This week experienced a slew of changes in the healthcare industry, with Aetna winning a nearly seven-year case.
Here are seven updates to note:
Judge awards Aetna $51.4M in out-of-network billing case against surgical hospital
U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes awarded Aetna $51.4 million in a seven-year court battle against Humble (Texas) Surgical Hospital. In 2012, Aetna sued Humble Surgical Hospital for charging 10-times market rates on out-of-network procedures.
HSS, Stamford Health partner on ASC
New York City-based Hospital for Specialty Surgery and Stamford (Conn.) Health are partnering to expand orthopedic services throughout Connecticut. Through the partnership, HHS will staff Stamford-based Tully Health Center and begin seeing ambulatory surgery patients.
Trump administration wants CMS to leverage buying power to lower prescription drug cost
After varying opinions from President Donald Trump concerning drug prices, White House spokesperson Sean Spicer clarified the administration's position, saying the president is in favor of having Medicare negotiate lower prices for prescription medicine.
Europe ASC, emergency center services market to surge to $42.8B by 2020
A Transparency Market Research report found the ASC market is booming across Europe, with the market likely to hit $42.8 billion by 2020. In 2013, the United Kingdom led the market.
Humana's Q4 profits up, revenue down
Louisville, Ky.-based Humana reported earnings per share of $2.09 in the fourth quarter, an increase from earnings per share of $1.54 in Q4 2015. However, Humana's Q4 losses were $486 million, an increase over $246 million in Q4 2015.
Medicare will overpay Medicare Advantage by $200B through 2026
UC San Diego researchers found current diagnostic coding trends for patient risk scores will cause Medicare to overpay Medicare Advantage plans through 2026 by an estimated $200 billion.
Nobilis Health names David Young CFO
David Young is Houston-based Nobilis Health Corp.'s new chief financial officer. Prior to joining Nobilis' team, Mr. Young was the senior vice president and division CFO for St. Paul, Minn.-based St. Jude Medical's America division.