The country's biggest #hospital chain, HCA, told CMS it spent ~$1 billion more on charity care than it reported to shareholders, helping it draw more taxpayer $ from safety-net programs

“This is the underbelly of the health care system.'

shorturl.at/pqrFW via STAT

UnitedHealth’s surprising new target: Struggling Steward’s physician group statnews.com/2024/04/01/uni… via STAT Tara Bannow

Sorry, *formerly* PE owned!

Struggling private equity-owned #hospital chain Steward plans to sell its doctor network to UnitedHealth Group's Optum subsidiary to shore up finances

statnews.com/2024/03/26/ste… via STAT

Comment from ⁦Stacie Dusetzina⁩ on GLP-1 agonists at #STATSummit

From more than 200 applicants, we're thrilled to announce STAT's inaugural Disability in Health Care Reporting Fellow, Timmy Broderick
Supported by Commonwealth Fund Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
statnews.com/stat-hires-dis…

NEW with Tara Bannow:

Over a dozen provider/groups told us that UnitedHealth offered them loans as low as <1% of their weekly claims.

But now, a few providers have gotten up to 7-figure loan offers

It's unclear why, but follows a White House mtg w UHG:
statnews.com/2024/03/19/cha…

We're thrilled: 3 winners and 2 honorable mentions in the SABEW Best in Business #SABEWBIB reporting awards.
Hats off to entire STAT team @elainywchen Bob Herman Tara Bannow Damian Garde Matthew Herper Nicholas Florko Casey Ross Andrew Joseph
sabew.org/contestsawards…

Since its U.S. FDA approval in fall 2022, the ALS drug Relyvrio has generated $381 million in revenue & $49 million in profit for its manufacturer, Amylyx.

But there's a problem: It provides no benefit for patients.

statnews.com/2024/03/08/amy… via STAT

If you've found yourself wondering 'What the heck is Change Healthcare anyway?', you may want to give Bob Herman's latest a read. It's a look at what Change does and why the cyberattack outage is having such sweeping impacts.

statnews.com/2024/03/04/cha… via STAT

I've heard from a few providers that their UnitedHealth loan offers — from the program I reported yesterday — are coming in at 1% or less of what they normally get in claims from Change

Has this happened to you?

✉️Email me: [email protected]

UnitedHealth is setting up a loan program to pay providers during the outage caused by the Change cyberattack, which could last weeks

Nice scoop from Brittany Trang STAT

statnews.com/2024/02/29/cha…

Scoop: Congress punts on PBM reform efforts statnews.com/2024/02/26/con… via Rachel Cohrs Zhang & John Wilkerson

NEW: The cyberattack on UnitedHealth's Change Healthcare is completely disrupting how hospitals & pharmacies can submit claims, and how insurers can pay them. Hospitals will be on a call w/ FBI, other fed agencies today. w/ Brittany Trang & Tara Bannow: statnews.com/2024/02/23/pha…

Huge congratulations to ProPublica for this richly-deserved recognition. At STAT we're humbled to be in your company as a finalist for Casey Ross Bob Herman investigations of vulnerable Americans denied health coverage because of AI.
statnews.com/2023/03/13/med…

UnitedHealth's Optum has rather quietly assembled ~90,000 physicians into its provider empire

But its acquisition of a 100-provider clinic in Oregon is drawing outsized scrutiny due to Oregon's oversight and transparency laws, which may be the new norm

statnews.com/2024/02/12/scr…

During a hearing today, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), citing a STAT investigation, took particularly sharp aim at the use of algorithms to deny care within Medicare Advantage. statnews.com/2024/02/08/med… via STAT

A junior scientist. A prominent oncologist. Now, a clash at MD Anderson over who gets research credit. A STAT exclusive, via Angus Rohan Chen and yours truly.
statnews.com/2024/02/08/pad…

Despite 20+ years of evidence linking repetitive head injuries to CTE, most recently in teenage football players, 'I have scarely heard anyone suggest that, as a result, they plan to reconsider their fandom.'

Great piece by Adina Wise, MD in STAT
shorturl.at/duT89

#Medicare threatens to pull funding from HCA Healthcare's embattled Mission Hospital statnews.com/2024/02/06/med… via STAT