Who polices hospitals merging across markets? States give different answers.
CBSN
St. Louis' largest health system, BJC HealthCare, plans to merge with Kansas City's second-largest, Saint Luke's Health System, uniting more than 28 hospitals on both sides of Missouri by the end of this year.
The merger, which would span markets 250 miles apart and include facilities in neighboring Kansas and Illinois, is just one of the latest in a quickly consolidating hospital industry. Cross-market deals accounted for more than half of all hospital mergers and acquisitions during the last decade, according to a paper from experts on antitrust law. Today, nearly 60% of health systems operate multiple hospitals in different geographic markets.
Not only are such deals more common, they can increase costs for patients. Merged hospitals in thesame state but in different markets raised prices as much as 10% compared with other hospitals, researchers found after analyzing past deals. A separate study found stand-alone hospitals raised prices 17% after they were acquired by a hospital company in another market.
Former President Bill Clinton was discharged from the hospital Tuesday, after he was admitted with a fever Monday afternoon, a spokesman said.
President Biden on Monday signed into law a defense bill that authorizes significant pay raises for junior enlisted service members, aims to counter China's growing power and boosts overall military spending to $895 billion despite his objections to language stripping coverage of transgender medical treatments for children in military families.
A walkout at Starbucks is expanding to more than 300 U.S. stores on Tuesday, with roughly 5,000 workers expected to join the five-day labor action that comes to a close later in the day, according to the employees' union.
American Airlines flights across the United States were delayed by technical issues on Tuesday morning, interrupting travel on one of the busiest days of the year.
It's Christmas Eve, and Santa Claus is suiting up for his annual voyage from the North Pole to households around the world. In keeping with decades of tradition, the North American Aerospace Command, or NORAD, will once again track Santa's journey to deliver gifts to children before Christmas 2024, using an official map that's updated consistently to show where he is right now.
Fayetteville, Ark. — A federal judge on Monday struck down key parts of an Arkansas law that would have allowed criminal charges against librarians and booksellers for providing "harmful" materials to minors.
From grocery chains to stores and restaurants, most businesses, are open today on Christmas Eve 2024.
A powerful government panel on Monday failed to reach consensus on the possible national security risks of a nearly $15 billion proposed deal for Nippon Steel of Japan to purchase U.S. Steel, leaving a decision to President Joe Biden, a longtime opponent of the deal.
New Mexico prosecutors have dropped their appeal to reinstate charges against Alec Baldwin in connection with the fatal shooting on the set of his movie "Rust."
An anti-money laundering law called the Corporate Transparency Act, or CTA, appears to have been given new life after an appeals court on Monday determined its rules can be enforced as the case proceeds. The law requires small business owners to register with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, by Jan. 1, or potentially pay fines of up to $10,000.
NEW YORK -- A man faces first-degree murder charges for allegedly setting a woman on fire as she slept on the New York City subway.