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Express Scripts is suing the U.S. government, according to a lawsuit filed this week. The pharmacy benefit manager, owned by health insurer Cigna, is demanding $43 million in tax refunds from 2010 and 2011, alleging the IRS wrongfully denied the company's use of a now-repealed income tax deduction. Cigna, one of the largest medical and pharmacy benefit administrators in the country, is suing for an amount that equates to 0.5% of its net profit in 2020 — a year in which the company boosted income as people delayed care due to the pandemic. (Herman, 6/23)

Less than one-fourth of hospitals were fully compliant with federal price transparency regulations in early 2021, according to new data. A study by University of Minnesota School of Public Health faculty found that only 23.7% of hospitals reported all required data on service rates in both machine-readable and consumer-shoppable formats. CMS' Hospital Price Transparency Rule, which went into effect on Jan. 1, requires hospitals to publish information about the prices they charge for inpatient and outpatient services, as well as the rates negotiated with various private insurers. (Devereaux, 6/23)

The University of California Board of Regents on Wednesday tightened UC’s rules on affiliations with hospitals that impose religious restrictions on care. The policy approved almost unanimously by the board places greater limits than before on interference by religious authorities with the medical judgments of UC physicians practicing at sectarian hospitals. The policy states that UC physicians must be permitted to provide any treatment to a patient at a sectarian hospital even if the treatment violates religious restrictions and the patient can’t be safely transferred to another facility. Affiliated hospitals will have until Dec. 31, 2023, to comply with the policy, or the affiliation agreement must be canceled. (Hiltzik, 6/23)

Rural hospitals facing closure will soon have another option: a payment model that allows them to convert to standalone emergency departments while ending inpatient services. Starting in 2023, CMS will offer a new "Rural Emergency Hospital" designation to facilities that agree to wind down inpatient care and build up outpatient services. The program, authorized by a spending bill President Donald Trump signed last December, aims to help facilities become more financially stable by scaling back their operations while maintaining some critical services for patients. (Hellman, 6/23)

East Carolina University and one of the largest hospital systems in the state have announced the “first step” toward full clinical integration, eyeing a future “ECU Health” that will rival existing partnerships in North Carolina. On Wednesday, the university’s board of trustees approved the appointment of Michael Waldrum, CEO of Vidant Health, as the dean of the Brody School of Medicine at ECU. (Gulledge, 6/24)