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STAT+: UnitedHealth continues making stealthy deals, pushing deeper into medical care as scrutiny mounts

STAT

UnitedHealth Group, the largest health care company in the U.S.,   The sprawling conglomerate — which owns a major health insurance company, physician practices, a pharmacy benefit manager, and numerous other firms — acquired or created more than 250 subsidiaries in 2024.

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Why Congress should prioritize fixing the 340B program

PhRMA

These include things like making sure patients aren’t paying more for their medicines than their health insurance company or requiring first-dollar coverage, so insurance companies cover the cost of certain lifesaving medicines from day one of the plan year. Here’s how 340B is hurting patients.

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STAT+: Biden administration ignores calls to bolster hospital price transparency

STAT

The federal government will not modify regulations that dictate how hospitals publish their prices for consumers, ignoring pleas from patient advocates who have said hospitals still are not fully complying with the 3-year-old law. The Biden administration on Wednesday proposed an annual rule that sets payment rates for hospitals.

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STAT+: Heated lawsuit between AdventHealth, MultiPlan attracts hospital lobbyists

STAT

A lawsuit between a large hospital system and a dominant vendor that works for health insurance companies is getting a lot more heated — with one party calling the other an “economic parasite.” Morgan Healthcare Conference. Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

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STAT+: Which hospital systems will join Kaiser’s Risant next?

STAT

More than a year ago, Kaiser Permanente made waves when it said it was creating a new, sprawling entity of nonprofit hospitals and doctors with Geisinger as its first takeover — the latest example of health care companies bulking up in an already highly consolidated industry. Those other organizations are still a mystery.

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STAT+: More hospital and outpatient visits expected to persist through fall and winter

STAT

Health care providers and health insurance companies are closing the books on their third quarters, and one major question continues to hang over them: How much care is everyone actually getting, now that Covid-19 isn’t scaring so many away from doctors and hospitals?

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STAT+: 3 trends to watch in hospitals and health insurance in 2023

STAT

For almost three years, hospitals and health insurers have been riding the waves of the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic’s “public health emergency” has been a boon for state Medicaid rolls and the health insurance companies that manage those programs.