MedPAC is recommending that Congress update Medicare payment rates for hospital inpatient and outpatient services by the current law amount plus 1% for 2026 and reiterated its recommendation to distribute an additional $4 billion to safety-net hospitals by transitioning to a Medicare safety-net index policy.
The CDC in its latest weekly FluView update confirmed 11 new pediatric deaths for the week ending on January 11, lifting the total during the 2024-25 flu season to 27. Overall deaths are also increasing, with flu accounting for 1.5% of deaths in the second week of January. Seasonal influenza activity remains elevated across most of the country, with an 18.8% positivity rate, according to clinical lab data.
Almost all of the gray matter in the brains of women changes during pregnancy, according to a recent study, and these changes are linked to hormone fluctuations and the psychological wellbeing of mothers after giving birth. Neuroscientists tested the effects of pregnancy and motherhood on the brains of nearly 180 women using MRI scans. They compared what happened to the brains of women who became pregnant for the first time with those of women whose partners were carrying their babies, so who experienced motherhood for the first time without being pregnant themselves. This was to distinguish between biological changes that happened during pregnancy from those that happened due to the experience of becoming a mother.
Government website reproductiverights.gov appeared to be offline on the evening of President Donald Trump's inauguration. The site, launched in 2022 by HHS as part of a public awareness campaign, contained information on access to abortion and reproductive health care and a Know-Your-Rights patient fact sheet.
A key lawmaker has introduced a bill that would allow the attorney general to petition the court for the appointment of a receiver at financially distressed hospitals, a move prompted by the recent bankruptcy filing of Prospect Medical Holdings, which owns three community hospitals in Connecticut. The measure would also empower the state — through eminent domain — to assume control of hospitals that are at risk of closure because of financial instability.
UnityPoint Health nurses in Des Moines have filed complaints with federal labor officials against the health system, accusing hospital administrators of trying to illegally discourage their union efforts.
Nurses at the four UnityPoint Health hospitals in Des Moines have announced their intention to organize a union through Teamsters Local 90 because of their discontent over nurses' compensation and working conditions.
Staff behind the union effort say hospital policies on pay has hurt nurse recruitment and retention, resulting in staff shortages. That, they contend, has in turned threatened to compromise patient safety.