October 2023

Kelly Gooch California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill that mandates a $25 hourly minimum wage requirement for workers in hospitals and other medical settings. The bill, signed Oct. 13, comes after union and hospital representatives reached agreement on how such a requirement could be addressed. “Gov. Newsom’s signature on landmark legislation to improve […]

Rylee Wilson The average older adult has dozens of Medicare Advantage plans to choose from, and many turn to brokers to help them make a decision about the best option for them. Insurers pay commission to brokers enrolling new and returning members in their plans, but in a competitive market, these commissions are climbing too

Alexis Kayser (Email) – Monday, October 9th, 2023 Some jobs seem so impossible, they appear to be suicide missions. But executives have their reasons for taking them, according to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal. These “no-win jobs,” as Journal columnist Callum Borchers puts it, may seem hopeless. But to some executives, the

Laura Dyrda (Twitter) Hospital wage growth cooled mid-year after several months of high growth sparked by the pandemic, when talent was in short supply and demand was high, according to a report from Fitch. While healthcare workers are no longer facing the same stress as they did during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic,

Laura Dyrda (Twitter) Hospitals have been focused on combating clinician and employee burnout after the stress of the pandemic and continued workforce shortages. But another challenge is popping up among healthcare workers that is just as challenging: rust-out. “We talked a lot about burnout in healthcare and that’s when we’re over-utilizing people where we’re running

Laura Dyrda (Twitter) California Gov. Gavin Newsom approved legislation directing the state’s HHS to outline requirements for a federal wage application focused on universal healthcare coverage in partnership with the federal government, according to an Oct. 7 report from CBS Bay Area. The legislation, Senate Bill 770, is the first step to providing access to

— Policy solutions can help preserve access to care by Logan Cho October 6, 2023 I was traveling to my hometown in Central Pennsylvania when I read this fantastic investigative piece by MedPage Today’s Kristina Fiore on Bucktail Medical Center, a hospital in the rural town of Renovo that solicited GoFundMe donations in order to

Alexis Kayser (Email) – Tuesday, October 3rd, 2023 Ethical dilemmas are on the horizon as more tech and retail companies enter the healthcare space, according to an Oct. 3 Forbes viewpoint piece by Sachin Jain, MD, president and CEO of SCAN Group and SCAN Health Plan. Nearly a decade ago, CVS Health made the decision

Giles Bruce A hospital leader told Congress that a 2021 ransomware attack his health system experienced was “harder than the pandemic, by far.” Stephen Leffler, MD, president and COO of Burlington-based University of Vermont Medical Center, testified Sept. 27 before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability with other cybersecurity experts and cyberattack victims.