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Medicare Advantage provides health coverage to more than half of the nation's seniors, but a growing number of hospitals and health systems nationwide are pushing back and dropping some or all contracts with the private plans altogether. Among the most commonly cited reasons are excessive prior authorization denial rates and slow payments from insurers. Some systems have noted that most MA carriers have faced allegations of billing fraud from the federal government and are being probed by lawmakers over their high denial rates. "It's become a game of delay, deny and not pay,'' Chris Van Gorder, president and CEO of...

Some hospitals in South Australia have reintroduced face mask mandates to combat a new COVID-19 wave. The Northern Adelaide Local Health Network, which includes the Lyell McEwin and Modbury Hospitals, have reintroduced mask wearing for all staff and visitors. It comes as the state endures another wave of the virus, with reported cases tripling since early October. "Last Friday it was 50 per cent higher than the previous week," South Australia's Chief Health Officer Nicola Spurrier said today. The new mask rules apply in all clinical settings including emergency departments and wards, but not in public areas like hospital cafes...

National security adviser Jake Sullivan said in an interview over the weekend that Hamas terrorists were illegally using hospitals and other civilian infrastructure as shields inside Gaza against Israeli forces. Sullivan made the remarks during a Sunday interview on CBS News’ “Face The Nation” with host Margaret Brennan when asked if the U.S. believes reports on what is happening inside the territory as Israel Defense Forces (IDF) combat the terrorist group responsible for murdering 1,200 people in Israel during last month’s terror attack. “Without getting into intelligence information, we can just look at the open source reporting that Hamas is...

Hamas has commanded a network of tunnels and terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip since it took control in 2007. The Iranian-backed Palestinian terrorist organization uses civilian areas, including hospitals, to store and launch rockets and spread propaganda. In violation of international law, Hamas also uses hospitals to hide command centers and shield operatives. Hamas uses hospitals as shields, in violation of the Geneva Conventions.. According to international law, hospitals are not permitted to be used for military activity. According to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, “the responsible authorities shall ensure that the said medical establishments and units are, as far...

For some people, going to hospital may now be more dangerous than staying at home untreated. Many clinically vulnerable people fear, sometimes with good reason, that a visit to hospital or the doctors’ surgery could be the end of them. Of course, there have always been dangers where sick people gather. But, until now, health services have sought to minimise them. Astonishingly, this is often no longer the case. Across the UK, over the past two years, the NHS has been standing down even the most basic precautions against Covid-19. For example, staff in many surgeries and hospitals are no...

Members of the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals and Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West are set to launch a strike Oct. 9 at four Prime Healthcare facilities in Southern California.The unions represent about 2,400 workers at four Prime hospitals: St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood, Garden Grove Hospital and Medical Center, and Encino Hospital Medical Center, according to union statements shared with Becker's. Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare operates 45 hospitals and more than 300 outpatient locations in 14 states.Members of both unions, which include registered nurses, licensed vocational...

Mandatory wearing of masks in hospitals and skilled nursing facilities in Marin County will return in November to curb an anticipated spread of respiratory diseases, including COVID-19, according to county officials. The masking requirement will take effect from Nov. 1 through March 31, 2024, Marin Health and Human Services officials said Wednesday. Once the measure has taken effect, all individuals within higher-risk health care settings in Marin County, especially in patient care areas, will be required to wear masks. Children below the age of 6 and those with valid medical reasons are exempted from the mandate, county officials said. Under...

NEW JERSEY (WABC) -- Five New Jersey hospitals are reinforcing mask mandates due to a recent spike in COVID-19 cases. Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, Ocean University Medical Center in Brick, Southern Ocean Medical Center in Stafford, Carrier Clinic in Montgomery and Old Bridge Medical Center will be going back to their pandemic protocols in regards to mask-wearing. These five hospitals are run by Hackensack Meridian Health. New Jersey has seen a spike in COVID-related hospitalizations and 558 people were hospitalized this week.

Some hospitals and hospital systems across the country are reinstating mask policies well over three years after the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Major mask mandates that dominated the country for months on end — including the controversial mask mandate for air travel, which the courts struck down — have come and gone. However, some entities, including schools and some workplaces, have brought them back, at least on a short-term basis, citing rising cases of the coronavirus.

Amid rising COVID cases and hospitalizations throughout the country, several hospital systems or hospitals have reinstated mask-wearing requirements for patients and staff, as reported by Becker’s Hospital Review. These announcements come as COVID-related hospitalizations have risen 21.6% in the most recent week and deaths have risen 21.4%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The numbers, however, are still far below the levels that were seen during the pandemic. As of Aug. 25, the following hospitals and health systems are now requiring masks, as confirmed by Fox News Digital.

In a groundbreaking decision, a Michigan judge ruled on Aug. 8 that a drug manufacturer and hospital are not protected by the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act in the case of a man who experienced two strokes and a leg amputation after receiving the COVID-19 medication remdesivir that was contaminated with glass particles. This is the first time a judge has ruled a drug manufacturer and hospital are not protected under the PREP Act, which provides immunity from lawsuits and liability protections under state and federal law concerning all claims for loss resulting from the administration of the...

Cybercriminals attacked the computer systems of a California-based health care provider causing emergency rooms in multiple states to close and ambulance services to be redirected. The data breach happened at Prospect Medical Holdings of Los Angeles, which has hospitals and clinics in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Texas. Prospect Medical is working on resolving the issue, the company said in a statement Friday. "Upon learning of this, we took our systems offline to protect them and launched an investigation with the help of third-party cybersecurity specialists," the company told the Associated Press. "While our investigation continues, we are focused on...

The world has gone completely insane and the vast majority of the Christian Church has silently stood by as we watch it happen. The transgender movement is so far outside the bounds of reality that it’s almost impossible to even speak to. But we must. As the left continues to push and advance the idea that children can be whatever “gender” they choose to be while abandoning all objective reality, logic, and reasoning, we’re seeing the devolution of society into complete and total chaos. We now have child body mutilation centers disguised as children’s hospitals calling themselves “gender clinics” which...

How's this as a consequence of radical leftist policies that coddle society's troublemakers? As of Sunday, the San Diego Union-Tribune ran a Page One above-the-fold story by Paul Sisson headlined "Hospitals in County Look for Ways to Cut Attacks on Workers," which is an important story indeed because it points to the consequences to innocent hospital workers of constantly coddling bums, illegals, drug addicts and criminals, all of whom were named as perpetrators in the piece. For some strange reason, the story not there on the San Diego Union-Tribune's website and I looked and looked. I don't think it's a...

Children’s Hospital Colorado has stopped performing sex change surgeries on patients over 18, but will still assist with referrals,... Hospital spokeswoman Rachael Fowler reportedly said they never performed sex change surgeries on patients younger than 18, but patients can still receive puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones at the facility, ... A Denver woman was reportedly hoping her child, who identifies as a boy, would be able to get a mastectomy before going to college, ... “I think he’s going to be very disappointed,” she said. “He was so looking forward to this.” The hospital has also scrubbed its website of...

Hospitals ask patients a lot of personal questions. Medical history? Medications? Preexisting conditions? Smoke, drink or do drugs? As of Saturday, you’ll have one more question to answer: What’s your immigration status? Florida hospitals that accept Medicaid will be required to query patients about that, although a person can decline to answer. The measure is just one of many in a new bill, SB 1718, approved by the Florida Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in May to crack down on the flow of illegal immigration into the state. The new law does not apply to other healthcare providers,...

More than 200 new Florida laws take effect Saturday… … DeSantis has taken a hard line on illegal immigration as he campaigns, saying he’ll finish the Mexican border wall his one-time supporter, Donald Trump, promised to build... he doesn’t just talk tough on illegal immigration, but he’s put in place what some critics say the harshest state law in the country… Any company with 25 or more employees to use E-Verify to document new hires’ eligibility to work or face a loss of business license or fines of $1,000 per day per employee… Hospitals that accept Medicaid to ask patients...

The largest Catholic health system in the nation has allegedly funded and performed transgender surgeries and other “gender-affirming” medical interventions, defying traditional Catholic teachings, according to an investigative report released to The Epoch Times.The report by the Lepanto Institute, a Catholic research and education organization, released on June 12, exposes CommonSpirit Health, a Catholic entity, for its alleged performance and funding of transgender surgeries and therapies,” including prescribing and providing cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers to patients.A promotional video accompanying the report asserts: “The transgender craze has seized the world by the throat and is choking the life out of...

A study has found that health managers should consider the levels of a range of staff, beyond just doctors and nurses, when assessing patient safety. Research shows hospitals with higher levels of allied healthcare professional (AHP) staff, such as physiotherapists, radiographers, dieticians and occupational therapists, report significantly lower mortality rates. The findings showed that for hospitals where doctors and allied health professionals had to cover fewer beds, there were significantly lower mortality rates. However, for hospitals where there were more healthcare assistants and assistants to allied health professionals in the staffing mix, there were higher mortality rates. The study also...

Under HB 125, sufficiently trained physicians could bypass the residency requirement by proving that they have “previously completed medical school and postgraduate training that” is “ substantially similar to the requirements for licensure” in NC.