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STAT+: DOJ investigating Community Health Systems’ hospitals

STAT

Community Health Systems is facing a new federal probe into its hospital billing practices more than four years after the hospital chain settled separate allegations of fraudulent overbilling.

Hospitals 348
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Opinion: Hospitals that make profits should pay taxes

STAT

hospitals pay nothing in federal taxes. The agency uses a vague “community benefit” standard to liberally grant tax-exempt status to so-called nonprofit hospitals even as many of them are financially taking advantage of sick Americans with inflated medical bills. Where’s the community benefit in that?

Hospitals 364
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STAT+: Complications spiked 25% in hospitals bought by private equity

STAT

Hospitals acquired by private equity saw a 25% uptick in adverse events compared with controls, according to a new study released today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. There’s ample evidence that private equity buyouts in health care drive up costs. A new study shows quality declines, too.

Hospitals 364
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STAT+: Ascension is racing to unload hospitals as execs work to stem losses

STAT

Louis-based health system through a period of explosive growth, adding hospital after hospital until it became one of the country’s biggest health systems. Ascension has lost almost $4 billion on operations from fiscal 2020 through fiscal 2023, triggering deals to offload almost 30 hospitals.

Hospitals 362
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STAT+: UnitedHealth cyberattack cripples pharmacies’ and hospitals’ ability to process insurance claims

STAT

Hospitals, pharmacies, and other health care providers are getting stuck in an insurance processing logjam after UnitedHealth Group disclosed a cyberattack within a recently acquired subsidiary that serves as a central hub for payments across the industry.

Hospitals 363
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STAT+: Biden administration ignores calls to bolster hospital price transparency

STAT

The federal government will not modify regulations that dictate how hospitals publish their prices for consumers, ignoring pleas from patient advocates who have said hospitals still are not fully complying with the 3-year-old law. The Biden administration on Wednesday proposed an annual rule that sets payment rates for hospitals.

Hospitals 328
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STAT+: The evidence grows: Prices spike after mergers between far-flung hospitals

STAT

The trend is clear: When hospitals in the same community merge, prices spike. The government has such an easy time blocking those deals, hospitals rarely propose them anymore. But a study released Tuesday adds to a growing body of evidence that prices still go up even if the merging hospitals are far apart.

Hospitals 361