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Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services leaders say the agency has handed out nearly 500 warnings to hospitals falling short on price transparency, as of January, and plans to streamline enforcement and standardize hospital reporting requirements. (Muoio, 2/21)

Hospitals could be playing defense this year as bipartisan scrutiny builds in Congress over the way facilities charge more for outpatient services that can be done in less-expensive settings, like a private doctor's office. (Dreher and Sullivan, 2/22)

In late January, amid intensifying scrutiny of the quality of care provided by the American end-of-life care industry, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has reformed how it inspects hospice providers. The changes, detailed in a 196-page document, went into effect immediately. Under the new protocol, inspectors must sample data from multiple locations where the hospice operates and evaluate a broader range of metrics. These include records on the hospice’s inpatient care, bereavement practices and reasons patients are leaving the service alive. “An unusually high rate of live discharges could indicate that a hospice provider is not meeting the needs of patients and families or is admitting patients who do not meet the eligibility criteria,” the revised rules note. (Kofman, 2/22)

Nutritional supplement company Bountiful Co. will pay $600,000 following Federal Trade Commission allegations that it made products on Amazon look like they had more reviews and higher average ratings than they really did. The FTC said the case marks its first enforcement action against a practice called “review hijacking,” in which a marketer makes reviews for one product appear to apply to another. (Graham, 2/21)

“The FTC’s investigation of Amazon’s acquisition of One Medical continues,” said FTC spokesperson Douglas Farrar. “The commission will continue to look at possible harms to competition created by this merger as well as possible harms to consumers that may result from Amazon’s control and use of sensitive consumer health information held by One Medical.” (Sisco, 2/21)

Cristina Ochoa often worries if the food she's feeding her two young kids is safe, even after carefully reading ingredient labels. "Some ingredients I have no idea what they are, how to pronounce them," she said. "I want the best for my children. I would think that as a society we want the best for our children." (Tracy, 2/21)

Presidential candidate Nikki Haley defended her proposal for mental competency tests here on Tuesday — in startlingly personal terms. Haley said that one critic of the proposal, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), was “exactly the reason we need it.” Sanders, 81, had told Stephen Colbert of CBS’s “Late Show” Monday that Haley’s plan for mandatory tests of the mental acuity of politicians over the age of 75 was “nothing more than old-fashioned ageism” and “not acceptable.” (Stanage, 2/21)

Older Republicans say they aren’t opposed to Nikki Haley’s call for a new generation of politicians leading their party. But when she calls for mental competency tests for politicians over the age of 75, some of them start to feel insulted. (Kashinsky and Allison, 2/21)

The stakes could be high: There are more than 330 incinerators covered by the standards that collectively release thousands of tons of carbon monoxide, lead, mercury and other pollutants each year, according to EPA figures cited in the suit. The agency's alleged foot-dragging thus "prolongs and increases the hazardous air pollutant exposure of local communities, wildlife, plant, water, land, and ecosystems," the filing adds. (Reilly, 2/21)

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday let stand a $302 million judgment against Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) in a lawsuit brought by the state of California accusing the company of concealing the risks of its pelvic mesh products. The court, following its usual practice, did not give any reason for refusing to hear J&J's appeal. (Pierson, 2/21)

The Defense Department is advising U.S. military personnel to be mindful of a substance that could derail their careers: poppy seeds. In a memo published Tuesday, Gilbert R. Cisneros Jr., the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, warned service members that eating poppy seeds could result in a failed drug test. (Melnick, 2/22)