Generic prescription drugs may not be the cost-saving alternative once thought under the current design of the Medicare Part D program, which gives away such heavy discounts for out-of-pocket costs for brand-name drugs that seniors are actually shelling out way more for generics, according to a study published in Health Affairs.

Bundled payments are helping lower overall healthcare costs, with joint replacement bundles saving about $1,000 per patient annually, according to a second annual report on the model from the Lewin Group.

Sanford Health and UnityPoint Health have agreed to merge to become an $11 billion nonprofit health system, making it among the 15 largest in the nation.

The University of Chicago and Google are facing a class action lawsuit after one former patient at UChicago’s medical center accused the institution of sharing patient records and violating privacy rights.

Another unexpected threat to the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, came in the form of a federal appeals court, which asked if Democratic states and the House of Representatives have the right to defend the healthcare law in a lawsuit, Politico reported.

Specialty drug prices commonly used by older adults in the U.S. have far outpaced the price increases of other goods and services over the last decade, according to AARP, which has been reporting on prescription drug price trends.

Out-of-pocket healthcare costs rose about 12% in 2018, according to a new TransUnion Healthcare analysis.

The shareholders of both Centene and WellCare Health Plans have approved a plan for the two companies to merge, they announced June 24. The deal is worth $17.3 billion and is expected to close in the first half of 2020.