How does hospital participation in a Medicare Advantage preferred network impact commercial reimbursement?

How does a hospital’s participation in a health plan’s Medicare Advantage (MA) provider network impact their commercial rates? Since many insurers offer both MA plans and commercial plans, there could be spillovers with respect to negotiating. How would MA network participation impact commercial rates? Marr et al. (2025) offers some hypotheses: On the one hand,…

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Junk Food Turns Public Villain as Power Shifts in Washington

The new Trump administration could be coming for your snacks. For years, the federal government has steered clear of regulating junk food, fast food, and ultra-processed food. Now attitudes are changing. Some members of President-elect Donald Trump’s inner circle are gearing up to battle “Big Food,” or the companies that make most of the food…

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How Measles, Whooping Cough, and Worse Could Roar Back on RFK Jr.’s Watch

The availability of safe, effective covid vaccines less than a year into the pandemic marked a high point in the 300-year history of vaccination, seemingly heralding an age of protection against infectious diseases. Now, after backlash against public health interventions culminated in President-elect Donald Trump’s nominating Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the country’s best-known anti-vaccine activist,…

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