Friday Five: Top 5 healthcare business news items from the MCOL Weekend edition

Every business day, MCOL posts feature stories making news on the business of health care. Here are five we think are particularly important for this week: No Obamacare cease-fire in red states The epic collapse of the Obamacare repeal bill created an odd opportunity for 19 states that have long shunned Medicaid expansion. Politico, Friday, March 31, 2017 Pence breaks tie, allowing Senate to revoke Obama order on abortion provider funding Vice President Mike Pence returned to the Senate Thursday afternoon -- the second time in one day -- to cast a tie-breaking vote on legislation to undo an Obama-era regulation on funding for abortion providers. The Hill, Thursday, March 30, 2017 House GOP Weighing Another Try on Obamacare Vote Next Week House Republicans are considering making another run next week at passing the health-care bill they abruptly pulled from the floor in an embarrassing setback to their efforts to repeal Obamacare. Bloomberg, Wednesday, March 29, 2017 Senators Demand Answers About Possible Probe Of HHS Secretary Price Nine senators are pushing U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to reveal what he knows about a reported investigation into Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price’s stock trades that a top federal prosecutor might have begun before being fired by the Trump administration this month. Kaiser Health News, Wednesday, March 29, 2017 Justice Department Joins Lawsuit Alleging Massive Medicare Fraud By UnitedHealth The Justice Department has joined a California whistleblower’s lawsuit that accuses insurance giant UnitedHealth Group of fraud in its popular Medicare Advantage health plans. Kaiser Health News Tuesday, March 28, 2017 These and more weekly news items on the business of healthcare are featured in the MCOL Weekend edition, along with the MCOL Tidbits, and more, for MCOL Premium level members.