Read today’s Kaiser Health News
In other news:
Postdischarge contact within 7 d does not reduce use of acute care at 30 d: In adults, PDC interventions delivered by nonclinician providers within 7 days of hospital discharge do not reduce use of acute care at 30 days.
Comment: Many health plans use the metric of contact within 7 days of discharge to calculate quality bonuses.
Trump’s 2026 budget plan cuts healthcare funds: 6 notes FYI- a good update.
About Covid-19
UVA research finds distinct changes in immune systems of COVID-19 survivors: New groundbreaking research from the University of Virginia's School of Medicine has revealed that the immune systems of COVID-19 survivors, specifically those with breathing issues, have distinct changes.
According to a release from the university, officials say these findings shed light on the complexity of Long COVID and may pave the way for more personalized and effective treatments.
About health insurance/insurers
IRS unveils new HSA limits for 2026. Here’s what investors need to know FYI
Medicaid cuts, mortality, and health-care expenditure in the USA: Based on projected coverage losses, we estimate that approximately 623 000 additional individuals aged 25–64 years (95% CI 91 000 to 1·07 million) will face catastrophic health-care costs annually.
Payers ranked by Q1 profits FYI
Estimating the Budgetary Impact of Reforms to the Medicare Advantage Quality Bonus Program: Reforms to the Medicare Advantage QBP could save the federal government $2.6 billion to $14.1 billion in 2026. The impact of reforms varies considerably over contract characteristics due to differences in quality and the geographic location of contracts. These estimates are consistent with other research about QBP spending.
About hospitals and healthcare systems
Hospital Capital Expenditures Associated With Prices And Hospital Expansion Or Withering, 2010–19: This study investigated the market dynamics linking hospital capital expenditures during the period 2010–19 to changes in volume, market share, and prices. We found that hospitals investing more in capital gained market share and raised prices, whereas hospitals investing relatively less in capital lost market share and increased prices less. Taken together, these forces perpetuate a cycle of expanding and withering hospitals. Study findings suggest important limits to antitrust as a mechanism to address high and rising prices, and the findings could inform policies to forestall or eliminate the financial decline of withering hospitals, thereby preserving access and promoting competition.
Hospitals Acquired By Private Equity Firms: Increased Postoperative Mortality For Common Inpatient Surgeries: We found that PE acquisition was associated with a 2.7-percentage-point increase in thirty-day postoperative mortality compared with control hospitals, driven primarily by an increase in failure to rescue (3.9 percentage points), with no observed change in the rate of complications. Subset analysis revealed that the increase in mortality was particularly pronounced for unplanned (emergent) surgeries, whereas no significant changes were observed for planned (elective) surgeries. Our findings suggest that PE acquisition may adversely affect the management of emergent surgical cases, raising critical considerations for policy makers and health care stakeholders regarding the influence of PE ownership on patient safety.
About pharma
FDA probes compounding pharmacies over quality concerns: The FDA plans to gather information from 250 compounding outsourcing pharmacies amid safety and quality concerns.
In a May 1 notice, the agency said it will survey outsourcing facilities about challenges and opportunities related to market and business viability, compliance, quality production and interactions with the FDA.
About healthcare personnel
Europe unveils $565 million package to retain scientists, and attract new ones: The European Commission on Monday unveiled a roughly $565 million package to retain and attract scientists, as other countries try to leverage the Trump administration’s dismantling of research programs in the U.S. to build up their own enterprises.
The funding program, amounting to 500 million euros, is designed to make “Europe a magnet for researchers,” Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the commission, said at an event at Paris’ Sorbonne University called “Choose Europe for Science.” Appearing along with French President Emmanuel Macron, von der Leyen said the funding, which will last through 2027, would support researchers from Europe and around the world.
Pathways To Primary Care: Charting Trajectories From Medical School Graduation Through Specialty Training: Among 353,590 physicians who graduated during the period 2001–15, 11.8 percent pursued initial training in family medicine, 33.5 percent training in internal medicine, and 10.5 percent training in pediatrics. Primary care yield, defined as the percentage of physicians who complete their initial postgraduate training in a primary care specialty and conclude their training in any primary care specialty, was 97.0 percent for family medicine, 35.5 percent for internal medicine, and 54.4 percent for pediatrics. After internal medicine and pediatrics residencies, large percentages of physicians left primary care to train in subspecialties and other fields. Further research must document how many physicians enter careers in primary care practice.
About healthcare finance
Deerfield raises $600M healthcare fund to invest in therapeutics, AI:Deerfield Management closed its third Healthcare Innovations Fund on Monday, raising $600 million to invest in therapeutics and care delivery technologies, as well as machine learning and AI.
The latest close comes about five years after Deerfield's last raise in 2020, when it clinched $840 million to fund healthtech innovations and novel treatments.
