> In this month's "most innovative companies" issue, Fast Company picked its top 10 most innovative companies in healthcare. Topping the list was Sproxil, a Cambridge, Mass.-based company that provides SMS verification to patients buying pharmaceuticals. Redwood City, Calif.-based Proteus Digital Health, which created an ingestible digital sensor that care relay intake information about pills to a user's smartphone, also was on the list. Article
> Medicity, Aetna's health information exchange unit, announced this week that Nancy Ham will take over as CEO, Health Data Management reports. Ham previously served as CEO for Waltham, Mass.-based analytics vendor MedVentive, which serves insurers and accountable care organizations. Article
Health Insurance News
> Mississippi has become the first state to get blocked from running its own health insurance exchange after infighting between the governor and insurance commissioner led the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services to reject the state's proposal. HHS said it denied the state's request to run its own marketplace primarily because Gov. Phil Bryant opposed it, according to a letter to Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney. Article
Provider News
> Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and other House members have reintroduced a federal bill that would expand Medicare to a universal, single-payer program. However, the bill, which has been introduced each Congress since 2003, has little chance of winning approval. Article
> On top of reduced life expectancy and poorer self-reported health, income inequality also is associated with a greater risk of hospital readmission, according to a new study in the British Medical Journal. Thanks to income inequality, hospitals saw roughly 40,000 excess admissions from 2006 to 2008. Article
And Finally... Cry wolf much? Article