How The Shutdown Impacts Healthcare

In this week’s edition of InnovationRx, we look at the shutdown’s impact on healthcare, the Nobel Prize winners in medicine, Amgen’s direct-to-consumer effort, and more. To get it in your inbox, subscribe here . Bloomberg Finance

H ospitals and health systems across the country are telling some Medicare and Medicaid patients that they can’t schedule telehealth appointments due to the federal government’s shutdown, now heading into its second week. That’s because Medicare reimbursement for telehealth expired on September 30, leaving health systems with the choice of pausing such visits or keeping them going in hopes of retroactive reimbursement after the shutdown ends.

Reimbursement for the Hospital at Home program, which allows patients to receive care without being admitte