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: Trump touts plan to lower drug costs but rejects Medicare negotiations President Donald Trump on Friday will unveil a sweeping strategy for lowering drug prices that aims to reshape Medicare, boost competition and pressure foreign governments that the White House believes are “freeloading” off of the U.S. pharmaceutical industry, two senior administration officials said Thursday night. Politico Thursday, May 10, 2018 Medical device recalls reach historic levels in 2018 with software as leading cause Medical device recalls reached record highs in the first three months of 2018 thanks to software complications that are likely to continue with the proliferation of high-tech devices. Fierce Healthcare Wednesday, May 9, 2018 How Mayo Clinic's prescribing guidelines are cutting opioid prescriptions by half After analyzing opioid prescribing practices following surgery and improving prescribing guidelines, researchers at the Mayo Clinic Department of Orthopedic Surgery in Rochester, Minn., saw a 48 percent decrease in opioids prescribed for hip and knee replacement surgery, according to a study published in Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research. Becker's Hospital Review Tuesday, May 8, 2018 Trump proposes $15 billion spending cuts, targets children's health program U.S. President Donald Trump will request a package of $15 billion in spending cuts from Congress on Tuesday, including some $7 billion from the Children’s Health Insurance Program championed by Democrats, senior administration officials said on Monday. Reuters Tuesday, May 8, 2018 Health insurance CEOs earned $342.6M in 2017 Nearly every health insurance CEO got a pay raise in 2017—in most cases, bringing home more than 300 times the amount their average employee earned. Fierce Healthcare Monday, May 7, 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.