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The year of the merger. Centene is buying Health Net for $6.3 Billion. this is a 21% premium. This gives Centene a huge stake in the Medicaid market especially in California where the fed is wanting to grow their influence as well as providing an entree into Medicare. It is possible that United Health may still get involved in this buyout.
In a huge merger Aetna is buying Humana for $35 Billion, a 23 % premium. This allows Aetna into the lucrative Medicare Advantage market. Insurers are trying to get the most share of the publicly funded people. Think of the coming increase in the Medicare population. Watch out for Anthem to buy Cigna later this year. Thank you to SCOTUS for saying the subsidy was legal.
Vermont Blue Cross and Blue Shield has stated it will no longer seek money from providers who were paid for claims that were later deemed erroneous since the insureds dropped out of the state exchange program. They will hold Vermont liable instead. That is a correct decision. Top
The 2014 compensation for physicians is out. Leading the pack are as usual the othopods with an average of $499,000. In second is Cardiology at $443,000. As usual the pediatricians are bringing up the rear at $199,000. The largest jump from a year earlier were the neurologists at 6.6%. Medical oncology had the lowest increase from a year earlier at 0.25%.
A study by Tech Survey showed that 68% of physicians had not seen any return of investment from the initiation of EHR. The physicians have seen a betterment of patient documentation leading to higher coding. The two biggest reasons given for not obtaining an EHR are the belief that it will not improve patient care and it is too expensive. Top
Let's hope this iteration will be better than the last. Drew King hospital is re-opening in South LA. The last one was the worst hospital in the country with the crooked administrators and the prying Board of Stupes. This one will be 1/3 the size of the old one and will focus on prevention over treatment. his one will not have the Board of Stupes sticking its political nose under the tent. Now a blue ribbon committee will have the oversight.
The University of Vermont Medical Center did a root cause analysis after a patient died. They found the problem of Ketamine overdose could be avoided if the med was packaged in smaller doses. Several months later during a state investigation it was noted the changes had not been instituted. The same was true for the mandatory education of nurses to only draw up in a syringe the ordered dosage. The hospital attempted but failed to explain adequately why the change had not been implemented. Top
The researchers are at it again. This time it is mammograms that are in their sights. They show that data from 16 million women in 47 counties in 2000. Of those screened 53,000 had a breast cancer. The study does not tell the percentage of false positive or negative results. They did show the amount of tumors found led to the same amount of deaths and state that screening is finding small insignificant cancers and the large invasive ones are still causing deaths. They worry about the overdiagnosis and the psychological problems caused by the false positives and overtreated cancers. No one has stated that the small cancers found and "overtreated) have not become the larger invasive ones. Top
DISCLAIMER: Although this
article is updated periodically, it reflects the author's point of view at the
time of publication. Nothing in this article constitutes legal advice. Readers
should consult with their own legal counsel before acting on any of the
information presented.