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A study published today in JAMA Network Open shows the average direct cost to provide hospital treatment for COVID-19 patients in the United States rose by 26% from 2020 to 2022, with costs increasing even after the launch of vaccination and the emergence of new variants. ... The adjusted mean cost of an inpatient stay was $11,275 overall, increasing from $10,394 at the end of March 2020 to $13,072 by the end of March 2022, the authors said. That 26% increase is in significant contrast to a 2% to 5% average annual medical cost increase due to inflation. Certain comorbidities significantly increased the costs incurred during a patent stay, with obesity adding $2,924 on average per stay. (Soucheray, 1/3)

BrightSpring Health Services, a home health services provider backed by KKR, filed plans for an initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday. The Louisville, Kentucky-based company did not state in the filing how much it intended to raise. Bloomberg News reported in September the company planned to raise $1 billion from an IPO. (Eastabrook, 1/3)

A water main break at Brigham and Women’s Hospital on Christmas Eve has disrupted in vitro fertilization services for upward of 300 people, forcing patients to reschedule or move egg retrievals and embryo transfers ... The flood damaged the walls of several areas of the hospital, including the IVF clinic, making frozen embryos stored in the area inaccessible as crews work to do remediation work. (Bartlett, 1/2)

Amid growing cybersecurity threats to health care facilities, federal officials and health systems are turning their attention to potential vulnerabilities hiding in plain sight in hospital rooms, imaging centers and even patients' homes: medical devices. (Reed, 1/4)

Brian Dietz, president and CEO of Macomb, Illinois-based McDonough District Hospital, has been suspended by the hospital's board, pending an internal investigation into unspecified allegations. The suspension with pay began Dec. 28 and will last until Feb. 5, according to a hospital news release. Two board members and legal counsel for the 48-bed hospital will conduct the investigation. (DeSilva, 1/3)

By the time his wife Glenda Daggert received a double organ transplant in 1999, Ira Copperman already had a lot of experience as a caregiver. The couple had been together for over two decades, married for one, and Copperman had become accustomed to helping Daggert manage her diabetes and its complications. Mixing insulin, going along for doctor’s visits, administering injections: it was all routine. (Merelli, 1/4)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Woman Petitions Health Insurer After Company Approves — Then Rejects — Her Infusions 

When �鶹Ů�� Health News published an article in August about the “prior authorization hell” Sally Nix said she went through to secure approval from her insurance company for the expensive monthly infusions she needs, we thought her story had a happy ending. That’s because, after �鶹Ů�� Health News sent questions to Nix’s insurance company, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, it retroactively approved $36,000 worth of treatments she thought she owed. Even better, she also learned she would qualify for the infusions moving forward. Good news all around — except it didn’t last for long. After all, this is the U.S. health care system, where even patients with good insurance aren’t guaranteed affordable care. (Sausser, 1/4)

A long-term study hopes to shed light on an array of vague symptoms that can affect veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. (D'lorio, 1/3)

Daniela Krahe likely will never know the tall gentleman’s name. He was dead when they met, so she didn’t get the chance to ask. She’ll never know where the man grew up or whether he had siblings. She won’t know what made him laugh, what movies he liked to watch or what meal his mother used to make him when he was sick. But there are things Krahe knows about the man that even those who loved him probably will never learn. (Roberts, 1/4)

Margery Quackenbush was attending a board meeting of the nonprofit where she served as executive director when she felt a sharp, stabbing pain in her chest. As the organization’s president yelled at a board member, Quackenbush — then age 69 — noticed her heart tightening and felt terrified. (Ryder, 1/3)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Doctors Are As Vulnerable To Addiction As Anyone. California Grapples With A Response. 

Ariella Morrow, an internal medicine doctor, gradually slid from healthy self-esteem and professional success into the depths of depression. Beginning in 2015, she suffered a string of personal troubles, including a shattering family trauma, marital strife, and a major professional setback. At first, sheer grit and determination kept her going, but eventually she was unable to keep her troubles at bay and took refuge in heavy drinking. By late 2020, Morrow could barely get out of bed and didn’t shower or brush her teeth for weeks on end. She was up to two bottles of wine a day, alternating it with Scotch whisky. (Wolfson, 1/4)