Small Bump for Medicare Advantage Plans in 2027

The Trump administration has announced a tiny increase in payments for Medicare Advantage plans next year. The average raise is less than 0. 1%, which is way lower than the 4% to 6% the industry was hoping for. This news comes with new rules that might limit how insurance companies use medical codes. Meanwhile, big changes are happening in the healthcare world. In California and Hawaii, over 31, 000 Kaiser Permanente workers went on strike. They're upset about unfair labor practices and want Kaiser to come back to the bargaining table. This strike could cause big problems for hospitals and clinics in the area. In Minnesota, Hennepin Healthcare is cutting 100 jobs and five medical programs. They need to fix a $50 million budget problem by the end of March. But there's some good news too: the University of Minnesota, Fairview, and M Physicians have made a 10-year deal to support the medical school and training programs.Healthcare companies are also investing in new technology. Pulsed field ablation is a newer treatment for heart problems. It's safer and faster than older methods, so hospitals are excited about it, even though it costs more at first. Sometimes, things go wrong in unexpected ways. A woman in Maryland got a bill for her child's checkup, even though she thought they had insurance. It turned out to be a mistake, but it shows how confusing healthcare bills can be. We also lost a medical pioneer this week. Thomas Fogarty, who was 91, helped change vascular surgery forever. He started as a kid fixing things around the house and ended up saving millions of lives with his inventions.