Wednesday, May 18, 2022: M&A

New Jersey regulators approved RWJBarnabas Health’s and Saint Peter’s Healthcare System’s proposed integration plan. The two health systems had signed a definitive agreement declaring their “intention to integrate” in late 2020. They are now awaiting a final approval...

Tuesday, May 17, 2022: Access & Coverage

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a brief projecting that lowering Medicare coverage to Americans over 60 would add about 7.3 million people to the program and cost $155 billion over a five-year period. Lowering the eligibility age would result in about...

Tuesday, May 17, 2022: Life Sciences

Twenty-four states filed a legal brief supporting the federal government’s battle against six drugmakers over 340B restrictions. The states said that the drugmakers – AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi, and United Therapeutics – unlawfully cut off...

Tuesday, May 17, 2022: Payers

A new report from RAND found that employers and private insurance plans in 2020 paid hospitals 224 percent of what Medicare paid for the same services. Some states like Hawaii, Arkansas, and Washington had relative prices below 175 percent of Medicare prices, while...