Here’s what you need to know this week.
1. GOP senators: Funding healthcare bill could involve keeping some ACA taxes
As Senate Republicans work on a healthcare reform bill, they have many issues to examine, including how to pay for the legislation. One funding option under consideration is temporarily keeping some ACA taxes intact, reports Politico.
2. Puerto Rico says Zika outbreak has ended, CDC maintains travel warning: 3 notes
Puerto Rico Health officials on June 5 declared the island’s Zika outbreak over. However, the CDC maintains its travel guidance for the island, advising pregnant women not to travel to the U.S. territory, according to STAT.
3. US leads other nations in health inequality: 8 things to know
There is a wide divide in health outcomes and perceived access to healthcare between the wealthiest and poorest Americans, according to a study published in Health Affairs.
4. Concurrent surgeries at Mass General caught in crosshairs of new lawsuit
A whistle-blower suit recently filed against Massachusetts General Hospital claims orthopedic surgeons at the Boston-based hospital kept patients under anesthesia longer than necessary so they could complete two or three surgeries simultaneously, according to The Boston Globe.
5. Dallas hospital files for bankruptcy 3 years after opening
Walnut Hill Medical Center, a 100-bed for-profit hospital in Dallas, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy June 6 after abruptly closing just four days prior.
6. Dayton mayor files suit against physicians, drugmakers and drug distributers for role in Ohio opioid crisis
The mayor of Dayton, Ohio, filed a lawsuit June 5 against physicians, drug manufacturers and drug wholesalers for allegedly contributing to the city’s ongoing opioid crisis, according to a release.
7. Illinois prisoner holds nursing assistant, officer hostage at Presence hospital
Law enforcement officials said a convicted murderer held a nursing assistant and a corrections officer hostage with a makeshift weapon at Joliet, Ill.-based Presence St. Joseph Medical Center June 7 after the inmate was taken from an Illinois prison to the hospital, Chicago Tribune reports.
8. 62k people died of drug overdoses in 2016, NYT projects
When the CDC finishes tallying drug overdose deaths for 2016, the number will likely fall between 59,000 and 65,000, according to a New York Times projection authored by John Katz.
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