Unions across the country are at odds over Medicare for All, with some saying it would free them up to focus on wages and working conditions, while others argue that the health benefits they've already won are better, Politico reports.
The big picture: The fight reflects the larger battle over Medicare for All, but is particularly acute in union-heavy states like California, New York and Michigan. This has all come to a head in Nevada, after the Culinary Workers Union slammed Medicare for All and didn't endorse any of the candidates, providing a portrait of how divisive the issue is within one of the Democratic party's most loyal institutions.
Covered California, the state's Affordable Care Act exchange, announced yesterday that new enrollment rose 41% in 2020 after the state reinstated the individual mandate and expanded the law's insurance subsidies.
Why it matters: If California is acting as a real-life test case for what happens when policymakers beef up the ACA, the experiment seems to be going well, at least in terms of coverage numbers.
Private-equity firms accelerated their acquisitions of doctors' practices between 2013 and 2016, according to a new JAMA study.
Why it matters: "Private equity firms expect greater than 20% annual returns, and these financial incentives may conflict with the need for longer-term investments in practice stability, physician recruitment, quality, and safety," the author writes.
The coronavirus outbreak may be "at the brink" of a global pandemic,Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, tells Axios.
What's new: Signspeople are infecting each other in a more sustainable fashion in China, an uptick in confirmed cases in Japan and Singapore, and research showing people without symptoms may be able to infect each other are fueling concerns that COVID-19 will develop into a pandemic.
Japan began releasing hundreds of people from the coronavirus-stricken Diamond Princess cruise ship Wednesday, but the 100-plus American passengers are restricted from traveling home for at least 14 days, the CDC said.
Details: The CDC said in a statement the two-week quarantine aboard the vessel, quarantined at Yokohama, potentially slowed transmission of the virus. But it "may not have been sufficient to prevent transmission among individuals on the ship."
Roughly 24.4 million seniors and people with disabilities were enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan as of this month, a 9.4% jump from the same time in 2019, according to the latest federal data analyzed by Axios.
Why it matters: Medicare Advantage, which is run by private health insurers, continues to grow at high rates despite concerns over the program's higher spending and evidence that insurers are making people appear sicker than they are.
There are a dozen research projects underway to try to come up with a vaccine for the Chinese coronavirus, Biocentury reports.
What's new: Drug maker Sanofi Pasteur is entering the race to develop a vaccine by partnering with the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority — known as BARDA, the Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday.
A lot of Biogen's value hinges on whether federal scientists and regulators will approve or reject its drug candidate for Alzheimer's.
Driving the news: The drug, called aducanumab, has attracted people like Warren Buffett to invest in Biogen's stock on the assumption the drug will score approval for a patient population that desperately seeks a treatment. But other wealthy investors, like Ray Dalio, have taken a less sanguine view and dumped Biogen completely.
A warning from Apple on Monday that it would not meet its quarterly earnings forecast shows how quickly the coronavirus is creating real problems for the tech industry.
Why it matters: The virus is still in what could be the early stages and is already stressing supply chains and causing conference cancellations.
Nonprofit hospitals that did the best financially provided less charity care relative to their income than their less-well-off peers, according to a new study in JAMA.
The big picture: Nonprofit hospitals are required to provide charity care in exchange for their tax-exempt status, but they're increasingly under fire for their aggressive bill collection practices against low-income patients.
Rural communities at risk of HIV outbreaks tied to drug use often don't have working syringe exchanges, which help reduce the spread of HIV and Hepatitis C, NPR reports with Kaiser Health News.
Between the lines: Many of these rural communities have seen local opposition against syringe exchanges, which provide drug users with clean needles.
Hundreds of passengers and crew members aboard the Westerdam cruise ship are undergoing tests for the novel coronavirus at Cambodia after an American traveler tested positive for the virus, the ship's operator confirmed in a statement Tuesday.
The latest: 92 American citizens remain on board the Westerdam, operated by Holland America Line, and another 260 are awaiting travel clearance in hotels in Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, said Dr. William Walters, director of operational medicine at the State Department, during a news briefing Monday.
328 American evacuees from the Diamond Princess cruise ship have been put into quarantine at U.S. military bases after arriving from Japan, including 14 infected with the novel coronavirus, U.S. government health officials told reporters Monday.
Details: "A select number of high-risk patients were transported onward from both locations using those same aircraft to Omaha, Nebraska, for care at the University of Nebraska," Health and Human Services official Robert Kadlec said at the news briefing.
