In the winter of 2017-2018, 80,000 Americans died from the flu. It was the highest number in over a decade, and included 180 young children and teenagers. Some hospitals had to bring out their “surge tents” to treat the overflow of patients. While no flu vaccine is perfect at this time, the shots are particularly effective with children, and the secretary of health and human services, Alex M. Azar II, compared getting vaccinated with wearing your seatbelt. You already do that, don’t you?
Mergers and medical costs
We learned that when hospitals combine, patients can end up paying more.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/20/health/what-we-learned-2018.html