachusetts, Florida

☆ UnitedHealth CEO tells lawmakers the company paid hackers a $22 million ransom
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Ashley Capoot | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Change Healthcare provides payment, revenue management and other solutions like e-prescription software. UnitedHealth told CNBC in April that it paid a ransom to try and protect patient data. Its business unit Optum — which provides care to 103 million customers — and Change Healthcare — which touches one in three patient records — merged in 2022. Committee Chairman Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in his opening remarks that the Change Healthcare breach serves as a "dire warning about the consequences of too-big-to-fail mega-corporations." Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., pressed Witty to share how UnitedHealth is working to ensure something like the Change Healthcare breach will not happen again.

Persons: Andrew, UnitedHealth, Sen, Ron Wyden, Wyden, Thom Tillis, they're, Tillis, Blackcat, Michael Bennet Organizations: Senate, Capitol, U.S ., Finance, UnitedHealth, Healthcare, CNBC, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, U.S . Department of Justice Locations: Washington , DC

☆ Cyberattack on UnitedHealth firm forces doctors to dig into personal savings to stay afloat
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Ashley Capoot | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +19 min

Change Healthcare offers payment and revenue cycle management tools, and other solutions such as electronic prescription software. On Feb. 21, UnitedHealth Group , which owns Change Healthcare, discovered that hackers compromised part of the unit's information technology systems. UnitedHealth told CNBC earlier this month that there is "no evidence of any new cyber incident at Change Healthcare." It's just one of the ways Change Healthcare touches cash flow within the health-care sector. A controversial mergerSheldon Cooper | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty ImagesUnitedHealth's ownership of Change Healthcare has raised eyebrows from the outset.

Persons: Omar Marques, Dr, Angeli Maun Akey, Akey, she's, UnitedHealth, I've, Andrew, Mike Bradley, Barbara McAneny, McAneny, Sarah Carlson, Carlson, Sheldon Cooper, Optum, Michael Nagle, Tyler Kisling, Kisling, he's, There's, it's, Purvi, Parikh hadn't, they've, Amit Phull, Phull, Igor Golovniov Organizations: Lightrocket, CNBC, Healthcare, UnitedHealth, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Change, Inc, Bloomberg, Getty, U.S, American Medical Association, AMA, U.S . Department of Justice, DOJ, U.S . Department of Health, Human Services, Wall Street, New York Stock Exchange, Change Healthcare Locations: Gainesville , Florida, U.S, Minnetonka , Minnesota, UnitedHealth's, New Mexico, Boulder , Colorado, California, New York City, UnitedHealth

☆ UnitedHealth beats on revenue despite impact from cyberattack
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-16 | by ( Ashley Capoot | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

UnitedHealth Group reported better-than-expected revenue in its first-quarter results on Tuesday, though the company is still dealing with the fallout from the cyberattack on its subsidiary Change Healthcare. UnitedHealth reported revenue growth of close to 9% from $91.9 billion in the same period last year. Direct response efforts, like UnitedHealth's effort to restore Change Healthcare platforms, amounted to an impact of 49 cents per share in the quarter. Business disruption costs, like lost Change Healthcare revenue, amounted to 25 cents per share. In 2022, Optum completed a $13 billion merger with Change Healthcare, which offers tools for payment and revenue cycle management.

Persons: UnitedHealth, Optum, Andrew, UnitedHealthcare Organizations: UnitedHealth Group, Healthcare, LSEG, Change, U.S Locations: LSEG, Brazil

☆ UnitedHealth's first-quarter report will offer a window into Change cyberattack costs
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-15 | by ( Bertha Coombs | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

"Everybody looks to United as the bellwether of all of health-care services. This will be different," said Lisa Gill, managing director and health care analyst at JPMorgan. The data breach at the Change Healthcare unit forced the firm to take down its massive billing and payment processing service. While the company has restored services for pharmacies, the outage has continued to disrupt operations for health-care providers across the country. Larger providers, such as home infusion services firm Option Care Health , have also warned that the outage could impact their quarterly results.

Persons: UnitedHealth Group's, Lisa Gill, Scott Fidel, UnitedHealth, they'd, James Allred, he's, Allred Organizations: JPMorgan, Healthcare, Optum, OptumRx, Stephens, American Medical Association, Aesthetics, Care Locations: Nashville

☆ Big corporations are quietly taking over your medical practice. Some doctors and experts say it's ruining healthcare.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-11 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

UnitedHealth Group struck a deal in March to buy the nine-state doctor group of the struggling hospital system Steward Health Care. AdvertisementDoctors are hot commoditiesIt's tough to lump the many buyers of medical practices together, as they're pursuing different strategies. Insurers like UnitedHealthcare and CVS' Aetna are required by federal law to spend most of the money they collect in premiums on medical care. Plus, running a modern medical practice is expensive, requiring investments in staffing, technology, and electronic health records. Advertisement"The corporate practice of medicine is the reason why healthcare costs are out of control," Li said.

Persons: —, UnitedHealth's Optum, That's, UnitedHealth, there's, They're, Farzad Mostashari, UnitedHealth's chokehold, Chas Roades, Yashaswini Singh, Singh, Roades, Nick Jones, they're, Optum, Jones, Mitch Li, Li, Michelle Cooke, Cooke, she's, Ben Bowman, Bowman Organizations: Service, UnitedHealth, Health Care, CVS Health, Walgreens, Physicians, Research, US Justice Department, CVS, Aetna, Brown University, Harvard Medical School, Oregon Medical Group, JAMA, Amazon, The Washington Post, Federal Trade Commission, US Department of Justice, Department of Health, Human Services, Oregon State, Corvallis Clinic Locations: Oregon, New York, UnitedHealth, Optum, California, The, Atlanta

BOSTON (AP) — Financially embattled hospital operator Steward Health Care has struck a deal to sell its nationwide physician network to Optum, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, as it works to stabilize its finances. Maura Healey has said state monitors are keeping eye on the nine health care facilities operated by Steward Health Care in Massachusetts, including hospitals in some of the state’s poorer communities. Emails to Steward Health Care and Optum seeking comment were not immediately returned. Democratic U.S. Sen. Edward Markey said for-profit companies that participate in the health care system must understand that their decisions have direct impacts on patients and communities. “After years of gross profiteering and mismanagement, Steward’s latest plan raises more serious questions about the future of the Massachusetts health care system," Warren said in a written statement.

Persons: —, Maura Healey, Optum, David Seltz, ”, ” Seltz, Ronald Mariano, Democratic U.S . Sen, Edward Markey, ” Markey, “, Sen, Elizabeth Warren, Steward’s, Warren, Steward Organizations: BOSTON, Health Care, UnitedHealth, Steward Health Care, Department of Public Health, Steward, Democratic Massachusetts, Democratic U.S ., Health, Education, Labor, Primary Health Locations: Massachusetts, The Dallas, Boston, U.S

☆ Small practices are struggling to stay afloat 3 weeks after the cyberattack that crippled the US healthcare industry
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

It's been three weeks since a cyberattack on an under-the-radar but critical technology company caused the payments that flow between healthcare providers and insurers to grind to a halt nationwide. The US healthcare system has been crippled by the cyberattack on Change Healthcare, the company owned by UnitedHealth Group that connects healthcare providers and pharmacies to insurers and facilitates 15 billion transactions each year. And some patients can't afford their prescriptions because pharmacies can't process drug coupons. For many healthcare providers, UnitedHealth and the federal government's response to the ongoing crisis has fallen short. Industry groups including the American Hospital Association and American Medical Association urged the federal government to provide emergency financial support to healthcare providers.

Persons: It's, Sarah von Colditz, Von Colditz, she's, von Colditz, greenlit, UnitedHealth, it's, Kate Ecke, wasn't, Ecke, I've, Optum, Keely Helmick, CareOregon, She's, Helmick, I'm, Brittany Goff, she'd, hasn't, Goff, we're, they've, Tiffany Kettermann, Kettermann Organizations: Business, Healthcare, UnitedHealth Group, US Justice Department, American Hospital Association, American Medical Association, US Health, Human Services Department, Unconventional, HHS, Zen Psychological, Health Allies, Covid Locations: Astoria , Oregon, New Jersey, Portland , Oregon, Maryland, Shoreline

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