From Washington, DC,

• The Wall Street Journal reports,
  • “The Trump administration will raise payments to Medicare insurers by 2.48% next year, a dramatic increase after a preliminary proposal holding the line on payments drew fierce criticism from the industry and torpedoed shares of the largest companies.
  • “The final 2027 rates for Medicare Advantage, the private-insurer version of the federal program for seniors and the disabled, came in above some analysts’ expectations. Several had suggested a rate increase would likely be finalized at around 1% or slightly higher, with a “bull” case closer to 2% to 3%. 
  • “The final increase represents about $13 billion in additional payments to the insurers.
  • “The announcement marks a stunning turnaround for an industry that has been battered by a series of financial setbacks across multiple lines of business, particularly in the Medicare plans that had long been a major engine of growth.” * * *
  • “Chris Klomp, the Medicare program director, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is trying to balance the interests of enrollees and taxpayers. 
  • “We have to be wise stewards of the tax dollar,” said Klomp, who is also now a top official at the Department of Health and Human Services. But “we need to make sure that plans aren’t pulling out of markets, that they’re not cutting benefits that beneficiaries are relying on.”
  • “Trends in Medicare plans’ billing will raise the overall 2027 payment increase to 4.98% with the final rate changes added in, the agency said.”

• Per a CMS news release,
  • “The CY 2027 MA and Part D Rate Announcement may be viewed at: https://www.cms.gov/files/document/2027-announcement.pdf.
  • “A fact sheet discussing the provisions of the CY 2027 MA and Part D Rate Announcement can be viewed at: https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/2027-medicare-advantage-part-d-rate-announcement.” 

• AHIP adds,
  • “AHIP issued the following statement after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the final 2027 Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D rate notice.
  • “More than 35 million seniors and Americans living with disabilities choose Medicare Advantage because it provides them with better care at lower costs than fee-for-service. As health plans incorporate the policies released in recent days, they will continue to focus on keeping coverage and care as affordable as possible during this time of sharply rising medical costs.” – Chris Bond, AHIP spokesperson.”
• and
  • “A new report by The Wall Street Journal examines why “Americans spend more on health care than anyone else in the world,” underscoring “the high prices Americans pay for surgeries and drugs” compared to consumers in other nations. Some key excerpts: 
  • “Americans spend more on healthcare than anyone else in the world. Just insuring a family here costs nearly $27,000 a year, enough to buy a car. The main cause: Prices are far higher in the U.S. for the same medical products and services, from surgeries to drugs.”
  • “Big hospitals can charge higher rates because of consolidation … Many cities and communities are now dominated by a single hospital system, partly because hospitals have been merging in recent years. The consolidation has given hospital systems leverage to command higher rates during negotiations with health insurers. The insurers would lose business if powerful hospitals shut them out.”
  • “Of note, an analysis  by KFF provides some additional context on the significance of pricing: “The U.S.’s higher spending on providers is driven more by higher prices than higher utilization of care. Patients in the U.S. have shorter average hospital stays and fewer physician visits per capita, while many hospital procedures have been shown to have higher prices in the U.S.” 

• On a related note, MedPage Today offers an interview with “William Schpero, PhD, a healthcare economist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, explains — among other things — why he thinks consumer-focused price transparency in healthcare won’t work, but putting the onus on physicians might.”

• Modern Healthcare informs us,
  • “The Federation of American Hospitals’ new President and CEO, Charlene MacDonald, has her work cut out. 
  • “MacDonald, who succeeded longtime CEO Chip Kahn in January, is charged with steering a trade group that supports more than 1,000 for-profit hospitals and health systems as they navigate steep funding cuts and a rapidly evolving care delivery landscape.
  • “MacDonald joined the federation in 2023 as executive vice president of public affairs and oversaw government affairs, advocacy, communications, finance and operations. 
  • “In an interview, MacDonald said the changes coming in the next two years are dire for hospitals, and members can play a critical role in shaping policy. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. 
  • “What are your top priorities for 2026 and beyond?
  • “The first is affordability. That’s not just premiums, but out-of-pocket costs and whether coverage translates into access. The second is stability in coverage programs. Medicaid financing is obviously critical, but so is the stability of the individual market. The third is transparency and accountability on how premium dollars are being used.
  • “Our role is to bring that on-the-ground perspective to the policy conversation and ensure the conversations we’re having are not just academic but are reflective of the patient experience.”

• Govexec and Federal News Network discuss OPM’s March 31, 2026, call letter for 2026 benefit and rate proposals from FEHB and Postal Service Health Benefits carriers. It is unfortunate that OPM continues to pile new benefit mandates on top of the many older ones.

From the Food and Drug Administration front,

• MedTech Dive reports,
  • “VDyne said the Food and Drug Administration approved an investigational device exemption for a pivotal clinical trial of its transcatheter tricuspid valve replacement system. The approval, announced last week, moves VDyne a step closer to competing with Edwards Lifesciences’ Evoque tricuspid valve replacement device.
  • “The TRIVITA trial will evaluate the safety and efficacy of the VDyne device to treat symptomatic severe tricuspid regurgitation, where the valve fails to close properly and leaks, making the heart work harder to pump blood. The artificial valve is intended to restore normal blood flow.
  • “VDyne said there is a significant unmet need for minimally invasive tricuspid regurgitation treatments, noting most of the 1.5 million patients in the U.S. with the condition are too frail for open heart surgery. Tricuspid valve surgery is associated with high mortality and poor outcomes, the company added.”

• Fierce Pharma relates,
  • “In response to a warning letter from the FDA that accused the company of making “false or misleading” claims about its bladder cancer drug Anktiva, ImmunityBio is implementing enhanced measures aimed at ensuring that all promotional communications relating to the drug are “accurate, balanced and compliant with FDA regulations,” the company said in a release.
  • “Among the measures ImmunityBio has implemented are “expanded promotional review protocols,” executive training and external regulatory oversight, the company said. The moves follow a “comprehensive review of all promotional materials and external communications” with its legal and regulatory teams, ImmunityBio explained.
  • “ImmunityBio added that it has removed from its corporate website a podcast identified by the U.S. regulator in its March warning letter. The company has also requested the removal of the podcast from all third-party platforms, it said.” 

From the public health, medical and Rx research front,

• HealthDay reports,
  • “Many folks think it’s OK to belt back a few extra rounds on Saturday night if they stay mostly sober during the week.
  • “But saving up your drinks for a single sitting could be a recipe for liver problems, new research suggests.
  • “A team at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine linked occasional heavy drinking to triple the risk of advanced liver fibrosis — a dangerous type of scarring that can lead to liver failure. 
  • “Their findings — published April 2 in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology — indicate that the way you drink may be just as important as how much.
  • “Occasional binge drinking could be changing liver tissue in profound ways.
  • “This study is a huge wake-up call because traditionally, physicians have tended to look at the total amount of alcohol consumed, not how it is consumed, when determining the risk to the liver,” lead author Dr. Brian Lee, a hepatologist at Keck Medicine, said in a news release.”

• The American Medical Association lets us know “what doctors wish patients knew about rheumatoid arthritis.”
  • “Among chronic conditions, one stands out for its enigmatic nature and debilitating impact: rheumatoid arthritis (RA). 
  • “This condition presents an array of challenges and wreaks havoc on the lives of those who live with it. And while there are effective treatments that can prevent or slow the progression of rheumatoid arthritis, many questions remain unanswered, leaving patients and their families searching for better strategies to manage this life-altering condition.”

• Drug Topics relates,
  • A growing body of evidence suggests that the choice of glucose-lowering therapy may play a critical role in colorectal cancer prevention.
  • For pharmacists managing the complex needs of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D), a growing body of evidence suggests that the choice of glucose-lowering therapy may play a critical role in colorectal cancer prevention. A trial emulation published in Diabetology and Metabolic Syndrome reveals that dual therapy combining sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors with glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists is associated with a 21% lower risk of colon cancer in high-risk patients with a history of polypectomy. This finding, derived from a large-scale analysis of over 57,000 patients, suggests that the combination of these 2 drug classes may offer additive chemopreventive effects that surpass the benefits of monotherapy alone.

• MedPage Today adds,
  • “Commonly prescribed antibiotics and non-antibiotic drugs were associated with significantly increased odds of Clostridioides difficile infection in a case-control study.
  • “Non-antibiotic drugs with the greatest observed risks for C. difficile infection were antidiarrheals, analgesics, and corticosteroids.
  • Considering how frequently these medications are used, prudent prescribing decisions are needed, researchers said.

• Healio notes,
  • “Approximately half of patients with the highest-risk brain metastases did not receive palliative care consultations, according to results of a study of nearly 500 patients.
  • “Those who received palliative care had significantly higher rates of advance directive completion and hospice enrollment, without any compromise in overall survival.
  • “Palliative care consultation is not end-of-life consultation,” Rohit Singh, MD, medical oncologist and assistant professor at University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine, told Healio. “It should be a part of patients’ multidisciplinary team.”

• Genetic Engineering and BioTechnology News tells us,
  • “Biomedical researchers headed by a team at the Lampe Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill/North Carolina State University, have developed an injectable microgel to help reduce bleeding in infants who require surgical care. Tests in an animal model showed that the hemostatic microgels, known as B-knob-triggered microgels (BK-TriGs), reduced bleeding by at least 50%.
  • “Research lead Ashley Brown, PhD, who is the Lampe Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering, is co-corresponding author of the team’s published paper in Science Advances, titled “Hemostatic B-knob-triggered microgels (BK-TriGs) to address bleeding in neonates.” In their paper the team concluded “This study highlights the potential of BK-TriGs, designed for neonatal-specific clotting mechanisms, to address the heightened bleeding and thrombosis risks in neonates, who face 4.4 times higher postsurgery mortality … Our findings support BK-TriGs as a promising approach for improving hemostasis in neonates, offering a tailored, effective solution for this vulnerable patient population.”

• BioPharma Dive informs us,
  • “Amgen said an injectable version of its blockbuster eye disease drug Tepezza hit both goals in a key late-stage trial that could help the company fend off competition from an emerging rival. 
  • “According to Amgen, a form of the thyroid eye disease drug Tepezza that’s delivered via an on-body injector instead of an intravenous infusion met its main objective as well as a key secondary endpoint in the study. Notably, the newer version, Tepezza OBI, appeared comparable to the marketed medicine, displaying “IV-like efficacy,” said research chief Jay Bradner, in the statement.”  

From the U.S. healthcare business and artificial intelligence front,

• Healthcare Dive reports,
  • “Centene has created two new executive leadership positions to consolidate oversight of its Medicaid, Medicare and Affordable Care Act businesses as the insurer copes with rising costs and looming policy challenges.
  • “Centene has hired longtime health insurance executive Daniel Finke as its inaugural group president of markets and commercial, the company announced Monday. Centene also named Michael Carson, the CEO of its Medicare business, as group president of Medicare and specialty.
  • “Both executives will report to Centene CEO Sarah London. Centene did not respond to a request for comment about when the appointments are effective.”

• Per a recent Health Care Cost Institute issues brief,
  • “Imaging services made up 24% of outpatient visits and were the second largest category of outpatient spending (17%) in 2022. The most common imaging services were for screening mammography and chest x-rays, which are used for routine screening and diagnosing certain conditions. Other imaging services such as CT scans of the abdomen, echocardiography (ultrasound for the heart), and MRI of the brain occurred less often but had higher costs, making them some of the highest spending imaging services.
  • “One way to better understand prices in employer-sponsored insurance is to compare negotiated rates paid in ESI to Medicare payments for the same services. On average the commercial prices of x-rays were 314% of Medicare, MRIs were 307% of Medicare, CT scans were 257% of Medicare, and Ultrasounds were 245% of Medicare. HCCI estimated that, if commercial prices were equal to Medicare prices, ESI spending would be $6B lower for MRIs, $3.1B lower for CT scans, $2.7B lower for ultrasounds, $1.5B lower for nuclear imaging, and $1.2B lower for x-rays.”

• MedCity News relates,
  • A new report is providing some much needed validation for those in the women’s health industry.
  • Women’s health has long been under-represented, under-researched and under-funded. About 5% of total healthcare R&D and investment funding goes towards women’s health. But a shift is taking place as research shows that increasing investor dollars are starting to flow into women’s health, and not just reproductive health, according to a report released this month from consulting firm PwC. Which means a wholesale modification of the very categories that define women’s health — traditionally thought of only as reproductive health and women specific-conditions such as menopause or endometriosis — is in order.
  • The traditional definition of women’s health only represents a $195-205 billion market, according to PwC. But there are medical conditions that affect women differently — like asthma, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and mental health. Then there are conditions that affect women disproportionately, including Alzheimer’s, autoimmune diseases and migraines.
  • “When this broader definition is considered that includes a woman’s entire life cycle through all its varied stages, the women’s health industry represents a $430-440 billion global market across pharmaceuticals, devices and diagnostics, providers, payers and consumer health solutions, according to PwC. 
  • “And this is projected to reach $600 billion by 2030, and that’s “if we do nothing,” according to Glenn Hunzinger, PwC’s health industries leader.
  • “If we continue to have a focus, I could see those opportunities getting much wider and much bigger,” he said in an interview.
  • “Investors, advocates and entrepreneurs were encouraged by the report’s call to action.”

• MedTech Dive tells us,
  • “Boston Scientific has closed its acquisition of incontinence device maker Valencia Technologies, the company said on LinkedIn last week.
  • “The buyout gives Boston Scientific control of eCoin, a tibial nerve stimulator that competes with Medtronic’s Altaviva for the urge urinary incontinence market. Boston Scientific announced the deal in January.
  • “RBC Capital Markets analysts welcomed the deal in a note to investors in January, explaining that the takeover moves Boston Scientific into a high-growth area.”

• Fierce Pharma informs us,
  • “Neurocrine Biosciences, forever a possible M&A target in the biopharma industry, is making a major acquisition itself.
  • “Neurocine has reached a deal to acquire Soleno Therapeutics for $2.9 billion, bagging recently FDA-approved Vykat XR (diazoxide choline), the first therapy for hyperphagia in patients with the rare genetic neurodevelopment disorder Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS).
  • “Hyperphagia is an insatiable hunger, which can lead to co-morbidities such as obesity and other cardiometabolic diseases and death.
  • “The announcement of the Soleno deal comes a few months after Neurocrine unveiled an obesity pipeline led by a preclinical CRF2 agonist.” 

• Fierce BioTech points out,
  • “AI powerhouse Anthropic is continuing its push into the healthcare arena with the acquisition of previously stealth AI biotech startup Coefficient Bio in a $400 million stock deal, according to reporting from The Information and Eric Newcomer.
  • “TechCrunch also confirmed the acquisition through sources close to the deal, and Coefficient’s PitchBook page reflects the $400 million transaction as well. Anthropic and Coefficient have not yet responded to Fierce Biotech’s requests for confirmation.”

• MedCity News adds “Uma Veerappan of Flare Capital Partners thinks the healthcare AI startups that will come out on top will be companies that integrate seamlessly into workflows, build proprietary datasets and quickly determine how to sell their technology.”