Broward Nursing Home Lawsuit Shelved
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WH
Late Sunday evening (
10.29.17) the
News Service of Florida reported (via
Health News Florida) that a circuit judge has agreed to put on hold a lawsuit about the continued operation of a Broward County nursing home where residents died after
Hurricane Irma. The facility, the
Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills, is controlled by South Miami based
Larkin Community Hospital. The nursing home filed the lawsuit to challenge state decisions to
suspend its license, suspend it from the
Medicaid program and place a moratorium on patient admissions.
WIM
Attorneys for the nursing home are apparently working on an "administrative" solution with the state
Agency for Health Care Administration. By at least temporarily halting the lawsuit, the facility can, at least in the short run, avoid costly litigation and additional negative PR. Whether they can resurrect their license and Medicaid program status remains to be seen.
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CVS, Aetna Discuss Mega Merger
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WH
Elizabeth Weise a
nd Marco della Cava
report, for
USA TODAY on
Oct. 26, 2017, that
CVS Health is reportedly in talks to buy the nation's third largest health insurer, Aetna, for more than $200 per share.
WIM
A linked Aetna-CVS could presumably better manage the cost of prescription drugs, driving utilization toward better value products and getting a better deal on pharmaceuticals, said
Laurence Baker, chair of the
Department of Health Research and Policy at
Stanford University Medical School. However, the merger wouldn't likely save much money for consumers, in the opinion of
Aaron Katz, an expert on health policy at the
University of Washington's
School of Public Health. In Mr. Katz' view, any cost savings would be retained by the new firm as extra profit.
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Opioid epidemic declared a public health emergency
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WH
On
10.26.17 President
Donald Trump officially declared a
Nationwide Public Health Emergency to address the opioids
crisis, mobilizing his entire administration to address drug addiction and opioid abuse. The release is posted to
WhiteHouse.gov.
WIM
"The best way to prevent drug addiction and overdose is to prevent people from abusing drugs in the first place. If they don't start, they won't have a problem," states President Trump.
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| About Us |
Florida Health Industry Week in Review is published every Monday by
FHIcommunications.
Each Monday morning we share the top healthcare headlines of the previous week and summarize
What Happened (WH) and
Why It Matters (WIM).
To learn how you can join our team of editorial contributors, contact
Jeffrey Herschler
.
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FHIcommunications
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