Health Headlines for Monday, August 27
State spent second-highest amount in nation on health care, new study finds
Watertown Daily Times
Among the 50 states, New York spent the second-highest amount of money on health care in 2015, a new study found.
Medicaid needs accountability for cost control
Lockport Union-Sun & Journal
New York’s Medicaid system is the second-costliest in the nation as our total bill comes to about $62 billion per year. California pays out $18 billion more than we do, but their population is nearly twice ours.
Oklahoma Medicaid tests new tactic to curb U.S. drug costs
Reuters
A new front in the battle over the cost of expensive medicines in the United States is opening up in Oklahoma, the first state where the government’s Medicaid program is negotiating contracts for prescription drugs based on how well they work.
Financial imperative: Payers can’t control costs without addressing social determinants
Modern Healthcare
The movement to better address the social and environmental factors that affect health has insurance companies and other payers looking beyond the hospital or clinic and stepping into the community to give patients help where it’s needed.
U.S. Hospitals Shut at 30-a-Year Pace, With No End in Sight
Bloomberg News
Industry M&A may be no savior as the pace of hospital closures, particularly in hard-to-reach rural areas, seems poised to accelerate.