CVS News & Events

Western Midstream Partners, alongside its Joint Industry Project, or JIP, collaborators Chevron (CVX) U.S.A., ConocoPhillips (COP), Devon Energy Corporation (DVN), and Exxon Mobil (XOM), announced the start-up of its second produced-water treatment pilot facility, or JIP 2, near Red Bluff Reservoir in Reeves County, Texas. The facility is designed to receive 2,000 barrels per day of produced water and produce approximately 1,000 barrels per day of reclaimed freshwater, or approximately ten times the amount produced by JIP 1. This new facility builds upon the success of JIP 1 which evaluated and field-tested multiple produced-water treatment technologies to select preferred, high-performing solutions for ongoing operations. In 2023, WES and its collaborators created JIP 1, a small-scale pilot site in West Texas, to evaluate and measure technologies needed to commercialize beneficial use of produced water in the Permian Basin.

According to new reports from the inspector general's office at the Department of Health and Human Services focusing on major health insurers, UnitedHealth (UNH), Humana (HUM), and CVS Health (CVS), whose plans cover the bulk of individuals enrolled in Medicare Advantage, denied about 13% of patients requests to go to a skilled nursing facility to continue recovery after surgery or serious illness, Reed Ableson of The New York Times reports. The investigators also raised concerns over whether outside contractors determining if the patient should get more specialized care were being adequately supervised. Overall, one in five patients appealed the denials and nearly all were reversed. The high percentage of overturned ruling suggest some people's care was inappropriately delayed while others may have not obtained the care they needed.