Simplicity is a virtue.

Happy Summer Solstice.

From Washington, DC,

• The House of Representatives and the Senate are in session this week on Capitol Hill.

• The Coalition against Surprise Medical Billing opines,
  • “When the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) puts out a public call for new research on the cost impacts of the No Surprises Act, it’s the latest signal that the law’s arbitration process, also known as Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR), has veered far off course.
  • ‘In a new blog post, CBO asks for the latest data on inflationary awards and the excessive flood of disputes that have now become standard with IDR. The agency’s takeaway is clear: the data now point to arbitration as a growing threat to the cost savings the law was meant to deliver.
  • “CBO does not mince words about the impact:
  • “Although evidence suggests that prices for services affected by the No Surprises Act may have initially decreased, arbitration outcomes could lead to higher prices over time. If providers can systematically secure large payments through the IDR process, they have an incentive to remain out of network or demand higher in-network rates.”
  • “This is one of the many unintended consequences from IDR abuse and misuse. A handful of private equity-backed providers and IDR middlemen have turned IDR into a profit engine: from 2022 through 2025, 4.8 million disputes were filed — against the roughly 17,000 disputes a year that were originally projected. Providers prevail in roughly 88 percent of cases, and awards routinely run 3-9 times in-network rates, with some specialties receiving upwards of 17 times in-network payments.
  • “And here is the part that has raised alarms for employers and consumers footing the bill. CBO cautions that IDR’s spillover effect has broad cost implications:
  • “Although surveys of insurers suggest that less than 0.05 percent of all claims go to arbitration, those claims could have an outsized effect on bargaining and, over time, cause negotiated prices to increase. An increase in prices would increase premiums for commercial health insurance and, in turn, lead to larger federal deficits.”

From the public health and medical / Rx research front

• The New York Times reports,
  • “Buildings May Soon Have ‘Immune Systems’ That Fight Airborne Disease.”
    • “Following the pandemic, the federal government is spending $150 million on new technology to ensure clean indoor air. Here’s what scientists are pursuing.”

• The Wall Street Journal adds,
  • “I Don’t Expect My Grandchildren to Experience Dementia
    • “An Alzheimer’s specialist says science will continue to make great leaps in diagnosing and treating Alzheimer’s. But that’s only part of the battle.” * * *
    • “If I could boil my formula for the future of dementia care into two words, it would be this: Hope heals. Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia are so frightening because they threaten to rob us of the very essence of our history and being. This fear can tilt aging into a dark space, devoid of any good future.
    • “Fortunately, we have entered a new era of disease management in which we know more and can do more, enabling us to implement brain-healthy strategies before symptoms begin and mitigating them after they start. This proactive approach will broaden and improve the span of normal and meaningful living. 
    • “At the same time, we must acknowledge that caring for someone with dementia is extremely challenging and might seem impossible to do it right. The solutions have already been discovered; now they need wider implementation. We have both the opportunity and the responsibility to do better by actively engaging with affected individuals and families in comprehensive ways that will, I am certain, not only improve care but also the very course of this disease. In doing so, we send a powerful message to ourselves and our society about every person’s inherent value. The central goal in this brave new world is to help affected individuals not just survive, but to thrive.”

• Medscape tells us,
  • “Protein supplements = convenience foods; help meet 1.2-1.6 g/kg/d targets.
  • “Creatine monohydrate: best-studied; 3-5 g/d effective for most adults.
  • “Kidney safety concerns in healthy adults are repeatedly debunked for protein + creatine.
  • “GLP-1 users may need lower protein intake; resistance training remains primary for muscle preservation.
  • “Whey isolate or plant-based leucine-augmented blends can support muscle protein synthesis.”
• and
  • “According to findings from a phase 2 trial published in Nature Medicine, a monoclonal antibody targeting myostatin reduced lean body mass loss by more than half during treatment with the GLP-1 or glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide receptor agonist tirzepatide, while the overall weight loss remained unchanged.
  • “These findings address a growing concern surrounding obesity pharmacotherapy. Weight loss typically involves a reduction in both fat mass and lean body mass, which includes muscle, bone, connective tissue, and body water. Loss of muscle mass is considered particularly important because of its potential effects on strength, physical performance, and metabolic health.”

• MedPage Today informs us,
  • “An increasing number of Americans are getting — and surviving — cancer. There were more than 18 million cancer survivors in the U.S. in 2025, and the National Cancer Institute estimates that number will grow to 22 million by 2035. But long after completing treatment, many survivors face lingering mental health challenges that go unaddressed.” * * *
  • Studiesopens in a new tab or window show cancer survivors experience anxiety and depression that can last years after they finish treatment.
  • The advocacy group Cancer Nation surveyed patients nationwide last year. It found that about a third of those who had finished treatment reported anxiety about their cancer potentially coming back, as well as problems with not feeling like their “old self.” Only 1 in 5 of the surveyed survivors reported seeing a mental health professional.

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

• Modern Healthcare reports,
  • “More procedures are shifting from hospitals to ambulatory surgery centers, and the lower-reimbursement settings are driving demand for surgical robots that are more affordable and more agile. 
  • “Intuitive Surgical remains the dominant player in hospital-based, soft-tissue robotic surgery and is trying to gain a foothold in ambulatory surgery centers. Distalmotion, which announced the first U.S. sale of its Dexter Robotic Surgery System in March 2025, designed the robot with the outpatient setting in mind.” * * *
  • “In an interview, Distalmotion CEO Greg Roche said all the robots it’s sold this year in the U.S. went to ambulatory surgery centers. Dexter’s compact footprint and mobility make it well suited for this environment, he said.”
    
• MedTech Dive adds,
  • “‘Putting the body back together’ with MMI’s microsurgery robot
    • “MMI built a robot to help surgeons perform microsurgical procedures with more control than is possible with the human hand alone.”

• The Health Care Cost Institute relates,
  • “Use of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) grew from 2018 to 2022, but fewer than half of people with opioid use disorder and employer-sponsored insurance received MOUD.
  • “Primary care providers prescribed more than 70% of MOUD among people with employer-sponsored insurance.
  • “Fewer than half of patients with employer-sponsored insurance filled enough prescriptions to regularly take MOUD for one year.” * * *
  • “Clinical guidelines say that patients should be on MOUD for at least six months, but experts believe that a year or more of treatment is needed to achieve sustainable recovery from OUD.” * * *
  • “MOUD treatment rates and adherence may be low because of stigma associated with the disease and treatment. Public health campaigns targeted at employed adults may also increase demand for MOUD.”

• Beckers Payer Issues tells us,
  • ‘Pharmacy benefit managers Abarca Health and LucyRx are merging, the companies said in a June 17 news release.
  • “Together, the organizations will reach 9 million members. The companies will operate as subsidiaries under Healthcare Revolution Partners. The news release said clients and members will not experience disruptions due to the merger.
  • “The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026.'”

• Modern Healthcare informs us,
  • “At UnitedHealth Group Inc., artificial intelligence reads aloud summaries of medical charts as nurses drive to patients’ homes. It listens to millions of customer calls to find the causes of complaints. One trial even has AI agents calling doctors’ offices to schedule appointments for patients.
  • “The largest U.S. health insurer plans to invest $3 billion in AI over 2026 and 2027. UnitedHealth executives say they’re seeing a 2-to-1 return, as AI automates cumbersome manual processes and makes workers more efficient. Executives say the technology can reduce friction for patients while lowering costs.
  • “There’s a lot riding on them being right. UnitedHealth put AI at the heart of its turnaround strategy since profits collapsed last year, to drive efficiency and to address customers’ frustrations such as by speeding up care approvals. Wall Street expects it to boost earnings by cutting expenses. Insurers and medical providers together spend $80 billion a year on administrative transactions, Morgan Stanley analysts led by Erin Wright said in a June research note.”
  • “The cost savings potential is clear, particularly for manual, data-intensive processes such as prior authorization,” they said, adding that UnitedHealth will also profit from selling AI products and services to other healthcare companies.
  • “Many healthcare transactions that have long been digitized in other industries still involve phone calls, faxes and paper. An early example UnitedHealth points to is a system called Optum Real that allows medical providers to check in real time whether a service is covered. The system has processed about a billion transactions since it started last year.”