About hospitals and health systems
Hospital groups file lawsuit to stop Trump price transparency rule: The previous strategy was to delay implementation because of its complexity. Now, the American Hospital Association (AHA), among other hospital groups, is suing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) claiming that the transparency rule “violates the First Amendment by provoking compelled speech and reaches beyond the intended meaning of ‘standard charges’ transparency in the Affordable Care Act.”
About pharma
The most viable drug pricing bill in Congress is getting a makeover: “Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) are poised to unveil a 2.0 version of their Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act of 2019, which caps out-of-pocket costs for Medicare enrollees and requires drugmakers to pay rebates if they hike prices faster than inflation.” The White House supports this bipartisan effort.
About healthcare IT
The Pros and Cons of a National Patient Identifier (NPI) System: This article provides a good update on the NPI system. The pros basically center on enhanced interoperability, while the cons focus on privacy concerns.