It’s been a busy month in healthcare! We’ve had everything from a major shift in event ownership to notable developments on the Medicaid front and an interesting revelation about private equity:
- Medicaid is shrinking, post-pandemic. During the pandemic Medicaid rolls grew to 92 million, or more than 1 in 4 Americans—and for three years, recipients didn’t have to undergo the usual annual renewal process. Now, with the official end of the public health emergency in May, that’s changing. Texas Medicaid dropped more than 500,000 enrollees in one month. This year, almost 4 million recipients have been told they’re no longer eligible, according to a KFF tracker.
- Elsewhere, aspects of the Medicaid program are growing. Washington receive CMS approval to operate the Medicaid Transformation Project 2.0, a justice-involved initiative which provides Medicaid services to youth and adults in state prisons, county and city jails and youth correctional facilities for up to 90 days before release.
- Private equity firms employ more than half of U.S. doctors in some markets. In more than a quarter of U.S. markets, a single private equity firm employs more than 30 percent of practices, according to a new report. That number is more than half of practices in 13 percent of markets. More details here. One key finding: Costs are generally 1.5 to 3 times higher in areas where private equity owns practices.
- Healthcare is flipping its distribution model, says William Sheehan, the VP/chief innovation officer at MedStar Health, in an interview with HealthLeaders. “Healthcare is moving away from the idea of having the patient go to the care provider and toward ‘the distribution of expertise using technology,’ whereby the provider connects with the patient, either in person or through virtual channels.”
- Lastly, pretty sure most of healthcare has heard the news by now, but we’ll all be monitoring how the HIMSS acquisition will impact healthcare IT’s largest conference.
What healthcare events have most affected your organization this month—and why? Let us know!