A new study finds Medicare Advantage plans may limit access to specialized cancer care.

The study, published June 15 in JAMA Network Open, found 800,000 MA beneficiaries accessed just 7% of the medical or surgical oncologists traditional Medicare beneficiaries saw from 2016 through 2019 and went to just 12% of oncology organizations.

Patients in only one-quarter of plans accessed a comprehensive cancer center designated by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for clinical and research leadership and resources, the study found.

Past research suggests that, on paper, 59% of MA plans included NCI centers in their network directories. But barriers such as distance, appointment availability, ghost networks, and Medicare Advantage tools like prior authorization can limit which in-network providers patients have realistic access to.

Get more details on the study here.—CC

Healthcare M&A is back, baby! (Kind of.)

Though deals haven’t risen much in frequency compared to the last few years, they’ve gotten larger. A June 23 PwC report estimates total health industry deal value in the Americas will reach $281 billion by the end of the year, the highest since 2021, even though deal volumes “remained measured.”

“This points to a market with deal flow—but not yet broad-based recovery,” the report says.

To find out more about where healthcare M&A stands, Healthcare Brew worked with global market data research company PitchBook and consulted publicly available press releases to compile a list of the nine biggest US healthcare mergers and acquisitions announced in 2026, as of June 22.

See the list of this year’s largest US healthcare deals so far here.—CC

Who doesn’t love admiring their amazing colleagues?

We get inspiration directly from our team, so we wanted to highlight some of our fellow Healthcare Brew reporters’ articles that we enjoyed most.

Check out our featured features here.—NO