Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Funding Influence, Sheer Chutzpah May Lead Billionaires' Health Initiative To Succeed Where Others Have Failed
It will initially focus on new technology to simplify and reduce costs for the three companies’ 1 million-plus employees. So far, though, it has no name, no definition and no permanent leader. That doesn’t mean it hasn’t scared investors in the health-care industry -- the announcement yo-yo’d the stocks of health insurers and drug plans. (Langreth and Tracer, 2/23)
In other industry news —
MiMedx Group Inc., a fast-growing tissue-graft developer, has financial ties to more than 20 doctors, according to a review of doctors’ disclosures by The Wall Street Journal, but the company hasn’t reported these payments to the government under a 2013 law. The company says its products, made from donated placental tissue, aren’t among those that require a disclosure of doctor payments. At least one of MiMedx’s direct competitors, Osiris Therapeutics Inc., regularly provides information on its ties to doctors and reported $1.03 million in such payments in 2016. (Morgenson, 2/22)