Obamacare Money Leading to Mergers Galore

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Health Net Inc. agreed to be bought by Medicaid insurer Centene Corp. for $6.8 billion. This merger is one of many fueled by the surge of insured patients due to the Affordable Care Act.

President Obama's signature health law has unleashed the biggest expansion of insurance coverage in half a century, lifting stock prices and revenues across the healthcare industry.

The federal government is expected to spend $1.2 trillion over the next decade on subsidies and other aspects of the health law.

Despite all those gains, some regulators and consumer advocates expressed alarm about this increasing consolidation. They worry that this will create powerful new healthcare giants that will limit the negotiating power of government health programs and employers to hold down prices.

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Massachusetts Hospital Closure Sheds Light on Plight of Community Hospitals

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Massachusetts Hospital Closure Sheds Light on Plight of Community Hospitals

Partners HealthCare said Tuesday that it will close its community hospital in Lynn as part of a $200 million plan to consolidate medical services on the North Shore over the next three years. The plan calls for adding 58 beds at Salem Hospital while shuttering the 126-bed Union Hospital in Lynn, less than 6 miles away. Salem would also get a renovated emergency department and about 50 new beds for psychiatric patients.

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The U.S. Needs More Primary Care Practitioners

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The U.S. Needs More Primary Care Practitioners

Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), 16.4 million people are now enrolled for health care coverage. But we have yet to see the same sorts of increases in medical school graduates entering primary care. The National Center for Health Workforce Analysis (HRSA) predicts primary care shortages as high as 20,400 physicians by 2020.

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