The Biden administration’s decision to end the COVID-19 public health emergency in May will institute sweeping changes across the health care system that go far beyond many people having to pay more for COVID tests. Read more»

As pandemic-era benefits end, some 600,000 Arizonans are set to be removed from the Medicaid rolls next year - a situation causing distress to many who are certainly at risk of being disenrolled and also those who may fall just over the income threshold to qualify for Medicaid. Read more»

People who are injured or sick are asked, in a moment of stress, to prudently decide which medical setting is the best place to seek help, but revenue-driven operators of alternatives to hospital emergency rooms have little incentive to make the process easier for patients. Read more»

At hospitals across the U.S., volunteers play an integral role, and the health system benefits from potentially more than $5 billion in free labor annually - but using volunteers, particularly at for-profit institutions, provides an opportunity for facilities to run afoul of federal rules. Read more»

With the winter holidays approaching, the Biden administration released a COVID-19 preparedness plan announcing access to free tests and vaccines as well as hospital staff support and equipment in anticipation of increased disease transmission. Read more»

Nearly 6 million Americans have taken Paxlovid - which helped prevent many people infected with COVID-19 from being hospitalized or dying - courtesy of the federal government, but the government plans to stop footing the bill within months, and millions may have to pay the full price. Read more»

As Americans are overwhelmed with medical bills, patient financing is now a multibillion-dollar business, with private equity and big banks lined up to cash in when patients and their families can’t pay for care. Read more»

From housing to hospitals and fisheries to fast food, private equity investors have acquired a host of businesses in recent decades and control more than $6 trillion in assets in the U.S. - but what makes them different from any other type of investor? Read more»

Fresh off the Federal Trade Commission’s successful challenges to four hospital mergers, the Biden administration’s new majority on the commission is primed to more aggressively combat consolidation in the health care industry than it has in past years. Read more»

In the past few years, a growing number of hospitals and health care organizations across the U.S. have faced cyberattacks, interrupting care and putting patients at risk, including some public health facilities run by state or local governments. Read more»

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a study Friday that shows COVID-19 booster shots begin to become less effective against the Omicron variant after about four months but still provide substantial protection against hospitalization. Read more»

As the Omicron variant surges and hospitals are pushed to capacity, the Biden administration announced a new program Wednesday to give 400 million nonsurgical N95 masks to Americans free of charge to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more»

As the Omicron variant of COVID-19 continues to spread like wildfire in Arizona and shatter previous records in the pandemic, health experts are pleading with people to vaccinate, mask up and socially distance themselves to reduce stress on the health care system. Read more»

The number of daily reported COVID-19 cases soared to more than 14,000 Monday - amid the surge of the Omicron variant - the second-most since the pandemic began, surpassed only by the 17,000 reported exactly one year ago. Read more»

Throughout the pandemic, lawmakers from coast to coast have passed laws, declared emergency orders or activated state-of-emergency statutes that severely limited families’ ability to seek legal accountability on hospitals infection-control practices in COVID-related care. Read more»