healthcare - Shore News Network

Analysis-Unloved healthcare stocks draw investors despite US election risks

ReutersJanuary 8, 20240

By Lewis Krauskopf NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. healthcare sector is showing signs of life after lagging in 2023 as investors bet cheap valuations will offset a tendency to underperform during presidential election years. The S&P 500 healthcare sector has climbed about 6% since the start of December, doubling the gain of the broader index during that period. Its performance during 2023 overall was far less impressive, as it rose just 0.3% compared to the S&P 500’s 24% jump. Healthcare, which has a roughly 13% weight in the S&P 500, was one of the areas left behind last year

California Joins Oregon Offering Free Healthcare, Sanctuary to Illegal Migrants

Conservative TimesDecember 30, 20230

SACRAMENTO, CA – California is set to launch a significant expansion of its health care system, extending free medical coverage to more than 700,000 undocumented immigrants. The initiative, beginning Monday, represents one of the state’s largest health care expansions in the last decade. The program is projected to cost California approximately $3.1 billion annually. This move brings the state closer to achieving the Democratic goal of providing universal health care to its estimated 39 million residents. In 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers reached an agreement to expand Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program, to include all low-income adults, regardless of

Goldman: Hedge and mutual funds favour banking and healthcare over tech

ReutersDecember 4, 20230

By Naomi Rovnick and Nell Mackenzie LONDON (Reuters) – Leading hedge funds and mutual funds are betting on gains outside the tech sector in coming months, Goldman Sachs research shows. The ten stocks currently most favoured by both do not include any of the so-called Magnificent Seven tech titans that now dominate the S&P 500 index, according to research by the investment bank’s prime brokerage unit. Instead, it said, the shared top picks Goldman identified from analysing more than $5 trillion worth of hedge fund and mutual fund holdings are mostly in financial and medical-related sectors. The basket of ten

Hedge funds dump healthcare stocks, buy small caps – BofA

ReutersNovember 28, 20230

By Carolina Mandl NEW YORK (Reuters) – Hedge funds cut their exposure in equities, mainly in healthcare, while adding a bit of small-cap stocks to their portfolios last week, according to a BofA Securities note about its clients flow trends. The bank said that overall its hedge fund clientele sold more than bought stocks for a second consecutive week, dumping stakes in most sectors, despite a higher concentration on healthcare. Hedge funds’ decision to trim their equity exposure came as all three U.S. indexes notched their fourth consecutive weekly gains. Institutional and retail clients, however, added more stocks to their

Abris mulls sale of Polish healthcare company Scanmed -sources

ReutersNovember 17, 20230

By Anna Koper WARSAW (Reuters) -Abris Capital Partners investment fund is mulling a sale of private healthcare provider Scanmed Group, with Polish cardiovascular care company American Heart of Poland being the most likely buyer, sources familiar with the process told Reuters. The Polish private healthcare sector is attracting investors as Poles’ expenditures on health are growing rapidly. In 2022, expenditures on private healthcare grew by over 10% to almost 52 billion zlotys ($12.94 billion). “Abris is preparing to put Scanmed on sale with American Heart of Poland being the most obvious buyer,” one source told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Tenet Healthcare to sell 3 South Carolina hospitals for about $2.4 billion

ReutersNovember 17, 20230

(Reuters) -Tenet Healthcare said on Friday it would sell three of its hospitals and related operations in South Carolina for about $2.4 billion in cash, in a move aimed at reducing its debt. Shares of the Texas-based company rose 4.9% to $61 in premarket trading on the news. Under the deal, a North and South Carolina hospital network – Novant Health – will purchase Tenet’s hospitals in Jasper, Beaufort and Charleston counties as well as affiliated physician practices and other related hospital operations. Tenet added that ambulatory facilities in these markets will remain with the company. The hospital operator is

France eyes cuts to business subsidies and healthcare spending

ReutersNovember 16, 20230

PARIS (Reuters) – France’s government aims to rein in spending on business subsidies and medical care as part of plans to come up with 12 billion euros in savings from 2025, government sources said on Thursday. President Emmanuel Macron’s government needs to bring down France’s public spending – the highest in the world relative to the size of the economy – to keep its deficit reduction commitments on track. The 2024 budget bill currently going through parliament includes plans for 16 billion euros ($17.35 billion) in savings, most of it from phasing out temporary power and gas price caps. Prime

US drops antitrust case over healthcare hiring agreements

ReutersNovember 14, 20230

By Mike Scarcella (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department has asked a judge to dismiss the government’s prosecution of a UnitedHealth Group affiliate accused of unlawfully restricting employee mobility, marking a new setback in the government’s push to apply criminal antitrust laws to labor markets. U.S. prosecutors in a filing in Dallas federal court asked U.S. District Judge Sam Lindsay to dismiss charges against Surgical Care Affiliates LLC and a related entity, SCAI Holdings LLC. Deerfield, Illinois-based Surgical Care operates one of the country’s largest ambulatory surgery centers. Surgical Care Affiliates and SCAI Holdings were charged in 2021 with violating

Weight loss drugs transforming healthcare, may help with addiction -Reuters Events

ReutersNovember 9, 20230

By Julie Steenhuysen and Caroline Stauffer CHICAGO (Reuters) – A new class of weight loss drugs is transforming the U.S. healthcare system in ways that could extend to equally hard-to-treat areas like substance abuse, according to speakers at the Reuters Events Total Health conference in Chicago this week. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday said Eli Lilly could begin selling its drug tirzepatide for weight loss, making it the second obesity drug in a class known as GLP-1s. The drug, Zepbound, is already sold under the brand name Mounjaro as a treatment for type 2 diabetes. Novo Nordisk’s

GE HealthCare beats quarterly profit estimates on imaging device demand

ReutersOctober 31, 20230

(Reuters) – GE HealthCare Technologies Inc on Tuesday beat Wall Street expectations for third-quarter profit as a continued recovery in demand for surgical procedures boosted sales of its medical devices. Demand for medical devices has seen a surge following a sharp decline in COVID-19 infections as customers, particularly older adults, in the United States are returning to hospitals for procedures such as hip and knee replacements, and healthcare staffing shortages ease. Larger peer Abbott Laboratories also topped its quarterly profit estimates, aided by a recovery in sales of its medical devices such as heart valves and pacemakers. GE HealthCare also

JPMorgan strategists advise opening a short in European banks, upgrade healthcare

ReutersOctober 30, 20230

LONDON (Reuters) – Strategists at JPMorgan have advised opening a ‘short’ position in European banks, and moved the sector from ‘neutral’ to ‘underweight’, they said in a note published on Monday. “If the bond yields are in the process of peaking this quarter, as we suspect … then Banks could start to struggle,” JPM strategists, led by Mislav Matejka, said. European banking shares have been some of the best performing in Europe in 2023, with the STOXX Europe 600 Banks Index rising almost 8% year-to-date versus a 1% for the broader STOXX 600. JPM “used the funds” to upgrade the

Kaiser Permanente resumes talks with healthcare workers union week after strike

ReutersOctober 12, 20230

By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Kaiser Permanente and the union representing healthcare workers resumed negotiations on Thursday, more than a week after contract talks broke off at the start of a 72-hour strike by 75,000 nurses, medical technicians and support staff. Company and union spokespersons said the two sides met in person late in the day at a San Francisco Bay-area hotel. Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su was present, as previously announced, to play a role as mediator, a spokesperson said. The dispute is focused on workers’ demands for better pay and measures to ease chronic staff

‘Necessary Healthcare’: John Kirby Gets Fiery While Defending The National Security Importance Of Affordable Abortions

The Daily CallerOctober 4, 20230

‘Necessary Healthcare’: John Kirby Gets Fiery While Defending The National Security Importance Of Affordable Abortions Harold Hutchison on October 3, 2023 White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby attacked Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama while defending the Pentagon’s policy of paying for travel for servicemembers to have abortions on Tuesday. Tuberville launched a blanket hold on most senior military promotions in March after the Pentagon began paying for female servicemembers to travel for out-of-state abortions after a number of states placed restrictions on the procedure. “The suggestion is we should just turn our backs on one in five

Chanhassen Psychologist Sentenced for Healthcare Fraud

Indira PatelSeptember 30, 20230

ST. PAUL, MN – Charles Howard Jorenby, a 57-year-old psychologist from Chanhassen, has been sentenced to 24 months in prison and three years of supervised release for fraudulently billing counseling services he never provided. U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger announced the sentencing. Court documents show that Jorenby, owner of Life Dynamics, Inc. in Prior Lake, orchestrated a scheme from at least January 2013 to February 2020 to defraud the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC). SMSC funds its own tribal members’ health care costs and contracted with Blue Cross Blue Shield Minnesota (BCBS) for health care administration. Jorenby exploited a loophole

New Jersey Expands Law to Allow Less Qualified Healthcare Workers to Perform Abortions

Charlie DwyerSeptember 23, 20230

TRENTON, NJ – Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Division of Consumer Affairs announced a new rule proposal by the State Board of Medical Examiners aimed at expanding the number of healthcare providers authorized to perform early aspiration abortions in New Jersey. Published in the New Jersey Register on September 18, the proposed rule outlines the requirements for Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs) and Certified Midwives (CMs) to safely and effectively perform these procedures. There are currently 431 CNMs and 17 CMs active in the state under the Midwifery Liaison Committee of the Board. The announcement comes after the Board’s

U.S. Bancorp adding 50 bankers to serve healthcare offices

ReutersSeptember 14, 20230

By Tatiana Bautzer and Nupur Anand NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. Bancorp is starting a new business banking group to serve medical, dental and veterinary practices, the company said on Thursday.The Minneapolis-based lender is creating 50 new positions nationwide to cater to healthcare offices with as much as $25 million in annual revenue. It also hired Joe Persichetti from Huntington National Bank to lead the initiative to offer banking, payments, and wealth services to healthcare practices. U.S. Bancorp had previously served larger healthcare providers through its corporate and commercial banking arms, which it expects to get a boost from the

Berry Global initiates formal review of healthcare business

ReutersSeptember 8, 20230

(Reuters) -Berry Global Group said on Friday it has initiated a formal process to evaluate strategic alternatives for its health, hygiene and specialties segment (HH&S). The segment accounted for 22% of consolidated net sales for the container and packaging firm in fiscal 2022. There is no deadline for the completion of the review and no guarantee an agreement would emerge from it, according to the company. (Reporting by Ananta Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)

Column-US Medicare drug negotiations a good start on bringing down healthcare costs

ReutersAugust 31, 20230

By Mark Miller (Reuters) – An important Biden administration effort to control the soaring cost of prescription drugs made headlines this week – but drug costs are just one part of a growing struggle faced by U.S. seniors in meeting their healthcare costs. Medicare officials this week unveiled the first list of drugs that will be subject to price negotiations with pharmaceutical companies under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) signed into law last year. The law empowers Medicare to negotiate with drugmakers on some of the most expensive drugs on the market, and the initial list targets medications used to

Far from fighting, doctor strikes aggravate healthcare collapse in Port Sudan

ReutersAugust 27, 20230

PORT SUDAN (Reuters) – The army-controlled coastal city of Port Sudan has become a refuge from the war raging to the west, but its health system is in near collapse due to power cuts and scarce supplies – and staff shortages now exacerbated by striking doctors. Doctors and nurses in the Red Sea city say they have not been paid for four months, as the Sudanese government’s budget has been decimated by fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). “It is exhausting, there are many patients and there’s a lot of suffering,” said Omar al-Saeed, a

Chinese healthcare stocks hit by stepped up anti-graft crackdown

ReutersAugust 9, 20230

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – A year-long slump in China’s healthcare stocks has accelerated this week as an anti-corruption campaign gathers pace, threatening the sales of some drug makers and medical equipment producers. The CSI Medical Services Index has lost more than 2% this month, taking losses for the year to 19% and heavily underperforming the benchmark CSI300 Index, which has risen 2% in 2023. Healthcare comprises 6.5% of the main index. Selling in healthcare stocks such as Pharma giant Hengrui and medical equipment company Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics Co picked up over the past week, amid signs China is doubling down

Pharmaceutical Exec Sentenced in Healthcare Fraud Scheme

Ryan DickinsonAugust 1, 20230

A federal jury in the Middle District of Tennessee has found a medical doctor, Bowdoin Smith, guilty of unlawfully distributing controlled substances. The evidence presented at the trial and court documents revealed that Bowdoin Smith, aged 67 and from Carthage, Tennessee, unlawfully prescribed controlled substances, including opioids like oxycodone and morphine. As a doctor of osteopathy, he owned and operated a general practice medical clinic in Carthage. However, it was determined that he knowingly prescribed opioids outside the usual course of professional practice and without any legitimate medical purpose. Back in 2012, the Tennessee Department of Health had placed Smith’s

Tenet Healthcare lifts profit forecast, bets on rebound in surgical procedures

ReutersJuly 31, 20230

(Reuters) – Tenet Healthcare Corp on Monday raised its annual profit forecast after a strong second quarter, betting on a recovery in surgical procedure volumes, sending its shares up 3% in extended trading. The hospital operator sees its 2023 core earnings in the range of $3.31 million to $3.46 million, compared with its previous forecast of $3.2 million to $3.4 million. It expects to adjusted profit per share in the range of $5.18 to $6.03 in 2023, compared with a prior forecast of $4.92 to $6.09. Hospital operators are expected to see a profit boost as more people opt for

Morgan Stanley hires healthcare services banker Cohen from Truist

ReutersJuly 12, 20230

By David Carnevali and Svea Herbst-Bayliss NEW YORK (Reuters) – Morgan Stanley has hired veteran investment banker Daniel Cohen from Truist Financial Corp, where he was the head of the firm’s healthcare services advisory business, a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. In his new role, Cohen will continue to focus on dealmaking in the pharmaceutical services sector, the person said, requesting anonymity because the move is not yet public. Morgan Stanley declined to comment. A Truist spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and Cohen did not immediately reply to a message sent via

Barclays hires Birchenough as chairman of healthcare investment banking

ReutersJuly 7, 20230

By David Carnevali NEW YORK (Reuters) – Barclays Plc has hired Jim Birchenough from Wells Fargo & Co as its chairman of global healthcare investment banking, a spokesperson for the British bank confirmed, after Reuters reported on the appointment on Friday. Birchenough last served as vice chairman of biopharma investment banking at Wells Fargo. A Wells Fargo spokesperson declined to comment. Birchenough, who will be based in San Francisco, had previously worked at Barclays as a research analyst covering biotech companies. He held similar roles at BMO Capital Markets and Lehman Brothers in the early part of his career. In

Georgia ban on transgender healthcare is challenged in lawsuit

ReutersJune 30, 20230

By Daniel Trotta (Reuters) – Four Georgia families sued the state in federal court on Friday to stop a law that bans transgender youth from receiving hormone therapy, joining a wave of challenges to similar laws across the United States. The plaintiffs, allowed to proceed anonymously to guard against reprisals, are seeking an injunction to stop Georgia’s Senate Bill 140, which prohibits doctors from treating minors with hormone therapy to support their gender transitions. A host of Georgia state health officials and agencies are named as defendants. Unlike other states, Georgia does not also ban puberty blockers, typically the first