Congressional Republicans may be looking to cut billions of dollars from Medicaid funding to cover an extension of President Donald Trump's 2017 tax breaks. Though Medicare is the primary health insurance provider for senior adults, it's Medicaid that pays for nursing home coverage and other long-term care.
President Donald Trump's favorite celebrity doctor is standing behind his new boss on an issue that has sparked opposition even among some Republicans. Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Trump-appointed CMS administrator, wouldn't concede in an interview with POLITICO'S newest podcast that the budget megabill passed by the House will cut Medicaid.
After 165 years of care, UC Health is closing its post-acute care facility, the Daniel Drake Center. The healthcare group said it is instead planning to "invest in access to high-demand services and community needs." The Drake Center will close by September 30, 2025, and patients currently receiving care will either complete their treatment on-site or be transitioned to other UC Health locations. "The facility's age and services contributed to sustained financial challenges," UC Health wrote in a press release announcing its closure. UC Health did not provide a number of employees who might be affected by the closure.
UnityPoint Health says it intends to acquire MercyOne Siouxland Medical Center and its facilities, which include the Sioux City hospital. UnityPoint Health and MercyOne, which run Sioux City's two hospitals, say they have signed a letter of intent for this deal, and they expect the acquisition to be completed this summer, pending closing conditions. As outlined in the letter of intent, MercyOne would transfer all of its entities to UnityPoint Health, including MercyOne Siouxland Medical Center, its medical group, physician practices and home care services.
The White House is downplaying the 'Make America Healthy Again' Commission report's citation issues, even as it scrambles to fix them. A NOTUS investigation published Thursday found that at least seven of the report's citations appeared to not actually exist. The White House publicly blamed any problems with the report on 'formatting issues.' Hours later, a new version of the MAHA report was published on the White House website with all seven of those citations replaced — five with completely different references and two with references to real studies written by the same authors of the nonexistent earlier citations.
Robert K. Jarvik, MD, the principal designer of the first permanent artificial heart implanted in a human — a procedure that became a subject of great public fascination and fierce debate about medical ethics — died on Monday at his home in Manhattan. He was 79. His wife, the writer Marilyn vos Savant, said the cause was complications of Parkinson's disease.