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The cost of malpractice insurance is surging in some states, and the increased premiums threaten access to healthcare in areas seeing the biggest bumps, the American Medical Association warned Wednesday. The report marks the fourth year in a row of increased premiums for medical liability insurance, and comes as clinicians also face additional risks in states advancing restrictive laws on abortion or gender-affirming care. (Hartnett, 4/19)

The company, which operates Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in 14 states, on Wednesday reported first-quarter earnings of $2.8 billion, or $8.30 per share, a 16.6% year-over-year increase. Quarterly revenue increased 10.5% to $41.8 billion, driven by membership growth among exchange, Medicaid and Medicare Advantage customers, premium increases and higher pharmacy scripts revenue from CarelonRx, its pharmacy benefit manager business. (Tepper, 4/19)

�������ýҕ�l Health News: 'An Arm and a Leg': A $229,000 Medical Bill Goes To Court 

In 2014, Lisa French had spinal surgery. Before the operation, she was told she would have to pay $1,337 in out-of-pocket costs and that her insurance would cover the rest. However, the hospital ended up sending French a bill for $229,000. When she didn’t pay, it sued her. The case went all the way to the Colorado Supreme Court. In this episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” host Dan Weissmann finds out how the court ruled and how the decision is reshaping the fine print on hospital bills in ways that could cost patients a lot of money. (4/20)

�������ýҕ�l Health News: Lose Weight, Gain Huge Debt: NY Provider Has Sued More Than 300 Patients Who Had Bariatric Surgery 

Seven months after Lahavah Wallace’s weight loss operation, a New York bariatric surgery practice sued her, accusing her of “intentionally” failing to pay nearly $18,000 of her bill. Long Island Minimally Invasive Surgery, which does business as the New York Bariatric Group, went on to accuse Wallace of “embezzlement,” alleging she kept insurance payments that should have been turned over to the practice. Wallace denies the allegations, which the bariatric practice has leveled against patients in hundreds of debt-collection lawsuits filed over the past four years, court records in New York state show. (Schulte, 4/20)

Point32Health, the parent company for Tufts Health Plan and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, said in a memo on its website that it identified a ransomware incident on Monday, affecting the systems it uses to service members, accounts, brokers and providers. A spokesman for the insurer said the outages were mainly affecting members covered under Harvard Pilgrim Health Care’s commercial plans and New Hampshire Medicare plans, though it was not impacting those on the Tufts Health Plan. (Bartlett, 4/19)

Instacart CEO Fidji Simo is helping launch the Metrodora Institute, a for-profit, AI-enabled medical and research center in Salt Lake City for people with neuroimmune axis disorders. (Perna, 4/19)

Health care companies are joining forces with big tech players as they race to integrate AI into their tools, drawn by the promise of large language models from OpenAI, Microsoft, Google and others that they can use in medicine without having to train the AI themselves. (Trang, 4/19)

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes has filed an appeal of her “unjust conviction” on four counts of wire fraud in connection with her now-defunct blood-testing company. Holmes in a Monday filing appealed her 2022 conviction, for which she was sentenced last year to more than 11 years in prison. (Mueller, 4/19)