Imperium Health

Community-based doulas can help mothers better navigate the health care system and provide cultural support, but there are not enough doulas in Arkansas to serve communities, according to researchers from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). Currently, Arkansas has fewer than 50 trained doulas in the state. Arkansas is one of nine states in the country that does not offer doula certification.

The American Hospital Association expressed support for the use of healthcare navigators by hospitals and health systems to help patients find, access and understand financial assistance programs designed to pay for healthcare services, according to a Nov. 11 letter to CMS. The AHA cited inadequate healthcare coverage as a driving force behind patients' need for financial assistance.

Primary care player Forward is abruptly shutting down its operations, closing its locations and canceling scheduled visits, the company publicly announced Wednesday. The company also is shutting down its mobile application effectively immediately, the company said in a post on its website. There was no other information available on the website.

Spend the week with family & friends giving thanks this holiday season.

Texicare, the health affiliate of Texas Mutual, announced its launch in El Paso. Following the company’s rollout in Lubbock, Amarillo, Midland, Odessa and Houston, small business owners in El Paso can access Texicare’s innovative health care plans for their employees starting Jan. 1, 2025.

By analyzing all reviews of health care facilities in the United States on the online platform Yelp dated from 2014 through 2023, Sehgal, co-author Anish Agarwal, MD, an assistant professor of Emergency Medicine, and their team saw that the percentage of positive—four- and five-star—reviews dropped from 54.3% before March 2020 (marked as the beginning of the COVID pandemic in the United States) to 47.9% after.

Close to a quarter of people who have health coverage are underinsured, meaning they're enrolled in plans that make it harder to afford care due to high out-of-pocket costs, according to a new study. The Commonwealth Fund polled a national sample of adults aged 18 to 64 and found that 23% are underinsured. Most of these enrollees, about 66%, are covered in an employer-sponsored health plan, the study shows.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is exploring an overhaul of Medicare's physician payment model and looking to shift health incentives toward primary care and prevention, The Washington Post reported Nov. 21.

Forty-one senators have called on Congress to prevent a 2.83% cut to Medicare physician payments that will take effect Jan. 1. A bipartisan letter led by Sens. John Boozman (R-Ark.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) to Senate leaders argues that the cuts will hinder physicians' ability to provide high-quality care.