Friday Five: Top 5 healthcare business news items from the MCOL Weekend edition

Every business day, MCOL posts feature stories making news on the business of health care. Here are five we think are particularly important for this week: 

CMS finalizes ACO overhaul, shortening pathway for financial risk

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized substantial changes to the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP), an overhaul that will truncate the time that Accountable Care Organizations can remain in one-sided risk models.

FierceHealthcare

Friday, December 21, 2018

Year One Of KHN’s ‘Bill Of The Month’: A Kaleidoscope Of Financial Challenges

In 2018, KHN and NPR launched “Bill of the Month,” a crowdsourced investigation in which we dissect, investigate and explain medical bills you send us. In telling the story behind one patient’s bill each month, our goal is to understand the genesis of the often exorbitant and baffling charges that pervade the American medical system.

Kaiser Health News

Friday, December 21, 2018

Cigna closes $54 billion purchase of Express Scripts

Cigna Corp (CI.N) on Thursday closed its $54-billion deal to buy Express Scripts Holding Co, creating one of the biggest providers of pharmacy benefits and insurance plans in the United States, a combination it says will help it improve healthcare coordination and cut costs.

Reuters

Friday, December 21, 2018

Obama health law sign-ups beat forecast despite headwinds

The Affordable Care Act has yet again beaten predictions of its downfall, as government figures released Wednesday showed unexpectedly solid sign-ups for health coverage next year.

Associated Press

Thursday, December 20, 2018

Most hospitals still use mail or fax to exchange data

Health systems use numerous methods to exchange patient medical records, but providers continue to rely heavily on the old-fashioned approach of mail or fax, according to new federal data on interoperability.

FierceHealthcare

Wednesday, December 19, 2018

These and more weekly news items on the business of healthcare are featured in the MCOL Weekend edition, along with the MCOL Tidbits, and more, for MCOL Premium level members.