News Briefs
More States Introducing 'Conscience' Healthcare Bills
A new Montana law will provide sweeping legal protections to healthcare practitioners who refuse to prescribe marijuana or participate in procedures and treatments such as abortion, medically assisted death, gender-affirming care, or others that run afoul of their ethical, moral, or religious beliefs or principles. This year, 21 bills instituting or expanding conscience clauses have been introduced in statehouses, and two have become law, according to the nonprofit Guttmacher Institute.
(Source: USA Today, 2023-07-31)
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Drugmakers Concerned as Medicare to Begin Negotiating Prices
Drugmakers around the globe are bracing for a major shakeup in how one of their largest customers does business. On Sept. 1, Medicare will target its first 10 drugs for historic price negotiations.
(Source: NPR, 2023-07-28)
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FDA Requires Medical Device Manufacturers to Provide SBOMs
In the latest directive to mitigate cybersecurity breaches in the healthcare sector, the FDA has mandated that manufacturers provide software bill of materials (SBOMs) for all medical devices going to market. The new requirement demonstrates the growing importance of not only strengthening cybersecurity in the healthcare sector but also the use of SBOMs as a key cyber defense strategy.
(Source: Medical Economics, 2023-07-25)
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Senate Committee Approves PBM Accountability Act
In a largely harmonious Senate Committee on Finance markup hearing, members supported bipartisan efforts to rein in pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) who they say operate without transparency to drive up prescription drug prices for patients. The committee approved the Modernizing and Ensuring PBM Accountability (MEPA) Act by a vote of 26-1.
(Source: FierceHealthcare, 2023-07-27)
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Hospitals' Billing Practices Come Under Scrutiny
Mounting frustration with hospitals' billing practices are stirring reform efforts in Congress, state legislatures, and within the Biden administration, but not everyone agrees on where to start. Some measures under discussion could cost hospitals hundreds of billions of dollars, by paring payments that critics say are excessive and costing taxpayers and patients.
(Source: Axios, 2023-07-26)
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Senate Spending Bill Includes Help for Senior Living Workforce
Following a "deeply partisan" spending proposal from the House of Representatives that gutted workforce development programs, senior living advocates are praising a Senate bipartisan spending bill that provides additional funding for those programs. The Senate Appropriations Committee markup of the fiscal year 2024 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies' $224.4 billion spending bill included additional funding for workforce development, including apprenticeship grants and other programs.
(Source: McKnight's Senior Living, 2023-07-31)
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Medicare Hospice Benefit Revamp Could Impact Industry M&A
A restructuring of the Medicare Hospice Benefit could have impacts on merger and acquisition activity in the industry. Regulatory agencies, such as CMS and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of the Inspector General, have placed length of stay and eligibility in the forefront amid rising instances of alleged fraud, waste, and abuse in the hospice space.
(Source: Hospice News, 2023-07-26)
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NLRB 'Joint Employer' Rule Will Impact Senior Living Providers
A new "joint employer" rule will be coming next month, according to the National Labor Relations Board's agenda published to the Federal Register. The expanded definition means that senior living providers would face increased exposure and liability if they use employees and staff provided by a third party, such as a staffing agency.
(Source: McKnight's Senior Living, 2023-07-28)
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Average Healthcare Data Breach Cost Has Risen 15.3% Since 2020
While data breaches affect all industries, healthcare suffers the largest financial hit, according to data compiled by the Ponemon Institute. This year, the average cost of a data breach reached an all-time high of $4.4 million, a 2.3 percent increase from 2022, and, taking the long-term view, the average cost has increased 15.3 percent from the 2020 report.
(Source: Healthcare Finance News, 2023-07-27)
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Hospitals Allowing People to Live in Their RVs While Getting Care
Medical and RV industry professionals say hospitals that offer RV parking are easing access to healthcare for some patients who drive long distances for care, like many rural residents. The spots help patients keep close to their medical providers and allow them to avoid paying for hotels.
(Source: KFF Health News, 2023-07-27)
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New Amazon Web Services AI Helps Physicians with Paperwork
Amazon Web Services announced a new AI-powered service for healthcare software providers that will help clinicians with paperwork. AWS HealthScribe uses generative AI and speech recognition to help doctors transcribe and analyze their conversations with patients and drafts clinical notes, the company announced at its AWS Summit New York.
(Source: FierceHealthcare, 2023-07-27)
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