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Widespread Healthcare IT Outages Due To Security Update Error A widespread global IT outage impacted hospitals and providers worldwide. Electronic health record software was affected in a big way. Procedures and services had to be cancelled. Some states’ 911 call centers were impacted as well. Financial institutions, airlines, and more were all impacted. The outage was the result of a faulty routine software security update by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike meant for Microsoft computers and systems running Windows. A fix was deployed. Separately, an article discusses 911 outages generally in states as a result of a patchwork and antiquated system nationally. It is one example of our under-reimbursement in public health compared with other developed world nations. Additional articles: https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/worldwide-it-disruption-disrupts-healthcare-delivery and https://www.modernhealthcare.com/cybersecruity/crowdstrike-outage-ehr-hospitals-epic-mychart and https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/crowdstrike-outage-hits-us-hospitals/721887/ and https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/features/111179 and https://www.modernhealthcare.com/providers/911-outages-massachusetts-emergency-response-system-flaws-mass-general-brigham (Some articles may require a subscription.) #hospitals #providers #healthcare https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/health-tech/global-it-outage-takes-down-health-system-ehrs-forces-hospitals-cancel-non-emergency GoodRx And Drug Maker Team Up On Biosimilar For Humira GoodRx has teamed

Sinister Optum Layoffs And Closures Continue UnitedHealth Group’s Optum services subsidiary continues its shedding of jobs. The layoffs have occurred quietly in many areas of the sprawling and amazingly profitable enterprise post the ChangeHealthcare pandemic. In conversations I have had with health plan executives, the layoffs seem to be impacting numerous areas, putting health plans and providers in tough situations. All systems and services are not up yet post the cyberattack and United seems to be abandoning without notice key health plan and provider functions without any reasonable notice or guidance to clients. This is meant to shed questionably profitable areas and assets in favor of the bottom line. The fact that United is leaving major pieces of the healthcare system at risk is a travesty and should be investigated by the executive and legislative branches. Perhaps the class-action suits against United need to be expanded to cover these unseemly practices

Elevance Beats The Street For Q2 Elevance Health beat The Street on both profit and revenue in Q2 2024. The insurer posted $2.3 billion in profit and $43.9 billion in revenue. It signaled it is seeing 5% enrollment declines in Medicaid due to redetermination. That should end later this year. Utilization could increase due to increased acuity in Medicaid. Carelon, its service entity, increased its financial position dramatically. With its win in a lawsuit on Star ratings, Elevance expects 56% of its Medicare Advantage (MA) members to be in 4 Star or greater plans. A huge boost to its MA program. Additional articles: https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/payers/elevance-health-beats-street-q2-it-posts-23b-profit and https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/elevance-second-quarter-2024-medicaid-medicare-advantage/721551/ and https://www.beckerspayer.com/payer/medicaid-utilization-rising-elevance-health-warns.html and https://www.beckerspayer.com/payer/elevance-health-posts-2-3b-profit-in-q2.html (Some articles may require a subscription.) #elevancehealth #medicaid #medicareadvantage https://www.modernhealthcare.com/insurance/elevance-health-profits-medicaid-medical-costs Humana Invests In AI-Driven Medicare Advantage Plan Choice Firm Humana has acquired a minority stake in Healthpilot, which offers consumers artificial intelligence-driven guidance in selecting Medicare Advantage (MA)  plan options.

Despite Conservatism, Vance Has Surprising Record On Healthcare J.D. Vance is seen as a rightist Republican. But Donald Trump may have chosen a bit of a maverick on healthcare for his VP partner. In the past, Vance has criticized the Obamacare repeal because it would have impacted lower income people. In addition, he has signaled support on drug price reform, which is similar to Trump’s position. While he previously endorsed Medicare cuts, he has backed away from this position and has indicated that more should be spent on healthcare. Additional article: https://insidehealthpolicy.com/daily-news/jd-vance-s-record-includes-drug-negotiation-support-mixed-record-medicare-abortion (Some articles may require a subscription.) #election2024 #trump #vance https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4775098-vance-healthcare-positions UnitedHealth Reports Q2 Earnings UnitedHealth Group reported that second-quarter net earnings declined 23% year-over-year to $4.2 billion. It reported revenue of $98.9 billion, a 6.5% increase from the prior year period. The medical loss ratio (MLR) was 85.1%, an increase from 83.2% a year ago. High Medicaid and Medicare

What Will Health Policy Look Like Under A Trump 47 Administration? As the Republican National Convention (RNC) begins this week, a Modern Healthcare article finds that the GOP platform is light on healthcare.  However, it points to Trump 45’s record, documents from the House Republican Study Committee, and the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 for possible insights into a Trump 47 healthcare agenda. Culling it all together, policy likely will be fundamentally different from the current administration.  Whether the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is repealed or not, coverage declines can be expected in the Exchanges and Medicaid.  Despite some reform proposals, Trump has distanced himself from radical changes in Medicare. It is unknown if Trump would pick up his previous stances on drug pricing, which are much closer to President Biden’s views. (Article may require a subscription.) #election2024 #healthcare #trump #biden https://www.modernhealthcare.com/politics-policy/donald-trump-republicans-2024-election-medicare-medicaid-aca-abortion-project-2025 Chevron Sunset Opens Up Many Litigation Fronts Interesting article