About health insurance/insurers
No Surprises Act: A Federal–State Partnership to Protect Consumers from Surprise Medical Bills From a study by the Commonwealth Fund: “Key Findings: To enforce protections under the No Surprises Act, most states are partnering with the federal government. In the majority of states, disputes over payments to out-of-network providers will be resolved by the federal independent dispute resolution system. Some state systems for resolving payments are more favorable to health care providers, potentially leading to higher awards and inflating health care costs. In many states, the No Surprises Act expands state protections against surprise bills, but some states offer additional protections. Consumer and provider education is important to guaranteeing effective protections.”
About hospitals and healthcare systems
UHS reports lower profit amid staffing shortages “King of Prussia, Pa.-based Universal Health Services reported third-quarter net income of $182.8 million compared with $218.4 million in the same period last year amid labor shortages. The decrease in net income came even as revenues were up almost 6 percent in the quarter to total $3.34 billion.
Net income for the nine months ending Sept. 30 was down compared with the same period in 2021, totaling just over $500 million compared with $752.5 million in 2021. Revenues for the nine months in 2022 were again up on the same period last year, totaling $9.95 billion versus $9.4 billion.”
About pharma
OptumRx to pay $15M to settle Ohio overcharging allegations “UnitedHealth Group's OptumRx arm has agreed to pay $15 million to settle prescription drug overcharging allegations in Ohio.
A lawsuit from Ohio's attorney general alleged that the pharmacy benefit manager overcharged the state's bureau of worker's compensation $15.8 million from 2015 to 2018, according to an Oct. 25 news release from the office.”
About the public’s health
U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Issues Draft Recommendation on Screening for Skin Cancer “More research is needed to recommend for or against screening adolescents and adults without symptoms.”
E-cigarettes may disrupt heart rhythm, hike risk of sudden cardiac arrest “Exposure to specific chemicals within e-cigarette liquids may trigger heart arrhythmias and electrical dysfunction -- cardiac effects similar to or worse than what conventional cigarettes may cause, a new study suggests.
The research from University of Louisville's Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute found that exposure to e-cigarette aerosols can cause heart arrhythmias -- premature and skipped heart beats -- in mice models.”
About healthcare personnel
Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) Map and table of figures for each state from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
About healthcare finance
UnitedHealth sells $9B of bonds to support Change Healthcare purchase “UnitedHealth Group has sold $9 billion of bonds that will help to refinance short-term debt the company took on to partially fund its purchase of Change Healthcare for $7.8 billion, Bloomberg reported Oct. 25.”