Read today’s Kaiser Health News
About health insurance/insurers
UnitedHealth Group Is Under Criminal Investigation for Possible Medicare Fraud: While the exact nature of the potential criminal allegations against UnitedHealth is unclear, the people said the federal investigation is focusing on the company’s Medicare Advantage business practices.
About hospitals and healthcare systems
Hospital expenses per inpatient day across 50 states FYI
About the public’s health
FDA to remove ingestible fluoride prescriptions for children from the market: 7 notes: The FDA plans to begin removing ingestible fluoride prescription drug products for children from the market later this year.
Comment: Excessive fluoride can cause all the harms JFK, Jr claims; but, most water supplies have levels that are beneficial. Further, infants who are breast fed need supplements. Science loses again.
RFK Jr. says people should not take medical advice from him, defends HHS cuts during congressional hearings Yes, but they DO listen when he issues harmful and incorrect medical statements.
How Chronic Disease Became the Biggest Scourge in American Health A great comparison (in charts) of US healthcare versus other countries.
About healthcare IT
88% of breached patient records since 2010 tied to hacking: Study: From October 2009 to October 2024, ransomware and hacking have increasingly driven healthcare data breaches, a May 14 study published in JAMA Network Open found.
The study examined ransomware attacks and other hacking incidents across all healthcare organizations covered by HIPAA from October 2009 through October 2024. It analyzed breaches affecting 500 or more patient records that were reported to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights.
About health technology
Baby Is Healed With World’s First Personalized Gene-Editing Treatment: The baby, now 9 ½ months old, became the first patient of any age to have a custom gene-editing treatment, according to his doctors. He received an infusion made just for him and designed to fix his precise mutation.
The investigators who led the effort to save KJ are presenting their work on Thursday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Cell & Gene Therapy, and are also publishing it in the New England Journal of Medicine.