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: CDC director pledges to bring opioid epidemic 'to its knees' The new director of the top U.S. public health agency on Thursday pledged to work to bring the nation's opioid epidemic "to its knees" and said he believes the AIDS epidemic could be ended in three to seven years. ABC News Thursday, March 29, 2018 Walmart talking with Humana on closer ties; acquisition possible: sources U.S. retailer Walmart Inc (WMT.N) is in early-stage talks with health insurer Humana Inc (HUM.N) about developing closer ties, with the acquisition of Humana being discussed as one possibility, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. Reuters Thursday, March 29, 2018 White House: 'No one is talking about privatizing the VA' President Donald Trump said Thursday he fired Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin because he wanted to give veterans more choices, but a spokesperson said his actions did not signal a desire to privatize veterans' health services. Politico Thursday, March 29, 2018 Thousands Mistakenly Enrolled During California’s Medicaid Expansion, Feds Find California signed up an estimated 450,000 people under Medicaid expansion who may not have been eligible for coverage, according to a report by the U.S. Health and Human Services’ chief watchdog. Kaiser Health News Wednesday, March 28, 2018 Urgent Care Center Utilization Skyrocketed by 1725% in Last Decade Healthcare payers saw urgent care center utilization grow by 1725 percent from 2007 to 2016, indicating that urgent care may the one of the fastest-growing choices for receiving healthcare. HealthPayer Intelligence Monday, March 26, 2018 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.