• California: Judge James Selna from the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California recently ordered Apple to pay $634.3 million to the health tech company Masimo for infringing on a patent related to health monitoring technology. The lawsuit, which was originally filed in 2020, focuses on pulse-oximetry technology. Selna's ruling formalizes a jury verdict from November 2025 that found that Apple infringed on Masimo's patent claims. According to court records, Selna ruled that the infringement was not willful and upheld the patent's validity. "We disagree with this decision, which we believe is contrary to the facts," said an Apple spokesperson after the November verdict. "Masimo is a medical device company that does not sell any products to consumers. Over the past six years they have sued Apple in multiple courts and asserted over 25 patents, the majority of which have been found to be invalid. The single patent in this case expired in 2022, and is specific to historic patient monitoring technology from decades ago. We plan to appeal." (Bruce, Becker's Health IT, 7/21)
• California: Headspace, a digital health company focused on mental health, is expanding its specialty care ecosystem through partnerships with four different companies. The new partners include Charlie Health, which offers virtual intensive outpatient programs for mental health and addiction; Cortica, which providers care for children with autism spectrum disorder and other neurodevelopment conditions; Prosper Health, a telehealth platform focused on autism and neurodiversity; and Equip, which focuses on virtual care for eating disorders. When a Headspace clinician identifies a patient with a specific need, a referral coordination team will work with the patient to connect them with the appropriate specialty care partner. "This expansion really is allowing us to build a more connected ecosystem within the areas where we are seeing the highest set of needs," said Jenna Glover, Headspace's chief clinical officer. "We don't want to just provide a list of referrals for members. We really want them to have an intentional experience. And we wanted to make sure that we could direct people specifically to partners that really met our bar for clinical quality, for access, and for member experience." (Plescia, MedCity News, 7/22)
• Maryland: CMS has issued final rules for the IPF and SNF prospective payment systems for FY 2027, which will go into effect Oct. 1. For IPFs, CMS finalized a payment update of 2.3% for 2027, which will increase payments by roughly $60 million. The agency also finalized a proposal to implement a cap on outlier payments, though implementation will be deferred until FY 2028 and exclude facilities with fewer than 50 stays per year. For the IPF Quality Reporting Program, CMS removed two measures focused on alcohol and tobacco use screening and treatment, effective starting with calendar year 2026 reporting and FY 2028 payment periods. For SNFs, CMS finalized a payment update of 2.4% for 2027, which will increase payments by roughly $880 million. The agency also finalized several changes to the SNF Quality Reporting Program, including removing two measures related to COVID-19 vaccination, shortening a data reporting timeline, and requiring facilities to submit assessment data for all patients regardless of payer. (AHA News, 7/29 [1]; AHA News, 7/29 [2]; CMS IPF Final Rule fact sheet, 7/29; CMS SNF Final Rule fact sheet, 7/29)

What did — and didn’t — end up in the final MA rate announcement, and what does that mean for payers, providers, and the stability of the MA program?