The agency said the new program, made possible by Medicare Part D, begins on July 1 and will extend until the end of 2027. For $50 a month, Medicare beneficiaries will be able to access popular weight loss drugs, in hopes they will improve overall health.

Makoto Hashimoto, MD, PhD, said robotic procedures are associated with a faster recovery time and many other potential benefits.

The physician was accused of pressuring Medicare patients into undergoing treatment they did not need. One patient allegedly received 42 different stents over an eight-year period.

Matthew S. Davenport, MD, MBA, and Scott B. Reeder, MD, PhD, made their plea to patients and providers in an opinion piece published May 6 in JAMA.

The insurance arm of UnitedHealth Group said the shift is part of its ongoing effort to eliminate the barriers between care delivery and medical coverage. The full list of services exempt from prior authorizations includes diagnostic tests and many outpatient surgeries.

“When hospitals that were once competitors merge, prices go up—often by double-digit percentages—with no measurable improvement in patient outcomes.”

Hospital-at-home inpatient care is no worse than its traditional counterpart at facilitating good clinical outcomes for reasonable overall costs. In fact “HaH” is sometimes considerably better on both those scores.

It may be more than anxiety and forgetfulness to blame for women missing their scheduled mammograms, according to new survey data.