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Medicare Advantage Popularity Causing ‘Friction’ for Hospitals
Medicare Advantage (MA) penetration has reached as high as 70 to 80 percent in some markets, a hospital administrator tells Becker’s Hospital Review in a December 4, 2025, article, but it is creating “friction” and could lead to more hospitals cancelling MA contracts. MA plans are popular because of the “simplicity and potential cost savings”…
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Medicare Advantage Plans Profit When They Keep Enrollees Healthy – Commentary
The American health care system has two distinguishing characteristics. First, similarly situated individuals pay the same premium, regardless of their medical conditions. Put differently, no one who acquires health insurance ever pays an actuarially fair price. Second, insurers invariably lose money on people who are known to be relatively sick and make money on people…
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Judge Blocks Pilot Program to Improve 340B Accountability
A federal judge granted a temporary restraining order to block a pilot program aimed at keeping better tabs on the federal 340B hospitals use to receive drug discounts. The pilot was scheduled to begin on January 1. On December 18, U.S. District Judge Lance Walker of the District of Maine issued the order while a…
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AI’s Potential and Challenges in Health Care – New Economic Report
“Medical knowledge is growing so rapidly that only 6 percent of what the average new physician is taught in medical school today will be relevant in ten years,” states a new National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) report, “The Potential Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Health Care Costs.” As AI transforms one sector after another,…
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CDC Makes Major Changes to Vaccine Schedule
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) drastically reduced the recommended vaccines on the childhood immunization schedule. Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill announced in a January 5 X post that he updated the schedule to recommend immunization against 11 diseases, down from the 17 that had previously been on the schedule. The total number of…
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Aggressive Organ Procurement Practices Revealed to Congressional Committee
The House Ways and Means Oversight subcommittee held a hearing on December 2 as part of its investigation into the questionable activities of organ procurement organizations (OPOs), the tax-exempt, federally designated monopolies involved in the recovery of organs for transplant. The investigation “revealed troubling clinical practices, misuse of taxpayer dollars, and questionable financial practices,” a December 4…
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Medicare Medical Savings Accounts Elude Enrollees
Medicare enrollees shopping for a “Medicare Medical Savings Account (MSA)” are coming up short in most states because insurers do not offer them. After a limited demonstration in 1997, the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act made MSAs a permanent option for Medicare enrollees. The plans combine a high-deductible health plan with a medical savings account.…
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The GOP’s Option to Fix Medicare Is Right in Front of Their Eyes – Commentary
Following the federal government shutdown, health care, Medicaid, and Medicare have again surged to the forefront of national debate. Amidst all the finger-pointing, one truth is clear: America’s health care system remains bloated, costly, and unsustainable. For years, Republicans have excelled at identifying what’s wrong but have struggled to offer practical, free-market alternatives. Ironically, one…
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Hospitals Spending Billions on New Construction
Hospital construction is experiencing a boom as the trend of consolidation of medical facilities continues, particularly in urban centers, even as most markets are experiencing net closures. An October 27 article in Becker’s Hospital Review, for example, cited 13 hospital construction projects in 2025 worth at least $1 billion each. IBIS World, in an October…
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For the First Time, CDC Acknowledges Vaccine-Autism Link
For the First Time, CDC Acknowledges Vaccine-Autism Link Possibility By Ashley Bateman On November 19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its website to address questions regarding the relationship between vaccines and autism. “The claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the…
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