Beware of the CAR-T Hitches.

The two CAR-T therapies approved for certain blood cancers have price tags of $475,000 and $373,000-and those prices don't include other costs for services that are integral to the treatments, such as harvesting a patient's T cells. Moreover, patients typically have a lengthy hospital stay after treatment.

Bringing Humira (Its Price) Down a Peg.

It's the best-selling drug by revenue worldwide and manufacturer AbbVie has worked hard to fend off competition. Very hard. Humira faces competition in Europe, but it will probably take years before its market share is challenged in the United States.

Inpatient Beds? We Don't Need No Stinking Inpatient Beds.

At the Mercy Virtual Care Center more than 850 employees deliver care by way of telehealth services to hospitals that are both inside and outside the Mercy system. Intermountain Healthcare has taken a similar approach, with its telehealth operation providing care to patients in more than 20 hospitals.

A Telehealth Hookup: Hospitals and Retailers.

At telehealth walk-in centers, patients get care at the touch of a screen. They were able to choose from a long list of board-certified physicians for their virtual visit. Medical devices such as thermometers and blood pressure cuffs are also on hand.

Violence Against Nurses: Casualties of Caring.

Sometimes patients are angry. Sometimes it is a symptom of their illness. Either way, nurses are on the front lines of health care and bear the brunt of the physical and verbal abuse from patients; gender may be a factor. In California, hospitals and other health care providers are now required to keep a log of violent incidents and develop violence prevention plans. Federal legislation has been introduced.

Sexual Harassment: Health Care, It Is #YouToo.

There's no question that sexual harassment-and worse-is common at the country's hospitals, clinics, research labs, and doctor's offices. Health care's gender imbalances create situations that are ripe for abuse: Women make up the majority of the workforce in health care but men still dominate positions of authority.

Insurers on a Shopping Spree For All Sorts of Providers.

UnitedHealth Group, Humana, Centene, and Anthem have announced billions of dollars of deals to acquire primary care practices, hospice providers, and home health care companies. The insurers' foray into provider territory comes as the traditional contours of American health care are in flux.

Antiviral drugs have made hepatitis C eminently treatable.

Direct-acting antiviral drugs have revolutionized the treatment of hepatitis C and have some enthusiastic experts even go so far as to talk about eradicating the disease. The dark cloud in this otherwise rosy picture has been the price tags affixed to these drugs.

Disasters: In the Wake of the 2017 Annus Horribilis, Preparedness Rules To Get Tougher.

Federal and state officials have moved this year to impose some preparedness requirements on providers that will have an effect in 2018 and years beyond. For instance, CMS' finalized emergency preparedness rules for health care providers that serve Medicare and Medicaid patients went into effect last month.

Medicaid: Work Requirements and Expansion in the Offing.

CMS chief Seema Verma wants to reshape the entitlement program that covers about 62 million people. Verma endorses "community engagement" - work or community service - as a condition for "able-bodied" people to get Medicaid coverage and accused the Obama administration of the "soft bigotry of low expectations" for opposing such a requirement.

And the Oscar (Health) Goes to Cleveland (Clinic).

Oscar Health, a small insurer with big ambitions, has been enlisted to assist the storied Cleveland Clinic launch its own health plan. Each member of the plan will be matched with a care team made up of primary care provider, physician assistants, and other health care professionals.

Sunny for Florida Blue, but It's Partly Cloudy in Sunshine State.

The ACA drove down the uninsured rate despite the lack of Medicare expansion, but major insurers have left the market. In some rural areas, Florida Blue is the only health plan in the game. Also in the mix: Consumers here usually pick the lowest-cost plan available.

Telehealth Overview: The Reality Check, Please.

The trend lines and bar charts are marching up. Investors are investing, insurers are extending coverage, health care systems are getting on board. But there at some skunks at the telehealth garden party: research suggesting quality and utilization problems and lingering uncertainty about reimbursement.

Far From Over: STDs Have Made a Comeback.

Incidence was dipping to all-time lows. Then a prefect storm hit, and the cost is $16 billion a year.

A soft opening seems in store.

Despite its complexity and swarm of new acronyms, MACRA seems like a habitable dry land in comparison to the turbulent waters of the rest of health care-predictable, supported by both parties, and adjusted in the final rule so its effect on providers in 2017 will be milder than feared.

Health care, an easy target, needs to get its guard up.

Health care ranked ninth in terms of its cybersecurity in a recent report by SecurityScorecard, a company that provides risk monitoring and security ratings. The health care industry is widely infected with malware and has come under repeated ransomware attacks.

Who Needs Those ACA Exchanges?

9 million Americans buy health insurance outside the ACA exchanges. They make too much money to be eligible for subsidies and can often get coverage with a broader network of providers.

3D Mammography Puts New Twist on Long-Running Guidelines Battle.

Guideline writers are dialing back breast screening recommendations because of concerns about false positives and overdiagnoses. For instance, there's the debate about at what age screening should start. Meanwhile, advocates and some clinicians are pulling in the opposite direction-for more coverage, especially for 3D mammography.