POLICE AND FIRE DEPARTMENTS across Massachusetts stopped hiring smokers in 1997 as part of a pension system overhaul. In 2011, the Massachusetts Hospital Association implemented the same policy for its […]
Health Care
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
The folly of Baker’s drug price control plan
WHEN THE Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) selected Charlie Baker as Governor of the Year in 2018, the group may have misjudged Baker’s understanding of the industry. Baker recently offered legislation that […]
Posted inHealth Care
Partners vowing to end surprise billing
PARTNERS HEALTHCARE is moving to eliminate surprise billing, where consumers receive large, unexpected hospital bills after unknowingly being treated by a doctor who doesn’t accept their insurance. The Partners policy […]
Posted inOpinion
I’ve got questions on Rep. Neal, Partners
AS DECEMBER DRAWS to a close, there have been a number of “happenings” in health care, both nationally and locally, that have major implications for policy. A few are worth […]
Posted inHealth Care
Board admonishes Beth Israel cardiologist
THE STATE MEDICAL BOARD recently disciplined a prominent cardiologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for losing his temper and using disrespectful language while performing a complex procedure. The state […]
Posted inHealth Care
Partners to open 4 new outpatient centers
PARTNERS HEALTHCARE is launching a major expansion of its outpatient network in a bid to grow its already large customer base by serving patients closer to where they live and […]
Posted inOpinion
Don’t take away religious exemption for vaccines
I AM AN IVY LEAGUE-TRAINED physician who currently treats families of children and adults with developmental disabilities. I come in frequent contact with parents who use the religious exemption for […]
Posted inOpinion
Reward home care firms that pay living wage
WHILE MASSACHUSETTS LEADS the nation in a number of vital healthcare markers, the state is facing a crisis in one crucial area – its home care industry. The population is […]
Posted inHealth Care
Atrius Health reaching back to its managed roots
THERE’S A BACK to the future feel to some of the changes taking place in US health care, and Atrius Health, which provides care to some 740,000 patients, is a […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Baker mystified by response to vaping ban
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH HIS TEMPORARY BAN on vaping product sales set to end next week when public health officials adopt a new set of vaping rules, Gov. Charlie […]
Posted inOpinion
Why supervised drug injection sites make sense
SINCE 2000, 17,496 citizens of Massachusetts have died from an opioid overdose. Half of those deaths came in the last five years. That’s like one of at least 245 communities […]
Posted inHealth Care
The state’s largest employer is changing its name
PARTNERS HEALTHCARE, the state’s dominant health care provider and the largest employer in Massachusetts, is changing its name to Mass General Brigham. The new name shifts the focus of the […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Rate of growth in Mass. opioid deaths slows
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICERWE THE RATE OF DEATHS due to opioid overdoses is slowing in Massachusetts, but still nearly 1,500 people died of an overdose in Massachusetts through the first […]
Posted inUncategorized
Consortium plans to build cell manufacturing facility
A STAR-STUDDED CAST of local academic, business, and hospital institutions is uniting to spend $50 million on an independent, nonprofit cell-manufacturing facility in the Greater Boston area that is expected […]
Posted inOpinion
Vaping spurs fear for next generation’s lung health
VAPING IS AN EPIDEMIC. Since starting its investigation in August 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has documented more than 2,000 cases of vaping-related illnesses and over […]
Posted inHealth Care
Monica Bharel, realistic optimist
MONICA BHAREL, the state’s public health commissioner, is definitely a glass-half-full type of person. On the Health or Consequences edition of the Codcast with Paul Hattis of Tufts University Medical […]
Posted inThe Download
Monica Bharel, realistic optimist
Monica Bharel, the state’s public health commissioner, is definitely a glass-half-full type of person. On the Health or Consequences edition of the Codcast with Paul Hattis of Tufts University Medical […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Time to rise up for healing
WE HAVE FAITH but have lost our patience. As faith leaders with the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, we call on state leadership to rise up for healing by lowering the […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service
Medical marijuana vaping ban up in air
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WHEN THE CANNABIS CONTROL COMMISSION meets Thursday, it could determine whether Gov. Charlie Baker’s temporary ban on vaping product sales should apply to medical marijuana patients […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
SJC to hear Baker vaping ban case
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT has agreed to hear arguments related to Gov. Charlie Baker’s emergency ban on vaping products, elevating to the state’s highest court a […]
Posted inOpinion
Five takeaways from the Health Policy Commission hearing
THERE HAVE BEEN SEVEN Health Policy Commission cost trend hearings since 2013, but the one that took place recently was the most interesting. Part of it was timing – Gov. […]
Posted inHealth Care
Pressley, immigration services chief tangle at hearing
THE ACTING HEAD of the nation’s immigration services agency, testifying before Congress under subpoena, said he and he alone made the decision to end medical deferred action, which allowed critically ill immigrants […]
Posted inOpinion
Baker overreacting on vaping decision
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER says the courts are trying to restrict his authority to declare a public health emergency, but that claim seems like an overreaction. Baker’s emergency order banning the […]
Posted inHealth Care
Frustration surfaces at Health Policy Commission
THERE WAS A LONG, awkward silence Wednesday when a power-packed panel of CEOs from the state’s largest health care organizations was asked by a member of the Health Policy Commission […]
