Midweek report

ACA

Midweek report

David Ermer–ACA, Agentic & Generative AI, CDC, CMS, Congress, Electronic health records, FDA, Federal employment benefits, Medical / Rx research, Obesity, OPM, U.S. Healthcare–

Simplicity is a virtue.

From Washington, DC,

  • Per a Senate news release,
    • “On Wednesday, July 15, [beginning at 10 am ET], the U.S Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee will hold a confirmation hearing on the nomination of Sean Kaufman to be Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Erica Schwartz to be Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
  • The Wall Street Journal reports,
    • “Rates for many Affordable Care Act plans rose by double digits this year. Insurers want to do the same next year.
    • “Some of the biggest Obamacare companies are seeking hefty premium increases for 2027, often for the second year in a row. In Washington state, Centene is asking for a 28% hike, after boosting rates by 35% in 2026. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois wants 15%—on top of a 28% increase this year.
    • “It is a stunning jump” when you add both years together, said Cynthia Cox, senior vice president at KFF, a health-research nonprofit. At the request of The Wall Street Journal, KFF analyzed the rate requests for the largest ACA plans by enrollment in 15 states where insurers’ 2027 filings have already become public, as well as the District of Columbia.” * * *
    • “KFF calculated the median increase across 77 publicly available ACA rate filings for 2027: 14%. For 2026, the median final rise across all ACA plans was 20%.   
    • “Insurers’ 2027 ACA rates have to be reviewed by regulators, and the premiums finalized in late summer might be different from these early requests.”
  • Beckers Payer Issues reports,
    • “CMS has rescinded a decade-old “fast-track” review process for certain Medicaid Section 1115 demonstration waiver extensions as the agency prepares to implement new federal budget neutrality requirements that take effect in 2027.
    • “The July 7 informational bulletin formally withdraws 2015 guidance that allowed eligible states to use an expedited review process when renewing some Section 1115 demonstrations.
    • “CMS said the change is necessary because new statutory requirements will require the agency’s chief actuary to certify that Medicaid demonstrations will not increase federal spending before they can be approved, renewed or amended beginning Jan. 1, 2027.” * * *
    • “CMS previously notified state Medicaid directors that it intends to propose new budget neutrality policies and expects to issue additional implementation guidance. The agency said it remains committed to working with states to support Medicaid and CHIP innovation while complying with the new statutory requirements.”
  • Federal News Network relates,
    • “The Trump administration is looking to tweak the rules for federal employees’ paid administrative leave. Recently proposed regulations from the Office of Personnel Management would give agencies more leeway to use paid leave, including during workforce reduction efforts. During 2025, agencies used administrative leave to implement the deferred resignation program, choosing to paying thousands of employees for several months not to work, in exchange for them agreeing to quit their jobs.”
  • and
    • Federal News Network interviews Tammy Flanagan about early retirement for federal law enforcement officers.
      • [I]n law enforcement, typically, you’ve got to retire by the time you’re 57. And sometimes that’s hard because they really love that career for the most part, and that’s their identity. So leaving that early sometimes can be a tough transition, not only financially, but also emotionally.
  • The American Hospital Association News informs us,
    • “The Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services July 8 launched  a voluntary pledge that hospitals can sign related to their efforts on healthy food. Among other actions, the pledge asks that hospitals prioritize food options in alignment with the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans; ensure that inpatient meals meet individual nutritional needs; provide accessible nutrition education and resources to sustain healthy habits following discharge; and provide community-based nutrition programs to support healthier communities.” 

From the Food and Drug Administration front,

  • STAT News reports,
    • “The top contenders to lead the Food and Drug Administration have been sent to the White House for a final review and decision, according to a person familiar with the process.
    • “The finalists include Heidi Overton, a White House adviser; Jeffrey Vacirca, an oncologist and health system executive; and Stephen Ferrara, a health affairs official at the Defense Department.” * * *
    • “The advancement of the finalists suggests the highly anticipated decision is on the horizon, though the timing remains unclear.”
  • Politico discusses the FDA’s 2026 regulatory agenda which was released on July 3.

From the judicial front,

  • HealthExec reports,
    • “Once scheduled for the fall, the federal murder trial against the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson will now begin in January, a judge determined last week.
    • “At the conclusion of a June 29 hearing, U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett agreed with attorneys representing Luigi Mangione who argued the original date of Oct. 13 left little time to prepare a defense.
    • “A trial in New York on state charges of second-degree murder is set to begin first, with jury selection pegged for a Sept. 8 start date, followed by opening arguments on Oct. 13—the same day the federal trial was initially scheduled to begin. With it now pushed back, Mangione’s attorneys need only worry about the looming prospect their client could be spending the rest of his life in prison as a result of the first trial.”
  • Per a Justice Department news release
    • “The founder and former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ruthia He of Done Global Inc., a California-based digital mental health company, was sentenced today to six years in prison and a fine of $1 million for orchestrating a scheme that used her company’s technology platform, compensation structure, and clinical protocols to unlawfully distribute over 37 million pills of Adderall, defraud insurers of over $12 million, and obstruct the federal investigation that followed.”

From the public health and medical / Rx research front,

  • The Hill reports,
    • “As of Monday [July 6], the parasitic illness has spread to at least 18 states, with the most cases reported in Illinois, Michigan, New York and Texas.
    • “While exact numbers are unknown, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has reported 572 cases of cyclosporiasis as of July 4, and New York has reported more than 100. No exact numbers have been released for Illinois or Texas. Current figures are most likely an undercount, as most people who are sick don’t report it or go to a doctor unless it’s severe.
    • “Other states linked to the outbreak include Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin.”
  • Health Day relates,
    • “Exercise can boost a smoker’s odds of successfully quitting, a new evidence review says.
    • “Smokers taking part in exercise programs were more likely to either quit or cut back on cigarettes, researchers reported recently in the Journal of Sport and Health Science.
    • “In fact, a single bout of exercise immediately reduces nicotine cravings for up to a half hour afterward, researchers found.
    • “Quitting smoking is one of the best things a person can do for their health, but it’s also one of the hardest,” lead investigator Ben Singh, a research fellow at Adelaide University in Australia, said in a news release.
    • “Many smokers want to quit, but the current approaches don’t work for everyone,” Singh said. “That’s why we need more strategies that people can incorporate into their daily lives at little or no cost.”
  • The New York Times discusses the medical problems created by parents refusing to protect their infants with an injection that resolves the Vitamin K deficiency with which all of us are born. It’s worth a read.
  • STAT News tells us,
    • “Could a lifesaving lung transplant strategy that contained the Covid-19 virus also save patients whose advanced lung cancer hasn’t spread? 
    • “That’s the question that inspired surgeons and oncologists at Northwestern Medicine to offer double lung transplants to patients who had run out of treatment options but whose late-stage cancer hadn’t left their lungs. People with late-stage lung cancer have not been transplant candidates before for two reasons: rates were high for cancer recurrence and low for survival.
    • “There are ethical considerations to weigh, too, when deciding how to allot donated organs.
    • “On Wednesday, the Northwestern team reported in JAMA that the 17 patients who received lung transplants after advanced but limited cancer fared better than 81 similar patients who continued standard immunotherapy, chemotherapy, or radiation treatments. Overall, the study followed 404 patients with end-stage pulmonary disease, including 98 with stage 4 lung cancer.
    • “After one year, through June 2025, all the lung cancer transplant patients had survived compared to 88% of patients transplanted without cancer. Among those 17 patients, by January 2026, there were four recurrences of cancer and two deaths unrelated to cancer — one from an infection and one from a blood clot. Among the 81 cancer patients getting standard care, 74 saw their cancers progress.”
  • Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News informs us,
    • “It has long been known that brain gray matter plays a key role in multiple sclerosis (MS) disease progression and cognitive impairment, but because magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has only been able to detect lesions in white matter, neither clinicians nor researchers have had a way to detect or monitor gray matter (cortical) lesions. And while many new drugs developed in the past decade can slow disease progression significantly, they primarily work on reducing white matter lesions.
    • “A University at Buffalo (UB)-led team now reports that it has found a way to use artificial intelligence to reveal these otherwise invisible cortical lesions by reviewing existing MRI scans. The researchers say the significance of finally being able to see what has been known as one of the most important indicators in MS disease progression cannot be overstated.”
  • Healio points out,
    • “Public health messaging had a longer-lasting impact on parents’ intent to vaccinate their children against HPV than AI chatbot interactions.
    • “Strategies to make both modalities more effective are needed.”
  • Per Fierce Healthcare,
    • “After thriving in the market for more than a decade as the only treatment for Dupuytren’s contracture and Peyronie’s disease, Keenova Therapeutics’ Xiaflex has excelled in a phase 3 trial that could set up the injectable biologic enzyme for approval in a third indication.
    • “The study of 436 patients with plantar fibromatosis achieved its primary endpoint, showing statistically significant and clinically meaningful reductions in pain versus placebo as measured by the Average Daily Pain Intensity on the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS).” * * *
    • “Plantar fibromatosis, which is also known as Ledderhose disease, causes lumps composed primarily of excess collagen to form in the connective tissue that supports the arch of the foot. It can cause pain, swelling, and difficulty walking. Based on claims data and projections, Keenova estimates that 300,000 people will see a healthcare provider for plantar fibromatosis in 2028.
    • “There is no medicine on the market specifically for plantar fibromatosis. Patients can get relief through radiation therapy or corticosteroid injections, with surgical interventions generally reserved as a last resort.” 
  • The Wall Street Journal reports,
    • “Some patients are using GLP-1 drugs to treat eating disorders like bulimia and binge-eating disorder.
    • “No major medical organization has endorsed GLP-1s for eating disorders, and drugmakers Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly say they are not approved for this.
    • “Experts say widespread adoption is unlikely soon due to limited scientific data.”
  • Per MedTech Dive,
    • “Penumbra said Tuesday it has started a clinical trial that could support wider use of mechanical thrombectomy in a subset of stroke patients.
    • “The real-world prospective study is assessing Penumbra’s RED reperfusion catheter portfolio in patients with M2 occlusions.
    • “Penumbra, which Boston Scientific has agreed to buy for $14.5 billion, is assessing whether its computer-assisted vacuum thrombectomy and modulated aspiration tools improve outcomes.”

From the U.S. healthcare business front,

  • Healthcare Dive reports,
    • “A newly released audit of UnitedHealth’s home visits for Medicare seniors found little evidence to support accusations that the program, called HouseCalls, drums up extra patient diagnoses to inflate UnitedHealth’s reimbursement from the federal government.
    • “UnitedHealth argued that the results vindicate HouseCalls, which has faced scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers focused on combating profiteering in Medicare Advantage, Medicare’s privatized sister program.
    • “About 96.6% of diagnoses that UnitedHealth found during the home visits were backed up by patients’ health records, according to the audit released Tuesday from FTI Consulting, which used the same review process as the government.
    • “That leaves 3.4% of diagnoses unsupported by medical information — three times lower than the error rate found by the CMS in its most recent audit of data in the privatized Medicare program.
    • “UnitedHealth said it reviewed FTI’s findings and that the lion’s share of diagnoses unsupported by medical records were backed up by other information like paid claims.”
  • and
    • “Data from consumer wearables are valuable in clinical care, and many physicians are using the information in their practice — but widespread adoption is hindered by limited workflow integration and other barriers, according to a survey published Wednesday by the American Medical Association. 
    • “Eighty-six percent of U.S. physicians reported they at least sometimes reviewed data from their patients’ wearables, like information on heart physiology, oxygen and breathing, and sleep, according to the report, which also interviewed doctors from Canada, France, Germany, Spain and the U.K.
    • “But only 6% of doctors in the U.S. said wearable data was integrated into clinical workflows, like the ability to import information into electronic health records. “We have all this data that’s available, but it’s actually not actionable because we don’t have a way to get it into clinical workflow,” AMA CEO Dr. John Whyte said in an interview.”
  • Modern Healthcare relates,
    • “Health insurance companies and third-party vendors offer arrangements to mitigate the costs of cell and gene therapies to employers.
    • “More than three-quarters of employers see gene therapies as a major challenge, yet 35% lack financial protection, a survey found.
    • “The Food and Drug Administration has approved cell and gene therapies for conditions such as blood cancers and neurodegenerative diseases.”
  • MedCity News adds,
    • “In Oncology, the Cost Problem Goes Beyond Predictability.
    • “Healthcare does not lack the data needed to better understand oncology costs. What it does lack is a consistent way to connect clinical progression with financial impact in a time frame that aligns with strategic planning.”
  • Beckers Payer Issues tells us,
    • “Memorial Hermann Health System plans to shut down its commercial health insurance business.
    • “The wind-down affects the Houston-based system’s HMO, PPO, and self-funded products for employers. On its website, the system said it would be difficult to reach the scale needed to sustainably provide value to members moving forward. The closure notice does not include the system’s Medicare Advantage business.
    • “This decision was made following a careful and comprehensive assessment of system assets and resources, including an evaluation of existing opportunities and future challenges amid sustained pressures on health system-owned health plans,” the system wrote.
    • “Current coverage will remain in effect, and providers can continue treating members through each plan’s termination date, which will vary by employer group. Groups whose plan year is set to renew before Dec. 1 will have the option to enroll in one additional year of coverage before the full closure.”
  • and
    • “Josh Michelson started serving as executive vice president and chief strategy and innovation officer for The Cigna Group, according to a recent LinkedIn post.
    • “A Cigna website said Mr. Michelson is responsible for steering the company’s long-term strategic direction, corporate innovation and The Cigna Group Ventures, the company’s venture capital branch.
    • “He joined Cigna in 2020 and was most recently a senior vice president and chief strategy and transformation officer for the company.”
  • Beckers Health IT notes,
    • “[The major electronic health records company] Epic named four executives who will take on expanded responsibilities following President Sumit Rana’s departure, according to a statement from Founder and CEO Judy Faulkner shared with Becker’s.
    • “Ms. Faulkner said Seth Howard, Mark Lipsky, Erv Walter and Garrett Adams are among a small group of leaders who will be adding to their responsibilities as the company moves forward without Mr. Rana.
    • “The statement did not detail the additional responsibilities these individuals would be taking on.” * * *
    • “Mr. Rana’s departure leaves a notable gap at the top of the nation’s largest EHR vendor. He was widely viewed as a potential successor to Ms. Faulkner, who is 82.”
  • Per Cardiovascular Business,
    • “Novo Nordisk is now working with Vivani Medical, a California-based biopharmaceutical company, to evaluate the potential of a long-lasting semaglutide implant. This is a non-exclusive agreement between the two companies. 
    • “Novo Nordisk, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, sells semaglutide under the brand name Wegovy. Vivani is known for its drug implants, which are designed to help patients benefit from life-changing medications without ever needing to inject or ingest them. 
    • “The goal of this partnership is to reduce the risk of non-adherence and ensure patients taking semaglutide can receive the care their physicians have determined they need. The implant in question, currently known as NPM-139, is being developed to help patients with chronic weight management. It utilizes Vivani’s proprietary NanoPortal technology and could help patients receive the maximum benefits of treatment with just one or two treatments per year.
    • “Vivani is also preparing the launch of a new first-in-human clinical trial that would randomize certain patients to either undergo treatment with an NPM-139 implant or receive semaglutide injections.”
  • Per MedTech Dive,
    • “Resmed has agreed to sell its MatrixCare software business for $490 million to private equity firm Frazier Healthcare Partners. The deal is meant to sharpen Resmed’s focus on sleep and breathing health devices and connected, home-based care.
    • “Divesting MatrixCare enables Resmed to reallocate capital and resources toward higher-growth opportunities and expansion of its digital health ecosystem, the company said Tuesday.
    • “The cash transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of Resmed’s fiscal 2027, which ends in September.”

Tuesday report

David Ermer–ACA, Agentic & Generative AI, CDC, CMS, Congress, FDA, Medical / Rx research, Medicare, Mental health care, Obesity, Patient safety, Rx coverage, U.S. Healthcare–

Simplicity is a virtue

From Washington, DC,

  • Roll Call reports,
    • “The sweltering Fourth of July weekend is over, but for both parties in House and Senate leadership, the heat is still cranked up.
    • “Both chambers are likely to return next Monday to the same sweat-inducing tangle of legislative problems that left them stumped as they headed out of town at the end of June.
    • “Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is looking for a solution so “irresistible” that his fellow Republicans will have to accept it — but the numbers are working against him.
    • “For one thing, August is fast approaching, leaving just a couple weeks in Washington before lawmakers depart for an even longer summer break. And as Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has said all along, mathematical realities can’t be changed in the Senate, even when it comes to the White House-backed voter ID bill dubbed the SAVE America Act.”
  • Beckers Hospital Review relates,
    • “CMS is proposing to create a new payment pathway for algorithm-driven diagnostic software, including AI tools, as part of its 2027 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System and Ambulatory Surgery Center proposed rule, issued July 2. 
    • “The proposal marks CMS’ first attempt to build a standardized payment structure for what it calls “Software as a Medical Service” — clinical software that uses algorithms to analyze patient data and produce a diagnosis, risk score or treatment recommendation.”
  • and
    • “The planned July meeting for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has been postponed until late August, an HHS spokesperson told Becker’s.” * * *
    • “The HHS spokesperson said the July meeting was postponed due to an “unprecedented” number of nominations for task force membership, to allow more time for selection and onboarding of new members.”
  • Fierce Healthcare reports,
    • “The American Medical Association (AMA) updated maternity care coding Thursday, in what it says is the “most significant” move in decades to improve care delivery and data to advance maternal health.
    • “Beginning Jan. 1, 2027 (PDF), current procedural terminology (CPT) codes will reflect modern obstetric care, enable accurate and transparent reporting across the full pregnancy spectrum and create a data foundation for improved care throughout the entire patient journey.
    • ‘The update featured the deletion of 17 codes, the creation of six codes and the revision of six codes. It also includes new subsections, revised guidelines and relocation for some existing codes.
    • “Moreover, new CPT codes (PDF) will separately identify four phases of care: antepartum, labor management, delivery and postpartum.” * * *
    • “There is no expected impact on health plan benefits or an increase in cost-sharing, according to an AMA analysis using data from more than 650 physicians and certified nursing midwives.”
  • FEHBlog observation. We shall see.
  • KFF Health News explains how surprise Medicare Part D premiums can adversely affect Medicare Part D beneficiaries.

From the Food and Drug Administration front

  • Per a July 6, 2026, FDA announcement,
    • “The FDA and CDC, in collaboration with state and local partners, are investigating illnesses in a multistate outbreak of E. coli O145:H28 infections linked to frozen GreenWise brand-organic blueberries recalled by Frutas y Hortalizas del Sur S.A, of San Carlos, Chile.”
    • “Recalled frozen GreenWise-brand organic blueberries in 10-oz packages with printed lot code of 60401 and Best by Date of February 9, 2028.” * * *
    • “Recalled product was shipped to Publix retail stores throughout 8 states including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Blueberries may have been distributed to other retailers, and FDA will update this advisory as more information becomes available.” 
  • Cardiovascular Business reports,
    • “Medtronic is recalling certain lots of the delivery catheter system for its Harmony Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve (TPV) System due to a significant safety risk. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ruled this as a Class I recall, which means using the device could cause “serious adverse health consequences or death.”
    • “Medtronic initiated the recall after identifying an issue with the delivery system that could lead to distal tip detachment during implant procedures. More than 1,800 devices are included in this Class I recall.
    • ‘The Harmony TPV system is used to treat a native or surgically repaired right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) in patients with severe pulmonary regurgitation. It has received FDA approval in addition to CE mark approval. Click here to read about a recent analysis of the device’s safety and effectiveness.”
  • Fierce Pharma relates,
    • “When Vera Therapeutics in-licensed atacicept from Merck KGaA about six years ago, patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN) had no FDA-approved treatment options. Today, the dual-target drug has crossed the regulatory finish line but is entering a vastly different landscape as the sixth drug approved for the rare kidney disease.
    • “Atacicept, a recombinant fusion protein to be marketed under the brand name Trutakna, is now the first drug in the U.S. that inhibits both B-cell activating factor (BAFF) and A proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL), two cytokines involved in B-cell survival and the production of autoantibodies associated with IgAN.” 

From the judicial front,

  • Per a June 25, 2026, Justice Department news release,
    • “Julianna C. Lung pleaded guilty in federal court today to health care fraud, admitting she marketed and sold hearing protection devices to United States Border Patrol agents, other federal employees, and their family members, then falsely billed insurance providers for what she claimed were medically-necessary hearing aids.
    • “According to her plea agreement, Lung submitted approximately 385 fraudulent claims to health insurance plans participating in the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) program. The claims falsely represented that beneficiaries suffered from hearing loss or tinnitus that required treatment.
    • “In reality, Lung told customers the devices were intended to protect their hearing—not treat a medical condition—and assured them their insurance would cover the cost for that purpose.
    • “As a result of the scheme, FEHB plans paid approximately $2,500 per device, totaling about $962,500 in fraudulent reimbursements.”

From the public health and medical / Rx research front,

  • Dr. Drew Altman, writing in KFF Health News, tells us,
    • Many of us in health care are deeply concerned about misinformation (and declining trust), so it seems important to underscore that while the American people may not always be as science-based as we might like them to be, they may also not be as anti-science as you may think they are—only a sliver of the public are hard-core refusniks who believe the lies, myths, misinformation or misbeliefs about vaccines. Occasionally, a lie breaks through when it’s amplified by someone influential and by the media. For example, 41% of the American people believed there were death panels in the ACA, but that’s the exception, not the norm.
    • In our most recent Tracking Poll on Health Information and Trust, we tested out who believed and didn’t believe each of four vaccine-related myths: “Getting the measles vaccine is more dangerous than becoming infected with measles;” “mRNA vaccines can change your DNA;” “measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines, also known as the MMR vaccines, have been proven to cause autism in children;” and, “more people have died from the COVID-19 vaccines than have died from the COVID-19 virus.” Here’s what stood out to me from these findings:
      The share of the public who believe these four myths is very small. Between 3% and 8% of the adult population believe these different vaccine myths are “definitely true.” By any standard, that’s a small, even tiny share of the overall adult population (for context, about a quarter of adults say they are MAGA). These are likely most of the folks you see in the spikes in social media engagement we sometimes observe when influencers or leaders like Secretary Kennedy amplify vaccine or
      other myths. 
    • Looked at another way, the hard-core group is even smaller: Just 1.3% believe all four false claims about vaccines are “definitely true.” 
    • By contrast, between 31% and 44% of the public think these claims are basically nonsense, meaning the share who don’t believe these things at all outnumber those who definitely do by almost 5-to-1 or more. That’s hardly the impression you get when you read reports about social media posts and views with characterizations like “engagement spiked” or “views tripled.” It’s important to track social media engagement to know how misinformation is spreading and who is spreading it, but it doesn’t give us a real picture of reach or impact. How many people believe it? How strongly? Who are they? Where did they get their information? Who do they trust and not trust when it comes to health information? That’s why we do our information and trust surveys. 
    • As I have written before and we have widely reported, most people are floundering around in a muddled middle uncertain what to believe. Take, for example, the slam dunk falsehood that “more people have died from the COVID-19 vaccines than from COVID-19 itself.” As you can see in the chart below, 53% of the American people are not certain about the answer to that question, with 34% saying that’s “probably false” and 19% “probably true,” Estimates are that the vaccine saved 2.5 million lives, and many more years of life. 
  • The Washington Post reports,
    • “The number of people injecting themselves with or taking an oral version of the new class of weight-loss drugs continues to rise dramatically.
    • “A Gallup poll released Tuesday based on a web survey of 5,065 U.S. adults says that 15 percent of U.S. adults reported using GLP-1 medications to lose weight at some point, while 11 percent say they currently are taking them.
    • “That’s up from a Gallup poll in 2024 that found 6 percent had ever taken them, and 3 percent were currently on the therapy.
    • “At the same time, respondents’ self-reported obesity rates have dipped, and diabetes rates have flattened. “The growing popularity of GLP-1 medications continues to point to broader health benefits for American adults as obesity levels curtail and the diabetes rate levels off after years of increases,” Gallup said.”
  • Beckers Payer Issues adds,
    • “The share of employers covering GLP-1s for both diabetes and weight loss has held steady at 36% year over year, according to a survey from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans.
    • “The survey was conducted June 2 to June 12. The foundation represents more than 31,000 multiemployer, corporate and public sector members representing over 25 million lives.”
  • Radiology Business tells us,
    • “Experts are calling for greater integration of breast and lung cancer screening programs to help bolster monitoring for both diseases. 
    • “Researchers with Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, made the case in a new analysis published July 3 by the Journal of the American College of Radiology. They noted that, despite the proven lifesaving benefits of mammography, completion rates remain as low as 55%, with worse screening adherence among socioeconomically disadvantaged patient populations. 
    • “Women eligible for lung cancer screening represent a unique population, they note, with elevated cancer risk and “substantial healthcare needs.” Previous studies have explored lung cancer screening among women already receiving mammography, but less is known about whether those actively engaged in LCS programs are up to date on their breast exams. 
    • “This represents an important gap in the literature because dual BCS/LCS-eligible women can be more efficiently identified from an [lung cancer screening] cohort than from a [breast cancer screening] cohort,” lead author Meghan Maceyko, MD, with the Department of Surgery at Thomas Jefferson, and colleagues wrote Friday. “Additionally, LCS participants may have access to highly structured LCS navigation pathways to facilitate BCS completion.”
  • The American Journal of Managed Care informs us,
    • “Adults with diabetes treated with insulin who were prescribed continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) by their primary care clinician were associated with meaningful and durable improvements in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1C), along with fewer hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visits, according to a cohort study published in JAMA Network Open.”
      .
  • MedPage Today points out,
    • “Influenza vaccine effectiveness against death among U.S. kids and teens averaged 80% in recent years.
    • “Vaccine effectiveness against death was 77% among kids with underlying medical conditions and 87% among those without.
    • “The findings come against a backdrop of declining influenza vaccine uptake since 2021.”
  • and
    • “Roughly 22 high school students die each week from a fentanyl overdose.
    • “In a nationally representative survey study, less than half of 8th graders surveyed attributed great risk to experimental use of fentanyl.
    • “The study’s findings are a “call to action” to better educate children and teens about the synthetic opioid’s risks, a researcher said.”
  • Per Health Day,
    • “Artificial sweeteners may affect metabolism.
    • “Artificial and low-calorie sweeteners have been linked to higher fasting insulin, higher HbA1c and reduced insulin sensitivity.
    • “Alterations to the gut microbiome may help explain the observed metabolic changes.”
  • Cardiovascular Business notes,
    • “A polypill containing three different medications is associated with significant benefits for select heart failure patients, according to new findings published in Nature Medicine.[1]
    • “For the POLY-HF randomized trial, researchers explored data from 212 heart failure patients treated at two U.S. healthcare facilities. The median age was 54 years old, and 78% of patients were men. Nearly seven in 10 patients were either uninsured, or faced other barriers that can make it harder to receive optimal medical therapy.” * * *
    • “The study’s primary outcome, change in left ventricular ejection fraction after six months, was 3.3% higher for patients taking the polypill than it was for patients taking each medication separately. In addition, patients taking the polypill had a 60% lower rate of heart failure hospitalizations or ED visits.
    • “Adherence, evaluated by studying each participant’s blood for metoprolol and spironolactone, was also higher for patients taking the polypill than it was for patients taking each medication separately.”
  • Per STAT News,
    • “Compass Pathways said its investigational psilocybin treatment had lasting benefits on patients with severe depression out to six months.
    • “The biotech previously reported that 39% of patients who took two high doses in a Phase 3 trial achieved what Compass called a “clinically meaningful reduction” on a depression rating scale after six weeks. Today, it said that on average, those participants maintained the benefit through at least six months.
    • “In the trial, participants who didn’t achieve remission in the first six weeks were eligible to then get an additional dose. Compass said this morning that 28% of participants who had achieved a clinically meaningful response but not remission at six weeks did later go into remission after the additional dose. * * *
    • “Compass’ treatment is one of three psychedelic compounds the FDA has selected to review on an accelerated basis. It’s possible the drug could be approved as soon as this year.”

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

  • STAT New reports,
    • “It has never been more difficult for employers to offer health insurance for their workers. That’s especially true for America’s small businesses, the backbones of entire communities. More and more, they’re giving up entirely.
    • “America’s employer-based health insurance system — the dominant form of coverage for people younger than 65 — is crumbling. The percentage of working-age adults who get their health coverage from a job has declined from 67% in 1998 to about 60%. It’s also more expensive than ever.”
  • FEHBlog observation — To lower premiums, uncouple the employer market from the Affordable Care Act.
  • Modern Healthcare reports,
    • “Care navigators are helping health systems reduce unnecessary admissions and save money as chronically ill older adults and uninsured patients flood emergency departments. 
    • “Care navigators are typically nurses embedded in emergency departments who connect patients to less costly outpatient services to avoid hospitalizations. Providers, including St. Louis-based BJC Health System and Chicago-based Northwestern Medicine, have been growing care navigator programs.”
  • Healthcare Dive relates,
    • “Ascension has agreed to snap up a regional health system in a deal worth almost $1 billion as the Catholic nonprofit giant continues to beef up its portfolio.
    • “On Monday, Franklin, Tenn.-based Williamson Health announced it plans to sell to Ascension through the company’s Tennessee business Ascension Saint Thomas, after Williamson’s board voted unanimously in support of the change of ownership.
    • “The proposed transaction is still subject to approval by the Williamson County Board of Commissioners and other regulators. If the deal advances, the companies expect it to be finalized in 2027 or 2028.”
  • Beckers Hospital Review tells us,
    • “Jupiter (Fla.) Medical Center, an independent, nonprofit health system, broke ground June 24 on its second hospital, the “Jupiter Medical Center Neighborhood Hospital at The Health Park at Avenir.”
    • “The 53,000-square-foot facility will comprise 29 inpatient beds, four operating rooms, 24-hour emergency services, imaging services and a diagnostic laboratory, according to a news release. 
    • “Jupiter Medical Center Neighborhood Hospital at The Health Park at Avenir will be adjacent to a 47,000-square-foot, three-story medical office building for Jupiter Medical Center physicians. The building will feature cardiology, concierge medicine, gastroenterology, general surgery, primary care, pulmonary and orthopedics.
    • ‘Both the hospital and medical office building are expected to open in early 2028.” 
  • Fierce Healthcare informs us,
    • “Handspring Health offers a virtual mental health clinic for youth and families, purpose-built around evidence-based care and ongoing training and support for clinicians.
    • “The startup, which launched four years ago, picked up $19 million in series B funding to grow its clinician workforce, expand value-based care partnerships with payers and broaden its geographic reach.”
  • Fierce Pharma lets us know how “biosimilar experts size up US hurdles, opportunities ahead.”
  • Beckers Payers Issues explains “How 4 health plans are innovating with specialty pharmacy.”
  • MedCity News offers “The AI Playbook for Health Plans: 5 Steps for Leaders Who Don’t Know Where to Start.”
    • “It starts with a simple mindset shift, realizing that a successful AI journey begins with identifying a business problem, not with technology. The plans that make real progress embrace this mindset first then follow these five steps.” 

Monday report

David Ermer–ACA, Agentic & Generative AI, CMS, COVID-19 vaccine, Electronic health records, Medical / Rx research, Medicare, No Surprises Act, OPM, SCOTUS, U.S. Healthcare–

Simplicity is a virtue.

From Washington, DC,

  • Per a House of Representatives news release,
    • “Health care providers that deliver high-quality, cost-effective care to American patients will be able to operate more efficiently thanks to bipartisan legislation approved by the U.S. House of Representatives. The Health Care Efficiency Through Flexibility Act (H.R. 5347), introduced by Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Vern Buchanan (FL-16) and fellow Committee member Representative Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), recognizes the benefits Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) provide to patients in the way of value-based care, but also that current reporting processes required by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) are onerous and costly. As more ACOs deploy sophisticated electronic health records (EHRs) to streamline data reporting to CMS, the legislation provides ACOs with certainty and flexibility to help make the transition to digital quality measure reporting successful.” * * *
    • “Read a fact sheet on the bill here.
    • “The bill passed the Committee with a vote of 43-0.
    • “The bill was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives with unanimous consent.”
  • Bloomberg Government adds,
    • “Senators’ search for affordability wins to boast about on the campaign trail is leading back to capping the cost of insulin at $35 in the private insurance market and for the uninsured.
    • “The proposal is modeled on a similar measure Democrats included in their 2022 tax-and-healthcare law designed to curb costs for the diabetes drug in the federal health insurance program for seniors. 
    • “This time, the private-market insulin cap is being pushed by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who is facing a tough reelection battle this fall. She said last week that she added two more co-sponsors to her bill. 
    • ‘Fourteen Republican senators are now signed on, including Sens. Dave McCormick(R-Pa.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Jim Banks (R-Ind.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), as well as 12 Democrats.
    • ‘The measure, which previously earned the support of seven Republicans the last time a version of the idea was considered, could serve as a rare bipartisan triumph for lawmakers in what’s been a divisive Congress. 
    • “Every day we’re gaining momentum,” said Collins of her growing number of supporters on the bill. “There’s a hole here that we want to plug, and that is for people on employer plans and people who are uninsured.”
  • KFF reports,
    • “A new KFF analysis finds that 3.8 million Medicare beneficiaries met the criteria to be eligible for the new Medicare GLP-1 Bridge, based on claims data from 2023.
    • “The temporary 18-month program, launching on July 1 and running through December 2027, will provide coverage of three GLP-1s (Wegovy, Zepbound, and Foundayo) used for weight reduction and weight management to eligible beneficiaries who are enrolled in Medicare Part D.
    • “The total cost to the federal government of the program will depend in part on what share of eligible beneficiaries participate, how quickly they take up coverage, and how many prescriptions each participating beneficiary fills during the 18-month period.” * * *
    • “The clinical criteria for determining a Part D enrollee’s eligibility for Bridge include having a BMI of 35 or more; or having a BMI of 27 or more along with certain comorbid conditions. In addition, eligibility is limited to Part D enrollees who don’t have conditions treated by GLP-1 drugs that are currently covered under Part D, such as type 2 diabetes, and who have not filled a GLP-1 prescription in their Part D plan in 2026.”
  • Healthcare Dive relates,
    • “Enrollment in Affordable Care Act health plans declined by nearly 3 million people this year as policy turbulence continues to roil the exchanges, according to federal data released Friday. 
    • “About 19.2 million people were enrolled in ACA marketplace plans in February, down about 13% from the same time in 2025. 
    • “The Trump administration attributed the decline to efforts to prevent improper and fraudulent enrollment. But more generous financial assistance for ACA plans also expired at the end of last year, pushing more Americans to drop their plans due to rising costs, experts say.” 
  • Per a U.S. Office of Personnel Management news release,
    • “The US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) today finalized a rule strengthening the federal government’s ability to address serious misconduct and ensure federal employees continue to meet high standards of integrity throughout their careers. 
    • “The rule advances President Trump’s efforts to build a high-performing federal workforce that serves the American people with professionalism, integrity, and accountability. By modernizing federal suitability regulations, the rule provides agencies and OPM with additional tools to address serious misconduct, protect public trust in government, and support a more consistent approach to accountability across the federal workforce. 
    • “For too long, the federal government has had stronger tools to prevent someone with serious misconduct from entering public service than to address the same misconduct once that individual is already employed,” OPM Director Scott Kupor said. “This rule closes that gap, strengthens accountability, and helps ensure the federal workforce continues to earn the trust of the American people.” * * *
    • “Read the final rule here.” 
  • Federal News Network adds,
    • “The Office of Personnel Management is giving many employees in its healthcare and insurance division another chance to accept voluntary incentives and leave their jobs, ahead of their busy season.
    • “OPM told employees in its healthcare and insurance (H&I) division on Monday that most of them will have another shot at opting into the deferred resignation program. Employees who apply and are accepted by OPM will go on paid administrative leave for six months before separating from the agency.
    • “Most of OPM’s healthcare and insurance division employees will also be eligible for early retirement. Federal employees are eligible for early retirement if they have 20 years of service at age 50, or 25 years of service at any age. Eligible employees are allowed to voluntarily retire and earn an immediate annuity.
    • “Eligible employees have until 5 p.m. Eastern on July 13 to accept the DRP or Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA) offers. OPM employees approved for the DRP program will go on paid administrative leave starting Aug. 31, 2026, and will officially separate from the agency on March 1, 2027.”
  • Fierce Healthcare tells us,
    • “The Health Resources and Services Administration highlighted on Monday $140 million in newly opened grant funding opportunities focused on rural health priorities like substance use treatment, workforce development and telehealth. 
    • “Applications for the slew of grants opened over the last few weeks and are set to close throughout July. 
    • “HRSA and its administrator Tom Engels, who promoted the funding opportunities during a Monday event at an Iowa critical access hospital, said the programs build on the administration’s priorities of addressing opioid addiction as well as rural healthcare sustainability, the latter of which includes the ongoing $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program.”
  • and
    • “The Trump administration unveiled new efforts to strengthen oversight of the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA), including hiring a federal IT contractor to provide audit, review and compliance support.
    • “TEFCA is the government-backed health data-sharing initiative that allows patients, providers and payers to share health records. It was mandated by the 21st Century Cures Act back in 2016 and went live in December 2023.” * * *
    • “Alliance Global Tech Inc., a company specializing in federal IT services including cybersecurity, cloud solutions and data analytics, was awarded a five-year contract to provide TEFCA audit, review and compliance support for HHS, according to a new USASpending.gov listing. USASpending.gov is an official open data source of federal spending information, including information about federal awards such as contracts, grants and loans.
    • “The five-year contract is worth up to $5.62 million, structured as a one-year baseline, around $1.28 million, with annual renewal options through June 2031.”

No Surprises Act news

  • STAT News reports,
    • “For the past 40 years, it’s been illegal in the U.S. for emergency departments to turn away patients because of an inability to pay. But that only applies to hospitals that contract with Medicare. Houston-based Nutex Health, which runs the hospital Behounek visited, has opted not to at most of its hospitals, so it’s not bound by that law. Nutex claims it complies voluntarily, screening every patient to ensure they’re not dying before demanding payment. But some patients say they were never screened. 
    • “In this way, Nutex is able to have the best of both worlds: It charges emergency department prices while avoiding the responsibilities that usually come with being an ER; namely, taking all comers. It’s just one way Nutex has enriched itself and its investors through exploiting loopholes in laws meant to protect patients. In recent years, that’s meant funneling most of its bills through a surprise billing ban’s arbitration process, even though it’s meant to be a last resort. It’s been a gold mine, quadrupling its revenue. 
    • “There is a growing for-profit business model that is exploiting the benefits and higher revenue that comes with providing emergency care without taking on the risks or obligations of being an emergency department,” said Amber Sabbatini, an associate professor of emergency medicine at the University of Washington. Nutex is one of several companies running microhospitals and freestanding emergency departments, although many are run as satellites of traditional hospitals. They tend to open in wealthier areas where people are likely to have insurance.
    • “The federal arbitration process set up under the No Surprises Act has been a stunning success for providers. Not only are they winning in over 80% of cases, they’re securing payments that are three to nine times in-network rates. The program, known as independent dispute resolution, has also been slammed with far more disputes than federal officials had expected. Because of that, it cost at least $5 billion between 2022 and 2024 alone, potentially wiping out the savings Congress expected it to generate. 
    • “For Nutex, this arbitration process has generated eye-popping returns. In less than a year, the company more than tripled its revenue and profit soared nearly twelvefold. The numbers are so dramatic, in fact, that some investors view the money-making strategy as a house of cards. Several are suing Nutex over what they say is an unsustainable reliance on arbitration wins and a precarious alignment with HaloMD, a middleman whose tactics are the subject of multiple lawsuits.”

From the Food and Drug Administration front,

  • The American Hospital Association News reports,
    • “The Food and Drug Administration has identified a Class I recall of North American Rescue first aid kits containing TRUE METRIX Blood Glucose Monitoring Systems by Trividia, which have also been recalled. The FDA said the Trividia recall is due to an issue with an E-5 error code. Trividia has reported 114 serious injuries and one death associated with its recall. The FDA notice said that North American Rescue has not reported any serious injuries or deaths associated with its issue as of March 27.” 
  • Fierce Pharma relates,
    • “The FDA has accepted two Abbreviated New Drug Applications from generics powerhouse Sandoz for its copycat versions of Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide.The applications are for generic versions of Mounjaro and Zepbound, which help treat patients with type 2 diabetes and obesity, respectively. If Sandoz wins the approvals, the company believes it could launch “one of the first generic tirzepatide products” in the U.S., according to a June 29 release.The company noted that it developed its generic tirzepatide in-house.” 
  • and
    • “Viridian Therapeutics has scored FDA approval for Lumvoa to treat thyroid eye disease (TED), triggering competition with Amgen’s blockbuster Tepezza, the only other medicine on the market for the eye-bulging autoimmune condition.
    • “The FDA nod applies to adults with active or chronic TED, making it the first approved therapy in its anti-insulin-like growth Factor 1 receptor (IGF-1R) class to carry labeling that includes data in both active and chronic TED, the company pointed out.
    • “In addition to this advantage, Viridian hopes to count on a convenience edge over Amgen’s IGF-1R Tepezza.”
  • BioPharma Dive tells us,
    • “On Friday, [June 26] Replimune said that the Food and Drug Administration has accepted the resubmission for its cancer drug RP1, with a decision expected by Aug. 2 and an advisory committee set to convene in July to discuss the twice-rejected application. The latest move is another signal of the changing attitude of the FDA, which was accused of moving the goal post or providing conflicting feedback to companies, leading to delayed or rejected applications under the now-exited leaders Marty Makary and Vinay Prasad. Multiple other companies that faced hurdles under the prior leadership are now gaining new chances for their applications.
  • MedTech Dive informs us,
    • “Edwards Lifesciences on Friday received Food and Drug Administration clearance for the Ecliptis left atrial appendage exclusion system, an entry in the FDA’s 510(k) database shows.
    • “The implantable clip is intended to close the left atrial appendage, or LAA, a small pouch-like structure in the heart’s left atrium, to prevent blood clots from forming that can lead to stroke.
    • “The Edwards device is positioned to compete directly with AtriCure’s AtriClip platform and Medtronic’s Penditure system, BTIG analyst Marie Thibault told clients in a note Monday. Boston Scientific and Abbott sell LAA occlusion devices that are implanted in minimally invasive procedures.”
  • Per a FDA news release,
    • “Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the selection of seven companies to participate in the FDA PreCheck Pilot Program, a new initiative designed to boost American global competitiveness, strengthen domestic drug manufacturing, and improve the resilience of the U.S. drug supply chain.
    • “The FDA launched the PreCheck Pilot Program on February 1, 2026, in response to Executive Order 14293 signed by President Trump in May 2025 and following a public meeting on challenges and opportunities to facilitate domestic manufacturing. The pilot program is intended to support the development of new U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities by encouraging earlier FDA engagement and providing a more predictable regulatory pathway for companies that plan to manufacture drugs for the U.S. market, helping support greater access to critical medicines for Americans.” * * *
    • “For more information visit the FDA PreCheck Pilot Program webpage.”

From the judicial front,

  • Federal News Network reports,
    • “The Supreme Court on Monday dramatically expanded presidential power, upholding President Donald Trump’s firings of the heads of independent federal agencies with one important exception: the Federal Reserve.
    • “The justices allowed Fed governor Lisa Cook to stay in her job while she fights the Republican president’s effort to fire her over allegations of mortgage fraud, which she has denied.
    • ‘But other than at the nation’s central bank, with its role of setting interest rates, the court held that presidents have free rein to fire agency heads at will, despite federal laws that require a cause for such dismissals and a 91-year-old decision that had limited executive authority.
    • “With the six conservative justices in the majority, the nine-member court jettisoned its unanimous [1932] decision in Humphrey’s Executor that had limited when presidents can fire agencies’ board members — in part to try to ensure decision-making free of political influence.
    • “We hold that such protection from removal is contrary to the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court.”

From the public health and medical / Rx research front,

  • MedPage Today reports,
    • “Getting a COVID and flu shot on the same day was not associated with an increased risk of adverse events, according to a target trial emulation using electronic health data from the VA.
    • “Compared with influenza vaccination alone, coadministration of COVID and influenza vaccines was not associated with an increased risk for any of the three composite outcomes of serious or life-threatening, clinically significant, or less severe or self-limiting adverse events, reported Ziyad Al-Aly, MD, of Washington University in St. Louis, and colleagues in the Annals of Internal Medicineopens in a new tab or window.
    • “Of the 46 individual adverse events assessed, two less severe or self-limiting adverse events had “nominal statistical significance” with coadministration — a slightly higher risk of syncope (risk ratio [RR] 1.09, 95% CI 1.02-1.17) and a slightly lower risk for tinnitus (RR 0.95, 95% CI 0.92-0.99) — but no risks were statistically significant after correcting for multiple comparisons.
    • “Even in today’s world, where people have been exposed to multiple prior COVID-19 vaccines and their immune systems have been shaped by at least one COVID-19 infection, vaccines have a reassuring record of safety,” Al-Aly told MedPage Today. “We looked at 46 different outcomes — literally leaving no stone unturned — and we came up empty-handed.”
  • and
    • “Lung cancer screening criteria based on the duration of smoking appeared to be a better option for determining individuals at highest risk for lung cancer in an observational study.
    • “Compared with USPSTF recommendations, criteria based on the minimum number of years smoked (20, 30, or 40 years) identified more individuals most expected to benefit from screening.
    • “A threshold of at least 40 years of smoking was also more effective than the USPSTF in excluding people least expected to benefit from screening.”
  • Health Day relates,
    • “Brain imaging could help doctors use magnetic stimulation to better treat depression.
    • “Brain imaging helps find specific targets for stimulation.
    • “People treated using brain imaging had lower symptoms and better response rates.
  • and
    • “Women with preeclampsia have increased risk of developing hypertension and chronic kidney disease (CKD) later in life, according to a study published online May 19 in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.” * * *
    • “The most surprising finding was how clearly the amount of protein in the urine during preeclampsia was linked to the risk of later high blood pressure and chronic kidney disease,” Dr. Vestergaard said in a statement. “Women with moderate to severe protein excretion had a higher risk of both conditions compared with women with low or no protein excretion.”
  • MedTech Dive informs us,
    • ‘Johnson & Johnson said last week that it has started pivotal development of a Shockwave Medical device for treating calcified carotid arteries.
    • “J&J designed the investigational device, called SkyRunner, to repurpose Shockwave’s intravascular lithotripsy technology for breaking up calcium in the carotid artery.
    • “A physician in Michigan recently treated the first patient in the investigational device exemption clinical program for SkyRunner.”

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

  • Fierce Healthcare reports,
    • “As drug costs and spending continue to rise, the demand for solutions opens the door to closer collaboration between payers and manufacturers.
    • “Brian Evanko, president and chief operating officer for the Cigna Group, and Miguel Fernández Alcalde, president of EMD Serono, spoke at a keynote session at AHIP 2026 earlier this month, discussing the delicate balance between promoting innovation and ensuring affordability.
    • “The two companies are longtime partners and most recently worked alongside one another on the cost of fertility treatments. Evernorth operates Freedom Fertility, the largest provider of fertility specialty pharmacy services in the U.S., while EMD Serono is a leader in fertility on the manufacturer side.
    • “Evanko said the partnership deepened last year, when both worked with the Trump administration to drive down the cost of certain fertility treatments. Patients can sign up for Trump Rx and find treatments at a cash-pay price of between $1,000 and $1,500, depending on the number of doses in a course of treatment, he said.”
  • and
    • “AI startup Doctronic is partnering with Simple HealthKit, an at-home health screening platform, to offer consumers end-to-end diagnostic screening integrated with virtual clinical care.” * * *
    • “Simple HealthKit offers at-home screening kits directly to consumers through its website and retail partners and also works with health plans, providers and public health programs.
    • “Through this partnership [with Doctronic], we are initially focused on the conditions where we can deliver the greatest immediate impact across our national health plan and retail partnerships, with plans to expand across our broader portfolio over time. Our vision is to make high-quality healthcare accessible for all,” Simple HealthKit co-founder and CEO Sheena Menezes, Ph.D., told Fierce Healthcare.
    • “Doctronic touts that it’s the first AI system legally authorized to practice medicine in the U.S. The startup offers a free personal AI doctor via chatbot to help navigate symptoms and answer medical questions and can connect users with a licensed physician through a virtual visit. Doctronic, available in all 50 states, is being tested by the state of Utah to refill prescriptions as part of a pilot program.”
  • Beckers Hospital Review relates,
    • “Provider compensation continued to rise in 2025, but a new survey suggests health systems may be nearing the limits of what they can sustainably support.
    • “According to the “AMGA 2026 Medical Group Compensation and Productivity Survey,” overall clinical compensation increased 4.3% in 2025. The survey includes data from 451 medical groups and health systems representing nearly 188,000 providers across more than 190 specialties.
    • ‘The increase comes as reimbursement growth remains largely stagnant, creating a widening gap between provider pay and collections.
    • “Over the past several years, provider compensation has increased, but approximately half of the increases have been supported by ongoing growth in wRVU production,” Fred Horton, president of American Medical Group Association Consulting, said in a June 24 news release shared with Becker’s. “In a marketplace with stagnant reimbursement, this is necessary to afford the increases in total cash compensation, but it is not sustainable. At some point productivity will top out, and providers are already adjusting their FTE and seeking alternative work arrangements in response to increased workloads.”
    • “Primary care compensation increased 3.7% in 2025, while medical specialties saw a 4.3% increase and surgical specialties experienced a 3.2% increase. Compensation for radiology, anesthesiology and pathology providers grew 5.7%, the highest increase among specialty categories tracked by the survey.”
  • Fierce Pharma tells us,
    • “Likely thanks to the Juneteenth federal holiday, prescriptions for both Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy pill and Eli Lilly’s Foundayo were lower compared with their highest. For the week ended on June 19, Foundayo logged 20,594 total scripts, down from 21,648 the prior week, according to IQVIA data cited by Jefferies. 
    • “For oral Wegovy, the numbers were about 152,000 for the June 19 week, a roughly 9,500 (5.9%) decrease from the prior week. 
    • As Jefferies’ analysts noted, most GLP-1 scripts were down or rather flat in their weekly comparisons. Injectable Wegovy added about 1,000 (0.3%) scripts, landing at 315,000. Mounjaro essentially saw no change, at 804,000.
    • Lilly has previously noted that it takes time to build awareness for Foundayo as a new brand, whereas Novo benefits from familiarity with the Wegovy moniker.” 
  • The Wall Street Journal informs us,
    • “Ipsen IPN said it agreed to buy Kartos Therapeutics in a deal valued at up to $1.75 billion that seeks to strengthen the French drugmaker’s pipeline of cancer medicines.
    • “Through the acquisition, Ipsen adds a late-stage drug candidate for myelofibrosis–a rare blood cancer–to expand its portfolio in oncology, it said Monday. Ipsen is paying $450 million upfront to take over Kartos, with additional payments of up to $1.3 billion subject to regulatory and sales targets.
    • “The deal builds on Ipsen’s acquisition of oncology specialist ImCheck Therapeutics for up to 1 billion euros ($1.14 billion) last year after Somatuline, the company’s top-selling medicine, faced generic competition in recent years.
    • “Redwood City, Calif.-based Kartos is a privately held pharmaceutical company that was founded after the licensing from Amgen of an experimental cancer drug. It is developing the drug, navtemadlin, as an add-on therapy to the standard-of-care treatment for patients with myelofibrosis.”
  • BioPharma Dive points out,
    • Royalty management company Zymeworks is buying Theravance Biopharma, announcing Monday a $929 million deal that gives it partial rights to Theravance’s COPD drug Yupelri, along with payouts due from its co-development of Trelegy with GSK and an antibiotic for hospital-acquired infections.
    • Per deal terms, Zymeworks will pay $17 a share, along with a second potential payout should Zymeworks license or sell a drug called ampreloxetine that Theravance has developed for a type of low blood pressure. Zymeworks is partially financing the deal by borrowing $350 million from Omers Life Sciences, which will be paid off with Yupelri’s cash flow.
    • Theravance initiated a strategic review of its business in 2024, which accelerated earlier this year when ampreloxetine missed the primary goal of a Phase 3 trial in nervous-system driven low blood pressure in people with the rare disease multiple system atrophy. In a statement, independent Board Chair Susannah Gray said “this transaction achieves the greatest value for Theravance Biopharma shareholders.”
  • OptumRx, writing in LinkedIn, discusses the “Top 5 ways Optum Rx is putting AI into action.”

Monday Report

David Ermer–ACA, CMS, COVID-19 vaccine, FDA, Medical / Rx research, Medicare, NIH, Obesity, U.S. Healthcare–

Simplicity is a virtue.

“In her 1789 book The Female Reader, writer and philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft wrote: “Simplicity and sincerity generally go hand in hand, as both proceed from a love of truth.” (Source: https://tinyurl.com/4fzesrp4)

From Washington, DC,

  • Per an HHS news release,
    • “U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. launched GetActive.gov, a new national resource to help Americans improve their health through movement, fitness, outdoor recreation, and active living, during a series of “Take Back Your Health” tour stops across Colorado.
    • “Secretary Kennedy joined Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum in Grand Junction to announce the initiative and highlight the Trump Administration’s efforts to expand access to public lands and outdoor recreation opportunities. He then visited Fort Carson to see firsthand how the Army is improving nutrition for servicemembers through its campus-style dining modernization program. The Secretary also toured InnovAge in Thornton, where he met with caregivers and seniors participating in the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE).
    • “The key to reversing America’s chronic disease epidemic is empowering people to take back their health,” Secretary Kennedy said. “We are helping people Get Active, Eat Real Food, and Live Real Life. From our public lands to our military bases to our senior care centers, these Colorado visits show how we are putting Make America Healthy Again into action.”
  • The American Hospital Association News reports,
    • “The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission June 15 released its June 2026 report to Congress. Among the topics discussed, chapter two focuses on automation in Medicaid prior authorization and makes recommendations to improve oversight and increase disclosure and transparency of managed care plans’ use of automation in PA. The third chapter includes recommendations to improve managed care plan accountability. Chapter seven examines Medicaid provider enrollment and managed care credentialing processes and highlights challenges that have effects on provider participation and state administrative burden.”
  • and
    • “The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Department of Health and Human Services issued a request for information June 12 seeking input on CMS’ review of the Affordable Care Act’s Essential Health Benefits framework and the requirement that the scope of EHBs is equal to the scope of benefits provided under a standard employer plan. Specifically, CMS is seeking comments on current interpretations of EHBs, state approaches to selecting and updating EHB-benchmark plans, methodologies to determine the scope of benefits included as EHBs, and how those approaches relate to access and market stability under the ACA. The agencies said the information will impact CMS’ evaluation on whether revisions or additions to current EHB regulations would be appropriate. Comments are due by July 15.”
  • BioPharma Dive relates,
    • “New under-the-skin injections of the cancer immunotherapies Keytruda and Opdivo would be subject to Medicare price negotiations at the same time as their intravenous counterparts under a proposed federal rule published Friday.
    • “The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the rule would close a “loophole” that allows drugmakers to extend the patent-protected life of blockbuster drugs, commonly called “evergreening.” However, Medicare could exempt the newer formulation from its price ceiling should biosimilars of the IV version enter the market and compete on price.
    • “The rule could most immediately affect Keytruda maker Merck & Co. and Opdivo developer Bristol Myers Squibb, along with Halozyme, which developed the delivery technology that helped Opdivo and Johnson & Johnson’s Darzalex transition from IV to subcutaneous shots. Halozyme, however, said it forecasts “zero to minimal impact to its royalty revenues through at least 2035.”

From the Food and Drug Administration front,

  • STAT News reports,
    • “The Food and Drug Administration said Monday that it will allow Colorado to import certain prescription drugs from Canada in an effort to bring prices down for residents, making it the second U.S. state to be granted such authorization. 
    • “For more than a quarter of a century, Americans have sought drugs from Canada for relief from the ever-rising costs of medicines, sometimes taking widely publicized bus trips across the border. It wasn’t until 2020, though, that the first Trump administration officially endorsed the practice, when it published a regulationallowing states and Indian tribes to propose import plans. The Biden administration affirmed this rule with an executive order in 2021. And Florida became the first state to earn FDA approval in 2024. 
    • “But state importation programs have proved extremely difficult to carry out, even with bipartisan support. Florida has yet to actually import any drugs from Canada, in part due to pushback from the Canadian pharmaceutical industry and fears the program will affect Canada’s drug supply. In May, the FDA extended its approval by six months to give the state more time to get its program up and running.”
  • Fierce Pharma relates,
    • “Despite prior concerns from the FDA, a regimen involving AstraZeneca’s AKT inhibitor Truqap (capivasertib) has passed muster in a specific population of prostate cancer patients. 
    • “Late last week, the U.S. regulator signed off on Truqap plus Johnson & Johnson’s Zytiga (abiraterone) and prednisone to treat adults with metastatic androgen pathway modulation-naïve or -sensitive (mAPMN/S) prostate cancer—the indication previously known as metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer—that is determined to be PTEN-deficient.
  • and
    • Merck & Co.’s first-in-class HIF-2 alpha inhibitor Welireg is touching down in the clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) treatment space, notching a Keytruda combination nod that stands to pad the landing for the company’s post-Keytruda outlook. 
    • The June 12 FDA approval is the first for a PD-1 and HIF-2a inhibitor combo, stipulating the regimen’s use as an adjuvant treatment for adults with ccRCC who are at intermediate-high or high risk of recurrence following kidney removal surgery. Welireg can be used in the disease setting with standard Keytruda or subcutaneous Keytruda Qlex. 
    • With that, Welireg can reach earlier-stage ccRCC for the first time following its 2023 clearance in advanced RCC, marking an “important step in addressing the needs of patients with earlier-stage renal cell carcinoma,” kidney cancer advocacy group KidneyCan’s CEO and co-founder Bryan Lewis noted in a Merck press release. 
  • Cardiovascular Busines tells us,
    • “Penumbra, a California-based medtech company known for its vascular technologies, has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for a new computer-assisted vacuum thrombectomy (CAVT) device designed to treat acute ischemic stroke.
    • “According to Penumbra, Thunderbolt represents the first CAVT device approved in the United States for the treatment of stroke. It is powered by Penumbra’s Engine technology and uses modulated aspiration to “detect, fatigue and completely ingest” blood clots at the site of occlusion. Thunderbolt will be sent to customers prepackaged with one of the company’s catheters.”
  • MedPage Today tells us,
    • “The FDA cleared medical-grade Australian sheep blowfly (Lucilia cuprina) larvae in what maker Cuprina Holdingsopens in a new tab or window believes marks the first debridement product to use this particular species.
    • “Dubbed Medifly Maggots, the product is indicated for removing dead or infected tissue from non-healing necrotic skin and soft tissue wounds — such as pressure or neuropathic foot ulcers — and non-healing traumatic or post-surgical wounds.
    • “A healthcare worker is required to oversee the application of the prescription maggot product, which was cleared based on demonstration of equivalence to the previously cleared medical-grade green bottle blowfly larvae — Lucilia sericata (Medical Maggots).”

From the judicial front,

  • Healthcare Dive reports,
    • “A federal judge has struck down key provisions in a CMS rule overhauling the Affordable Care Act, in a setback for the Trump administration’s push to combat fraud that critics argue is a smokescreen for weakening the exchanges set up by the Obama-era law.
    • “On Friday, Judge Brendan Hurson of the Maryland District Court vacated eight of the rule’s most consequential provisions, including the creation of a $5 premium penalty for individuals who automatically reenroll in coverage and a policy disqualifying people who fail to reconcile tax credits with their income from receiving subsidies.
    • “The decision is not a surprise after Hurson stayed most of the provisions last year. Still, officially tossing them out is a victory for proponents of expanded ACA coverage — though a short-term one, given many of the changes were codified in the GOP’s “Big Beautiful Bill” passed last summer.”

From the public health and medical / Rx research front,

  • STAT News reports,
    • “A pregnant woman in rural Arizona with syphillis could have been treated fairly easily with an injection of penicillin. But the drug, Bicillin L-A, is manufactured only by Pfizer, and has been in short supply for a year now — which meant the drug arrived too late to prevent probable congenital syphilis in her newborn.
    • “The syphilis epidemic is worsening, congenital syphilis cases are up roughly 800% since 2012 — and this Bicillin shortage is expected to continue through 2027. Public health officials say Pfizer’s emergency allocation system is confusing and may disadvantage health departments serving low-income patients.
    • “A box of 10 syringes can cost around $8,000, and the drug is manufactured at only one Pfizer plant in Michigan to supply the whole country.
    • “Most shortages are of not-very-profitable drugs,” said Erin Fox, associate chief pharmacy officer at University of Utah Health.”
  • The American Medical Association lets us know what doctors want patientsto know about allergic rhinitis
    • “Allergic rhinitis, or hay fever, is more than just the sniffles. Understanding triggers and when to talk to a physician are key to managing allergic rhinitis.”
  • Per an National Institutes of Health news release,
    • “A clinical trial supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that adults with prediabetes assigned to a lifestyle intervention had a significantly lower risk of developing multiple chronic health conditions (known as multimorbidity) over time than those assigned to a placebo. This study, which followed participants for over two decades, also found that participants assigned to receive metformin did not experience a statistically significant reduction in multimorbidity risk. The findings, published in JAMA, highlight the lasting benefits of lifestyle programs that may lower risk of the development of chronic conditions.
    • “Multimorbidity is a common issue, and few interventions have been found to prevent or delay developing multiple chronic conditions,” said Marcel Salive, M.D., first author of the study, from NIH’s National Institute on Aging (NIA). “Our work showing that healthy lifestyle intervention can significantly lower the burden of multimorbidity is a step forward in addressing this growing problem.”
  • MedPage Today relates,
    • “COVID-19 vaccines were associated with a lower risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in “a cohort study of veterans.
    • “The 2024-2025 vaccines also demonstrated effectiveness against COVID-associated emergent care, hospitalization, and critical illness among adults.
    • “Among older adults who received a 2025-2026 vaccine, overall COVID vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic disease was 59%.
  • Healio tells us,
    • “Less than a quarter of patients with stroke and fewer than one in seven with traumatic brain injury were discharged to inpatient rehabilitation.
    • “Clinicians should plan for rehabilitation early and make it an intentional part of care.”
  • and
    • “The American College of Physicians (ACP) has published living clinical guidance to help physicians select medications for patients with overweight or obesity.
    • “Unhealthy weight remains a significant public health issue globally, with 68.5% of American adults and 59% of adults worldwide having overweight or obesity, according to Amir Qaseem, MD, PhD, MHA, MGIN, MRCP, FACP, ACP chief science officer and senior vice president of clinical policy at the Centers for Evidence Reviews, and colleagues.
    • “They wrote in Annals of Internal Medicine that first-line treatments for obesity and overweight include physical activity and nutrition, but the new guidance “addresses additional management using pharmacologic treatments when lifestyle modifications alone do not result in optimal weight loss or weight maintenance for a person.”
  • Pharmacy Times informs us,
    • “Pooling ATTAIN-1/2 female participants, menopausal stage–stratified outcomes at 72 weeks included weight, waist circumference, waist-to-height ratio, and categorical weight-loss thresholds using an efficacy estimand. 
    • “Orforglipron [Lilly’s oral GLP-1 drug] achieved statistically significant placebo-adjusted reductions across premenopause, perimenopause, and postmenopause, reaching approximately 14% body-weight loss and up to 11 cm waist reduction (P<.001). 
    • “Clinically meaningful responder rates favored orforglipron, with up to 83% achieving ≥5% weight loss vs 23% on placebo, and higher rates across ≥10%, ≥15%, and ≥20% thresholds. 
    • “More participants shifted to lower waist-to-height ratio categories on active therapy, supporting potential visceral adiposity and cardiometabolic risk mitigation in menopause-associated fat redistribution. 
    • “Unrestricted oral administration (no food/water requirements) may reduce adherence barriers in midlife women with polypharmacy, strengthening pharmacist-led counseling and referral pathways in obesity care.”
  • BioPharma Dive points out,
    • “An experimental drug that Eli Lilly recently picked up through a potentially multibillion-dollar acquisition appears to have passed its first major test, scoring positive results in a small study of patients with hard-to-treat blood cancer.
    • “Originally developed by Ajax Therapeutics, the drug inhibits an enzyme that spurs blood cell production. Several medicines that block this “JAK2” enzyme, including Incyte’s Jakafi, are already on the market, where they’re mostly used in rare, chronic blood cancers like myelofibrosis. While these medicines can be quite effective at treating symptoms, many patients either don’t respond or stop taking them because their disease progresses or they can’t tolerate the side effects, which range from nausea and fatigue to anemia and increased stroke risk.
    • “Lilly’s pill is designed to work in a slightly different way than its approved counterparts, binding to JAK2 in the “inactive” state. Researchers hypothesize this change should make for a superior therapy that also overcomes drug resistance challenges.
    • That idea now has more support thanks to data presented over the weekend at a major medical meeting in Europe.”

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

  • Beckers Payer Issues reports,
    • “Health Care Service Corp. will launch a new line of commercial health plans called Edge across all five of its Blue Cross Blue Shield states beginning in 2027.
    • “The plans, powered by a proprietary plan design called Easify, have no deductibles and no coinsurance for in-network care, leaving members with fixed copays, according to a June 11 news release. 
    • “HCSC said the PPO plans aim to let employees in Illinois, Texas, Oklahoma, Montana and New Mexico anticipate out-of-pocket costs more easily and help employers better manage total medical spend. HCSC also said the new product will steer members toward “high-value” care using behavioral incentives.” 
  • Beckers Hospital Review relates
    • “Middle-age adults who use GLP-1 medications for obesity could save an average of $192,735 in lifetime medical costs, according to a study published in June by the National Bureau of Economic Research. 
    • “Researchers from Los Angeles-based University of Southern California simulated health and economic outcomes for U.S. adults ages 25 and older, comparing lifetime trajectories for people who used GLP-1s for obesity with those who did not. Obesity was defined as a body mass index higher than 30.”
  • and
    • “Virtual nursing for hospital discharge was associated with sharply lower 30-day emergency department readmissions across nine hospitals in a major Southeastern U.S. health system, according to a study published in npj Digital Medicine.
    • “Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill compared 4,662 discharges handled by remotely located virtual nurses with 4,662 traditional in-person discharges, matched on patient and hospital characteristics. Patients discharged through virtual nursing returned to the ED within 30 days at a rate of 3.7%, versus 13.3% for in-person discharge — a 72% relative reduction, or a risk ratio of 0.28. That works out to roughly 1 readmission in 27 virtual-nursing patients, compared with 1 in 8 receiving standard discharge.
    • “The effect held in both settings, with the gap widest in rural hospitals: 3.1% versus 17.9% rural, and 4.1% versus 10.7% urban.
    • “Virtual nurses delivered structured, uninterrupted discharge education — medication reconciliation, teach-back, and care-plan review — from an off-site center operating 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week. The health system rolled out the model across the nine hospitals between 2022 and 2024.”
  • MedTech Dive informs us,
    • “Medtronic said Friday it has completed the $550 million takeover of neurovascular technology company Scientia Vascular.
    • “The deal, which Medtronic disclosed in March, covers guidewire technologies for stroke that are designed to equip physicians to access hard-to-reach parts of the brain.
    • “Buying Scientia will enable “every neurovascular procedure to start with Medtronic,” CEO Geoff Martha said on an earnings call with investors this month.”
  • Medical News Today points out,
    • Three AI-based mammography systems were able to identify subtle signs of future breast cancer years before diagnosis, with elevated cancer prediction scores seen in those who later developed the disease. 
    • In the study, approximately 20% of breast cancer cases showed AI-detectable mammographic changes as early as 6 years before diagnosis. 
    • At 90% specificity, the AI systems flagged potential future cancers in up to 19.7% of women 6 years before diagnosis, 25.2% 4 years before diagnosis, and 39.3% 2 years before diagnosis. 
    • The findings suggest AI could support earlier breast cancer detection and help enable more personalized screening strategies by identifying females who may benefit from closer monitoring or earlier intervention.
  • FYI, The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association has a job opening on its Legal Team supporting FEP.

Weekend update

David Ermer–ACA, CDC, Congress, Generative AI, Medical / Rx research, Obesity, U.S. Healthcare–

Happy Mothers Day!

  • Per an HHS news release,
    • “On Mother’s Day, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched Moms.gov, a groundbreaking website for new and expecting mothers. This first-of-its-kind resource offers guidance and information to support the health and well-being of mothers and their families.
    • “Moms.gov also supports expecting parents who are navigating difficult or unexpected pregnancies. It features information about pregnancy centers, Federally Qualified Health Centers, nutritional guidance, Trump Accounts, and other resources that allow maternal and infant health to thrive.”
  • Per a Labor Department news release,
    • “The U.S. departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury announced a proposed rule that would create a new category of limited excepted benefits to further expand the ability of employers to offer meaningful fertility benefits to their employees. 
    • “The proposed rule is a central component of the Trump administration’s efforts to expand American families’ access to fertility benefits. It builds upon President Trump’s Executive Order “Expanding Access to In Vitro Fertilization,” which announced that it is the policy of the administration to ensure reliable and affordable access to in vitro fertilization to support American families.” * * *
    • “The proposed rule would establish a new category of limited excepted benefits. Excepted benefits are generally exempt from the market reforms under the Affordable Care Act and certain other federal health care coverage laws. This new category would apply limiting principles similar to those already in place for other limited excepted benefits. 
    • “The proposed rule sets a few main requirements for the benefits: 
      • “Substantially all of the benefits must be for diagnosis, mitigation, or treatment of infertility or related reproductive health conditions.
      • “Benefits are capped at a combined lifetime maximum of up to $120,000 for the participant and their beneficiaries, indexed for inflation for plan years starting after 2028.
      • “Employers must provide a notice that clearly describes the coverage and meets other specified requirements.
    • “Comments are due 60 days from its publication in the Federal Register. 
    • “Read the notice of proposed rulemaking on limited excepted fertility benefits.”
  • While the FEHBlog has not yet read the proposed rule, he noticed that the proposed rule amends the Public Health Service Act and therefore may impact the FEHB and PSHB programs.

From Washington, DC,

  • Tomorrow, the Senate will take a final vote on S. Res. 690, “authorizing the en bloc consideration in Executive Session of (49) certain nominations on the Executive Calendar.” The FEHBlog does not notice any noteworthy nominations on that list.
  • Here is a Roll Call discussion of other actions under consideration on the Hill this week.
  • Federal News Network reports,
    • “The Postal Service is floating the possibility of Congress stepping in to provide more financial assistance to keep the largely self-funded agency from running out of cash early next year.
    • “Postmaster General David Steiner said USPS hasn’t officially pitched the idea to Congress, but it’s an option lawmakers should consider to get the agency on firmer financial footing. Steiner said USPS will spend the next month refining its wish-list of legislative proposals before sharing it with Congress.
    • “Steiner told members of the House Oversight Committee in March that USPS will run out of cash in early 2027, as long as it continues to pay its bills on time. But USPS is relying on some emergency measures to conserve cash.
    • “To the credit of Congress, they’re not looking for short-term band-aids, but for long-term solutions,” Steiner said Friday at a public meeting of the USPS Board of Governors.”

From the public health and medical / Rx research front,

  • The Wall Street Journal reports,
    • ‘The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is sending staff to the Canary Islands to meet a cruise ship with a hantavirus outbreak.
    • “The MV Hondius has a hantavirus outbreak that has killed three people and infected five others; the rare Andes variant is confirmed.
    • “Seventeen American passengers from the ship will be quarantined at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s National Quarantine Unit.” * * *
    • “The facility looks more like a hotel than a hospital. People quarantining at the center are asked not to leave their rooms and receive, essentially, room service brought to their door, said Dr. Michael Wadman, medical director of the National Quarantine Unit at University of Nebraska Medicine.” * * *
    • “If any cruise ship passengers are quarantined and develop symptoms, they will be moved to the nearby Nebraska Biocontainment Unit—a facility isolated from the rest of Nebraska’s medical center, designed to treat patients infected with highly hazardous infectious diseases, according to Nebraska Medicine.
    • “A CDC official said Saturday that ship passengers will be monitored for around six weeks, or 42 days, but not necessarily only in Nebraska. The official said authorities will coordinate with some passengers and local jurisdictions for at-home monitoring, though it wasn’t clear how many people were going home or when.”
  • MedPage relates,
    • “The CDC has issued a Health Alert Network (HAN) health advisory on hantavirus, urging clinicians to be aware of the potential for imported cases of hantavirus disease in connection with an outbreak of Andes virus aboard a cruise ship.
    • “While the risk of broad spread in the U.S. is “considered extremely unlikely at this time,” the agency noted that early symptoms can be easily confused with influenza or other viral illnesses. In addition, the virus may not be accurately detected in body secretions and excretions within the first 72 hours of symptom onset, so testing should be repeated after that window, the agency warned. * * *
    • “Several state health departments — including Arizona, California, Georgia, and Texas — confirmed to MedPage Today that they are monitoring individuals in their respective states. New Jersey also is monitoring two peopleopens in a new tab or window who were on the same flight as a woman who was symptomatic on board and later died.”
  • The Wall Street Journal tells us “After the hantavirus uutbreak here’s what cruise travelers should know.”
    • “The hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius has revived memories of Covid-era cruise chaos. Infectious-disease doctors say the current situation is very different.”
  • The Wall Street Journal also reports,
    • “A study of more than 57,000 iPhone users confirmed a correlation between hearing loss and slower walking speeds.
    • “The Apple and University of Michigan study used data people agreed to share via Apple’s Research app.
    • “Doctors state addressing hearing issues could lead to a longer, healthier life and recommend annual hearing tests.”
  • Healio informs us,
    • “Among adults with obesity, the risk for new physician-reported sleep apnea and new-onset obstructive sleep apnea significantly fell if they used vs. did not use a GLP-1 agonist, according to data from two studies.
    • “Both studies were published in Annals of the American Thoracic Society.“

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

  • HR Dive reports,
    • “The merit increases employers awarded this year were only slightly below previous projections, with a mean 3.1% merit increase, versus a 3.2% projection in October 2025, according to the latest Mercer QuickPulse Compensation Planning Survey.
    • “Average total increases were 3.4%, versus a predicted 3.5%, per the report. 
    • “Meanwhile, just 4% of employers gave workers equal, across-the-board salary increases, also called “peanut butter” raises, rather than merit increases, Mercer found. Most still use a combination of individual performance and position relative to market value or relative to peers.”
  • Healio relates,
    • “The AI tools that benefit clinicians most are not always the glamourous ones contributing to drugs, robotics and therapeutics innovations, but could also be the mundane ones that help ease physician burnout. 
    • “That is according to David Ting, MD, keynote speaker at Digestive Disease Week.
    • “Ting, chief clinical product lead at Microsoft and primary care internist and pediatrician at Massachusetts General Hospital, told attendees he envisions a 2036 where AI products assist with the ordinary: workflow redesign, administrative burden and workplace collaboration.
    • “AI also might one day take center stage in reshaping the clinical environment and restoring the “joy of practice,” he said.”
  • BioPharma Dive tells us,
    • “Odyssey Therapeutics, a maker of medicines for autoimmune disorders, has brought in $279 million through an initial public offering that’s been more than a year in the making.
    • “Selling 15.5 million shares at $18 each, Odyssey on Thursday raised more than what it expected and became the latest drug company of late to top $250 million in IPO proceeds. The company also added another $25 million to its haul via a concurrent private stock sale at the IPO price. Odyssey is now the 11th biotech company to go public so far this year, according to BioPharma Dive data, and will start trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange on Friday under the ticker symbol “ODTX.”
    • “Odyssey is led by Gary Glick, a biotech veteran who’s led multiple drug startups that were later acquired. Glick launched the company in 2021 with backing from the likes of OrbiMed and SR One, and it’s since netted $727 million in venture funding.”
  • Healthcare Dive informs us,
    • “Staffing technology company Cross Country Healthcare has entered into an agreement to be acquired by private equity firm Knox Lane in an all-cash deal worth $437 million.
    • “The acquisition, which will take Cross Country private, values the company at $13.25 per share, a 31% premium over the staffing firm’s closing stock price on Wednesday, according to a press release. It’s expected to close in the third quarter if the deal clears regulatory approval.
    • “The deal comes months after Cross Country and travel nursing agency Aya Healthcare abandoned plans to combine following antitrust scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission.”
  • That’s a better outcome than Spririt Airlines experienced.  

Thursday report

David Ermer–ACA, CMS, Congress, FDA, Federal employment benefits, Medical / Rx research, Medicare, No Surprises Act, OPM, Patient safety, U.S. Healthcare–

From Washington, DC

  • The American Hospital Association News reports,
    • “The Senate April 23 adopted a budget resolution by a 50-48 vote, paving the way for a narrow reconciliation bill focused on immigration enforcement funding. Congressional Republicans are seeking to use the reconciliation process primarily to end the partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. The resolution instructs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the House Homeland Security and Judiciary committees to write legislation by May 15 that provides up to $70 billion in funding.  
    • “The vote followed a lengthy “vote-a-rama” session overnight that consisted of multiple proposed amendments from Democrats that failed to pass. Both chambers must pass a common budget resolution to move forward with the reconciliation process. Legislative action is expected in the House as early as next week.”  
  • STAT News reports,
    • “President Donald Trump’s acting attorney general on Thursday signed an order reclassifying state-licensed medical marijuana as a less-dangerous drug, a major policy shift long sought by advocates who said cannabis should never have been treated like heroin by the federal government.
    • “The order signed by Todd Blanche does not legalize marijuana for medical or recreational use under federal law. But it does change the way it’s regulated, shifting licensed medical marijuana from Schedule I — reserved for drugs without medical use and with high potential for abuse — to the less strictly regulated Schedule III. It also gives licensed medical marijuana operators a major tax break and eases some barriers to researching cannabis.
    • “The Trump administration also said it was jump-starting the process for reclassifying marijuana more broadly, setting a hearing to begin in late June.”
  • The Wall Street Journal tells us “What to Know About the Health Risks of Marijuana.”
    • “Studies show the drug can exacerbate anxiety and teen use poses risks for developing brains.”
  • STAT News adds,
    • “President Trump heralded a drug pricing agreement with Regeneron on Thursday, closing the last of 17 deals initially sought by the White House last year.
    • “Regeneron, as part of the private deal, will reduce prices on drugs to Medicaid, provide cholesterol medicine Praluent on TrumpRx for $225, and invest $27 billion in drug development in the United States.”
  • Tammy Flanagan, writing in Govexec, lets us know,
    • “I was planning to write about the number of TSP millionaires for this week’s column — until I started getting messages from former federal employees, all who retired on September 30, 2025, and are still waiting for their retirement benefit from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to be finalized.
    • “It is not completely surprising that retirement processing has slowed down, and for some former employees, they continue to wait for their retirement benefits to be finalized. But for the employees who have reached out for assistance, many have not received any money since their last paycheck was received in October 2025.
    • “It has been almost six months with very little or, in some cases, no money and little communication to help them understand how long they will have to continue to wait.” * * *
    • “In my experience, retirement processing is less like flipping a switch and more like closing out a file with dozens of tabs. One missing document or unresolved question can stop forward progress.
    • “Common culprits include late or incomplete payroll certifications, missing service history, unposted deposits or redeposits for prior service, unresolved military service credit, periods of leave without pay that need to be documented, name discrepancies, incomplete beneficiary or survivor elections, or court orders that require special handling.
    • “None of these problems are rare, and when thousands of cases arrive at once, the odds go up that more people land in the exception pile.”
    • Tammy then make suggestion on steps to take.

From the Food and Drug Administration front,

  • Healthcare Dive reports,
    • “The CMS and the Food and Drug Administration have unveiled a new pathway to speed up Medicare coverage for certain breakthrough medical devices.
    • “The pathway, called the Regulatory Alignment for Predictable and Immediate Device, or RAPID, allows the two health agencies to work together, and with companies, during the device review process to speed up Medicare coverage for certain FDA-designated Class II and Class III breakthrough medical devices.
    • “The approach could enable Medicare national coverage and payment as soon as two months after a device has received market authorization, compared with approximately one year or more under the current system, according to the Thursday announcement.”
  • The Wall Street Journal relates,
    • “Children born deaf because of a rare condition can now take a drug to restore their hearing after a gene therapy was approved in the U.S., ushering in a new era for the treatment of an inherited form of hearing loss. 
    • “The Food and Drug Administration approved Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’drug Otarmeni for children born with a faulty gene that plays a role in hearing. It targets a rare condition affecting an estimated 20 to 50 newborns in the U.S. each year and could eventually be expanded to an even wider population if additional studies succeed.
    • “In my wildest dreams I never thought we’d be here in my lifetime,” said Lawrence Lustig, a hearing specialist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center who helped lead the trial.
    • “Regeneron said it would offer the drug free to people in the U.S.”
  • MedTech Dive tells us,
    • “Tandem Diabetes Care issued an urgent medical device correction for a software problem with its Mobi insulin pumps.
    • “The malfunction may cause insulin delivery to stop, causing high blood sugar if not addressed, the Food and Drug Administration said in a Wednesday recall notice. 
    • “Tandem sent a letter to customers in October notifying them of the fault and instructing them to update their pump software as soon as possible. Tandem had reported four serious injuries related to the problem as of Nov. 4.”

From the judicial front,

  • Modern Healthcare reports,
    • “The Federal Trade Commission has reached an agreement in principle with U.S. Anesthesia Partners to settle the government’s 2023 lawsuit. 
    • “The terms of the preliminary settlement are confidential so USAP can carry out the negotiations necessary to fulfill them, the FTC said in a Thursday news release.
    • “The agency in its original complaint claimed the anesthesiology group allegedly violated antitrust laws and reduced competition for anesthesia services in Texas. The preliminary settlement resolves the charges, the FTC said Thursday.” 
  • The New York Times points out “A $440,000 Breast Reduction: How Doctors Cashed In on a Consumer Protection Law.”
    • A law meant to end surprise medical billing accidentally created a multibillion-dollar industry that is making doctors richer.”
  • FEHBlog observation – This is happening. Why can’t Congress and the regulators fix the problem?

From the public health and medical / Rx research front,

  • The Wall Street Journal reports,
    • “Novo Nordisk will seek regulatory approval for its semaglutide pill to treat Type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents after a late-stage trial showed it significantly reduced blood sugar in 10- to 17-year-olds.
    • “The once-daily semaglutide pill is currently marketed as Rybelsus in the EU and U.S. to treat diabetes in adults and will be available in the U.S. as Ozempic pill later in the second quarter. It is not currently approved for use in children or adolescents.
    • “The Danish drugmaker said Thursday that oral semaglutide has the potential to be the first oral GLP-1 to demonstrate a superior reduction in blood sugar levels compared with a placebo in children and adolescents with Type 2 diabetes, while maintaining the well-tolerated safety profile seen across other semaglutide trials.
    • “Over the past two decades, the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes among children and adolescents has increased substantially, yet treatment options for this population remain limited, underscoring a significant unmet need,” said Martin Holst Lange, Novo Nordisk’s chief scientific officer and head of research & development.”
  • MedPage Today relates,
    • “An investigational benzamide antipsychotic significantly improved symptoms in hospitalized adults with acute schizophrenia in a phase II trial.
    • “The drug, N-methyl amisulpride, is similar to its predecessor, amisulpride, but has some key differences in dosing and side effects.
    • “Because of the 4-week trial duration, long-term treatment durability wasn’t evaluated.”
  • Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News tells us,
    • “Diabetes affects over half a billion people globally. Along with direct consequences to those with the disease, it also contributes to and predisposes affected individuals to a host of other conditions. Specifically, it is a known contributing factor in the development of vascular disease, including peripheral artery disease. While therapies exist, they are not very effective, and peripheral artery disease can lead to restricted blood flow in peripheral limbs, which sometimes leads to amputation. Understanding the mechanism driving the connection at the tissue and cellular level has the potential to improve therapy options and the development of new treatments.
    • “Normal function of the peripheral vasculature requires communication and cooperation between the vascular endothelium and macrophages. “Monocytes patrol the vascular endothelium and remove damaged cells, and intimal-resident macrophages maintain a nonthrombogenic endothelial state,” wrote the authors of a study led by Zhen Chen, PhD, at City of Hope. They explained that under stress, macrophages can modulate vascular remodeling and in certain conditions, like cancer, they “can secrete inflammatory mediators to disrupt endothelial cell tight junctions and increase endothelial cell permeability.”
    • “The team decided to explore the cellular cross-talk between macrophages and endothelial cells, as well as the resulting vascular function, to better understand the mechanisms behind peripheral artery disease induced by diabetes.
    • “They published their work in a paper titled “Diabetes-induced TREM2–endothelial cell signaling impairs ischemic vascular repair” in Science Translational Medicine.“
  • Healio tells us,
    • “Influenza vaccination continues to protect children from influenza-related outpatient visits and hospitalizations, according to post-pandemic data published in Pediatrics.
    • “We have had really severe recent seasons for flu, particularly in children,” Samantha M. Olson, MPH, an epidemiologist in the CDC’s influenza division, told Healio in an interview. “This study really adds to the growing body of evidence showing how protective flu vaccines can be for infants, children and adolescents, and this includes even the most severe outcomes.”
  • and
    • “People taking GLP-1s had reduced risk for atrial fibrillation, regardless of whether they lost weight or how much they lost, according to findings presented at Heart Rhythm 2026.
    • “We were prompted to undertake this study by some encouraging data that … GLP-1 receptor agonists seem to have a favorable effect on reducing the incidence of atrial fibrillation, particularly in patients with metabolic risk factors,” Kenneth C. Bilchick, MD, MS, professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, who presented the findings, told Healio. “I think the results were expected, but they were even better than we thought they would be.”
  • Health Day informs us,
    • For many women, a sudden sneeze or a hearty laugh bring an unwelcome consequence: A small leak of urine. 
      Often dismissed as a normal part of aging or motherhood, new research suggests the real culprit may lie deep within the abdomen.
      A study from the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) in Brazil found that hidden fat stored between internal organs is a major driver of stress-induced urinary incontinence.
      The research — published recently in the European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology — suggests that where a woman carries her weight matters far more than the number on the scale.
      Stress urinary incontinence occurs when everyday actions like coughing, lifting or exercising put too much pressure on the bladder, causing urine to leak.
      “It’s that urinary leakage that occurs when pressure inside the abdomen increases and the pelvic floor can’t hold it in,” Patricia Driusso said in a news release. She’s a professor of physical therapy at UFSCar.

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

  • Healthcare Dive reports,
    • “Molina benefited from better controlled Medicaid spending in the first quarter, though steeper membership losses than expected raise questions about whether the insurer can keep costs in hand for the remainder of 2026.
    • “Molina posted better-than-expected first quarter earnings on Wednesday afternoon, sending the insurer’s stock up more than 10% in Thursday morning’s trade.
    • “Yet, unlike its peers UnitedHealth and Elevance, which both raised 2026 guidance after keeping medical spending in check, Molina elected to reaffirm its outlook.
    • “Executives said retaining the current 2026 guidance is prudent given it’s early in the year and the cost environment remains challenging. Still, they hinted Molina might update the outlook after the second quarter.”
  • Fierce Healthcare relates,
    • “Elevance Health’s top brass told investors Wednesday that the insurer is on pace to end the second quarter of 2026 with about 1.2 million members in its individual market plans.
    • “CEO Gail Boudreaux said on the company’s earnings call that the company saw “moderately stronger retention” in the Affordable Care Act segment through Q1, and that it was one of the contributing factors to its better-than-expected results in the quarter.
    • “The membership growth in the individual market plans reflected a shift toward bronze tier coverage following the expiration of enhanced premium tax credits at the beginning of this year, said Chief Financial Officer Mark Kaye. Part of why this trend contributed to lower medical costs is that utilization in these plans is frequently backloaded, he said.” * * *
    • “Kaye said that the company feels good about its position in the ACA market, and the shift to bronze tier plans has been positive in certain markets. However, the company is still taking a prudent approach to forecasting around the ACA market.”
  • Beckers Hospital Review identifies “eight health systems that recently had their outlooks upgraded by Fitch Ratings or Moody’s Investors Service in 2026.”
  • MedTech Dive tells us,
    • “Boston Scientific slashed its 2026 sales growth and earnings guidance on Wednesday as key businesses are facing challenges and setbacks.
    • “The medtech company expects full-year sales growth in a range of 7% to 8.5%, down from a range of 10.5% to 11.5% given in February. Boston Scientific also lowered its adjusted earnings per share guidance from a range of $3.43 to $3.49 to a range of $3.34 to $3.41.
    • “CEO Mike Mahoney told investors on an earnings call that the lowered guidance reflects challenges in several prominent businesses, including electrophysiology and the company’s Watchman franchise.
    • “This was a guide down that we, quite frankly, are not proud of, but we think it’s the right thing to do, and best reflects the current environment,” Mahoney said.”
  • Beckers Health IT informs us,
    • “OpenAI has introduced ChatGPT for Clinicians, offering free use of the tool to all verified U.S. physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and pharmacists.
    • Here are [four] things to know from an April 22 news release and past Becker’s reporting:
      • “1. The AI developer said the solution can help clinicians with tasks like documentation, writing and medical research, freeing up time for patient care.
      • “2. OpenAI has previously launched ChatGPT for Healthcare, an enterprise solution for health systems, and ChatGPT for Health, a tool for users to ask health-related questions.
      • “3. The company also debuted HealthBench Professional⁠, a benchmarking application for three use cases: care consultation, documentation and writing, and medical research.
      • “4. OpenAI said its physician advisors review the AI’s healthcare responses “every few minutes” and before releasing ChatGPT for Clinicians tested nearly 7,000 conversations in their daily work, rating 99.6% of responses as accurate and safe.”
  • Healthcare Dive adds,
    • “The American Medical Association is urging Congress to create safety guardrails for artificial chatbots in mental healthcare, as Americans increasingly turn to the technology for health information and advice. 
    • “In letters sent Wednesday to the chairs of three congressional committees on digital health and AI, the major physician lobby said “well-designed, purpose-built” tools could help patients who would otherwise struggle to access mental healthcare, but that the lack of safety protocols poses serious risks.
    • “Privacy concerns, risks of emotional dependency on AI and reports the tools could encourage self-harm signal that “immediate attention is required to ensure these tools do not inadvertently harm individuals seeking mental health support or companionship,” AMA CEO Dr. John Whyte wrote.”

Midweek update

David Ermer–ACA, CMS, FDA, HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules, Medical / Rx research, Mental health care, OPM, U.S. Healthcare–

From Washington, DC,

  • OPM Director Scott Kupor added another post to his excellent Secrets of OPM blog today. This one is titled “Simplicity is a Virtue.” In the FEHBlog’s opinion, OPM should focus on simplifying its administration of the FEHB and PSHB programs.
  • The FEHBlog noticed on the following rulemakings currently under Office of Management and Budget review:
  • The FEHBlog is concerned about the OPM rule because OPM has not implemented the HIPAA 820 electronic enrollment roster transaction that would allow carriers to reconcile individual enrollees with their premiums. What is the sense of having a pristine family member list without knowing whether the enrollee is paying the correct premium. The HIPAA 820 also would give carriers earlier notice about enrollees who have left federal employment and annuitants who have passed away.
  • Per an HHS news release,
    • “The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced the 2026 KidneyX EMPOWER Prize Challenge, a $4 million national competition to accelerate innovation supporting living kidney donors and patients who depend on them. To further enhance nephrology care, HHS will also support data standardization and health information technology improvements across the kidney care ecosystem. The challenge will be run through the Kidney Innovation Accelerator (KidneyX).”
  • The Wall Street Journal reports,
    • “One in seven people who signed up for Affordable Care Act plans this year failed to pay after premium costs rose sharply, according to an analysis that provides the first comprehensive look at the impact of expiring federal subsidies. 
    • “Nationally, around 14% of those who enrolled in ACA plans this year didn’t pay their first monthly bill for January coverage. In some states, the share was a quarter or more, according to a new analysis from the actuarial firm Wakely Consulting Group, provided exclusively to The Wall Street Journal.
    • “It’s a big drop,” said Michelle Anderson, a Wakely consulting actuary. 
    • “Normally, the rate of falloff in ACA plan membership early in the year is in the midsingle-digit range.”

From the Food and Drug Administration front,

  • The Washington Post reports,
    • “The Food and Drug Administration is taking the first step toward potentially allowing compounding pharmacies to produce seven peptides that are currently restricted because of the agency’s previous warning over safety concerns.
    • “The agency’s expert advisory panel on pharmacy compounding is scheduled to discuss whether the peptides should be used in compounding for purposes for ulcerative colitis, wound healing, inflammatory conditions, obesity, insomnia and more, according to a Federal Register notice posted Wednesday announcing a late-July meeting.”

From the judicial front,

  • Bloomberg Law reports,
    • “A federal appeals court vacated an order rejecting a request to block a Maryland drug discount law, remanding the decision for review, in a victory for AbbVie Inc., Novartis AG, AstraZeneca Plc, and PhRMA.
    • “The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that a lower court “erred” when it denied the drugmakers’ motion for a preliminary injunction against Maryland’s H.B. 1056.
    • “The decision was driven by a recent order from the Fourth Circuit that upheld a block on West Virginia’s version of the contract pharmacy law, with the majority opinion stating that “West Virginia passed a materially similar statute, which this Court recently held is likely preempted”.

From the public health and medical / Rx research front,

  • The New York Times reports,
    • “Many scientists have contended that humans have evolved very little over the past 10,000 years.
    • A few hundred generations was just a blink of the evolutionary eye, it seemed. Besides, our cultural evolution — our technology, agriculture and the rest — must have overwhelmed our biological evolution by now.
    • “A vast study, published on Wednesday in the journal Nature, suggests the opposite. Examining DNA from 15,836 ancient human remains, scientists found 479 genetic variants that appeared to have been favored by natural selection in just the past 10,000 years.
    • “The researchers also concluded that thousands of additional genetic variants have probably experienced natural selection. Before the new study, scientists had identified only a few dozen variants.
    • “There are so many of them that it’s hard to wrap one’s mind around them,” said David Reich, a geneticist at Harvard Medical School and an author of the new study.” * * *
    • “Nandita Garud, a geneticist at the University of California, Los Angeles, who was not involved in the new study, said that unearthing natural selection over the past 10,000 years could do more than just illuminate our deep history.
    • “Scientists still don’t know much about how genetic variations influence our health. When they find a link between a genetic variant and a disease, Dr. Garud said, it will be important to see whether it has been favored by natural selection.
    • “That might give you a clue that this is important,” she said.”
  • The Wall Street Journal relates,
    • “Vertigo and dizziness, often caused by dislodged inner-ear crystals (BPPV), are common age-related problems increasing fall risk.
    • “Emergency-room visits for vertigo commonly result in unnecessary diagnostic tests and sedative medications, potentially worsening patient outcomes.
    • “Researchers are investigating links between BPPV and migraines, low vitamin D, and osteoporosis, while developing new rehabilitation treatments.”
  • Fierce Healthcare tells us,
    • “Behavioral health utilization increased substantially from 2018 to 2024, with anxiety disorder care fueling much of that growth, according to Trilliant Health. 
    • “The health data analytics and market research firm’s latest report outlines a 62.6% jump in behavioral health utilization, based on any visit associated with a behavioral health diagnosis code.
    • “Between 2008 and 2024, the prevalence of mental illness increased by almost 6 percentage points. About a quarter of adults had any mental illness in 2024, Trilliant found, though in adults 18-25 exhibit the highest prevalence both in terms of any mental illness (33%) and serious mental illness (16%). 
    • “Anxiety disorders accounted for the highest visit volume and experienced the fastest growth, up 89% from 2018 to 2024. Anxiety disorders in women aged 18-44 were also the highest utilization category in 2024. 
    • “It’s possible those figures are increasing because more screening is happening, acknowledged Trilliant Health Chief Research Officer Allison Oakes, Ph.D.”
  • Medscape adds,
    • “Utah’s pilot program using AI for psychiatric medication refills raises safety and compliance concerns. Critics argue it lacks transparency, proper research, and may violate FDA laws, emphasizing the need for licensed physician oversight.”
  • Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News informs us,
    • “Studying mice, researchers at Toronto’s Sinai Health have found that semaglutide—the active ingredient in popular weight loss drugs that mimic the gut hormone GLP-1—acts directly on a subset of liver cells to improve organ function, and does so independently of weight loss. The finding challenges long-held assumptions about how GLP-1 medicines work in the liver and could reshape how physicians treat metabolic liver disease.
    • “Headed by Daniel Drucker, MD, a senior investigator at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, the team reported on their findings in Cell Metabolism, in a paper titled “The weight-loss-independent hepatoprotective benefits of semaglutide are orchestrated by intrahepatic sinusoidal endothelial GLP-1 receptors.”\
  • Per Multiple Sclerosis News,
    • “People with diabetes are significantly more likely — with nearly 60% higher odds — to develop multiple sclerosis (MS) than those without the metabolic disease, which is marked by high blood sugar levels, according to a new systematic review and meta-analysis.
    • “A significant association was also observed specifically between type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the condition, and MS risk.
    • “The analysis did not, however, find clear evidence that MS increases the likelihood of developing diabetes.
    • “Current evidence indicates that [diabetes mellitus], specifically [type 2 diabetes], increases the risk of developing MS,” the researchers wrote. “However, a reverse association remains unconfirmed.”
  • Per MedPage Today,
    • “Primary care patients educated about Alzheimer’s disease blood-based biomarkers were generally willing to undergo tests and supported their use, survey data showed.
    • “After patients received a brief explanation of Alzheimer’s blood tests, 94.5% supported offering them to patients with memory complaints, and 85% said they were willing to complete a test if their clinician recommended it, reported Andrea Russell, PhD, of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, and co-authors.
    • “Patients endorsed Alzheimer’s blood tests when they informed medical care (94.2%), were covered by insurance (93.4%), if comprehensive education was received prior to testing (88.5%), and if testing was easy or convenient (88.1%), Russell and colleagues wrote in Alzheimer’s & Dementiaopens in a new tab or window.”
  • Healio adds,
    • “High vitamin D levels in mid-life were associated with lower levels of tau protein in the brain more than a decade later, suggesting a possible modifiable risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease, according to findings in Neurology Open Access.
    • “Previously, it was known that low circulating vitamin D in later life is associated with an increased risk of cognitive impairment and clinical dementia,” Martin D. Mulligan, MBBCh, BAO, a researcher at the University of Galway in Ireland, told Healio.
    • “Most prior studies evaluating the association between vitamin D and cognitive function typically measured circulating vitamin D in older adults,” he continued. What our study adds is a focus on early mid-life.”

From the U.S. healthcare business front,

  • Healthcare Dive reports,
    • “The increasing cost of medical care is driving more workers to forgo needed care or stop taking medications, ADP found in a recently released employee benefits survey. 
    • “Twenty-six percent of respondents said they’d skipped needed medical care for themselves or a family member due to out-of-pocket costs (compared to 21% in 2020), 22% have stopped taking or taken less medication (compared to 17% in 2020), and 15% declined vision or dental insurance so they could afford medical insurance. 
    • “The finding “points to the need for simpler plan design, clearer education and flexible options that reflect different budget preferences,” ADP observed. “Employers can play a stronger role in helping employees make cost-conscious choices without compromising care.”
  • Fierce Healthcare relates,
    • “Average physician pay rose about 3% between 2024 and 2025, from $374,000 to $386,000—outpacing the 2.7% U.S. core inflation rate that rounded out the year, a new annual report from Medscape found.
    • “Medscape’s 2026 Physician Compensation Report surveyed 5,916 physicians across more than 29 specialties. Total compensation numbers reflect base salary and incentive bonuses, plus other income sources like profit-sharing contributions, as reported by full-time physicians.
    • “Matthew Wells, Ph.D, a senior director at AGMA Consulting, called 2025 a “return to normalization” for physician compensation in the report and expects “consistency with increases” in the future. Driving factors cited by Wells include physician productivity in seeing more patients and improved technology-driven efficiency. 
    • “Fifty-three percent of all physicians report feeling fairly compensated, as opposed to last year’s report in which only 48% reported fair compensation—what the report notes was the “most dispirited response” it had seen in a decade of posing the question.” 
  • Beckers Hospital Review offers a non-exhaustive list of “32 health systems with strong operational metrics and solid financial positions, according to reports from credit rating agencies Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service released in 2026.”
  • and lets us know,
    • “The Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board approved Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare’s acquisition of Franciscan Health Olympia Fields (Ill.). 
    • “The 214-bed hospital is expected to transition to Prime on May 1, according to an April 14 news release shared with Becker’s. 
    • “Prime Healthcare entered an agreement in January to acquire the hospital and and Specialty Physicians of Illinois from Mishawaka, Ind.-based Franciscan Alliance. Prime said it plans to offer jobs to “substantially all employees” at Olympia Fields. 
    • “Olympia Fields is set to become Prime’s ninth Illinois hospital and 55th overall. In March 2025, the health system acquired eight Illinois facilities from St. Louis-based Ascension. Prime said that in the first year of ownership, it invested more than $104 million in the eight hospitals to enhance clinical care and operations, modernize infrastructure and expand service lines.” 
  • BioPharma Dive informs us,
    • “Beeline Medicines emerged from stealth Wednesday with plans to develop “precision therapies” for immune diseases, nearly a year after its backer Bain Capital teamed up with Bristol Myers Squibb to give five of the pharma’s experimental medicines a new home.
    • “Beeline’s pipeline is led by the licensed drug afimetoran, a daily oral treatment for systemic lupus erythematosus, a form of lupus, that targets a pair of receptor proteins which are responsible for regulating the immune system. At Bristol Myers, the drug had already been tested in a Phase 1b trial in a different form of lupus. A Phase 2 study is underway and is expected to be completed in the second half of this year, after which Beeline plans to launch “a pivotal development program.”
  • MedTech Dive adds,
    • “Avanos Medical has accepted a $1.27 billion go-private offer from American Industrial Partners, the company said Tuesday. 
    • “AIP agreed to pay a 72.1% premium to Avanos’ closing stock price on Monday. Avanos CEO Dave Pacitti told customers that AIP will back his company to strengthen its competitive position.  
    • “Avanos competes with businesses including Boston Scientific and Cook Medical for the specialty nutrition market, and rivals such as Medtronic and Stryker in the pain management space.”

Monday report

David Ermer–ACA, CDC, CMS, Congress, COVID-19, FDA, Generative AI, Medical / Rx research, NIH, Obesity, OPM, Rx coverage, U.S. Healthcare–
  • Happy National Doctors’ Day!
    • “National Doctors’ Day is a nationwide observance dedicated to honoring physicians for their expertise, responsibility, and continued commitment to patient care. Observed annually on March 30, it creates a natural point of recognition for the role doctors play in the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities, often during critical and life-changing moments.”

From Washington, DC.

  • Roll Call reports,
    • “President Donald Trump wants Congress to nix a two-week recess and return to the Capitol to address the ongoing Department of Homeland Security shutdown, his top spokesperson said Monday.
    • “The president is also encouraging Congress to come back to Washington to permanently fix this problem and to fund and reopen the Department of Homeland Security entirely,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.”
  • Govexec adds,
    • “Most Transportation Security Administration officers received a paycheck Monday covering four weeks of back wages that were held up by the funding lapse at the Homeland Security Department, a TSA spokesperson said, [due to an Executive Order].
  • Per an OPM news release,
    • “The US Office of Personnel Management (OPM), in partnership with the White House, today announced the launch of a new Early Career Talent Network designed to connect emerging professionals with full-time career opportunities across the federal government.
    • “The new network, available at EarlyCareers.gov, will help build a stronger pipeline of talent into critical mission roles across government, including finance, human resources, engineering, project management, and procurement. The initiative supports broader administration efforts to modernize federal hiring and strengthen the next generation of public servants.
    •  “Building a strong pipeline of early-career talent is essential to the future of the federal workforce,” OPM Director Scott Kupor said. “We are making it easier for talented individuals to connect with meaningful careers in public service while helping agencies efficiently identify the talent they need to deliver results for the American people.”
  • OPM Director Scott Kupor made another management-oriented post to his Secrets of OPM blog now available on Substack. The post discusses the Earlycareers.gov initiative.
  • The American Hospital Association News tells us,
    • “Average out-of-pocket premiums for Health Insurance Marketplace enrollees increased $65 per month in 2026 compared to 2025, going from $113 to $178, according to a report released March 27 by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The figures represent costs after accounting for the enhanced premium tax credits, which expired at the end of 2025. CMS also found that 40% of 2026 enrollees selected bronze plans, up from 30% in 2025. Silver plan selection dropped from 56% to 43%, while gold plan selection increased from 13% to 17%. Additionally, CMS said 23.1 million consumers selected or re-enrolled in Marketplace coverage for 2026, marking a 5% decrease from 2025.” 
  • Per National Institutes of Health news releases,
    • “The National Institutes of Health (NIH) today has chosen 15 scientific teams from across the nation as cash prize winners for their submissions to a national crowdsourcing challenge designed to generate innovative ideas that integrate diet and nutrition into autoimmune disease research. Winning submissions investigated the effectiveness of dietary interventions; microbiome, immune system and multi-omic approaches; personalized and data-driven predictive nutrition; and community and patient-center research frameworks. 
    • “Autoimmune diseases affect more than 8% of the U.S. population, impacting between 23 and 50 million Americans. Despite the prevalence and significant economic burden of autoimmune diseases, the role of diet and nutrition in this area remains largely underexplored. NIH invited researchers, clinicians, patients, caregivers, advocacy groups, and interdisciplinary teams to submit feasible, scalable approaches to better understand how dietary interventions may influence autoimmune disease onset, progression, flares, and symptom management. 
    • “The challenge, known as the Nutrition for Our Immune System Health (NOURISH): Autoimmunity Challenge and led by NIH’s Office of Autoimmune Disease Research, yielded many highly competitive submissions, and resulted in 15 prize awards, totaling $10,000 to each team. The winners showed thoughtful planning and designs that, with further development, could result in innovative solutions to benefit Americans affected by autoimmune diseases. Each winning entry contributed innovative, scientifically rigorous, and patient-centered ideas to advance the science of autoimmune disease research and care in one of four thematic areas.”
  • and
    • “The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that Elisabeth Armstrong, DBe, has been named chief of staff in the NIH Office of the Director.  As chief of staff, Dr. Armstrong will oversee the Office of the Director. She will provide strategic counsel to the NIH Director and other key leaders within NIH, in addition to managing process, operations, and information flows.    
    • “Dr. Armstrong is an outstanding addition to NIH’s leadership team. Her unique background and range of public and private sector experience will help drive positive action and innovation at NIH,” said NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D.” 

From the Food and Drug Administration front,

  • BioPharma Dive points out five FDA decisions to watch in the second quarter of 2026, which starts on Wednesday.
  • Per Fierce Pharma,
    • “With a second phase 3 win for Tyvaso in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), United Therapeutics is padding the case for an expansion and putting more color on its filing plans with the FDA. 
    • “In the wake of the “overwhelmingly positive” pair of late-stage readouts, multiple analysts are sharing in United’s optimism that Tyvaso (treprostinil) could change the treatment landscape in the lung scarring disease, which is estimated to affect more than 100,000 people in the U.S.” 
  • MedTech Dive reports,
    • “Medtronic has received 510(k) clearance for its Stealth AXiS surgical system for cranial and ear, nose and throat procedures.
    • “The clearances, which Medtronic disclosed Friday, expand the label of a system that combines surgical planning, navigation and robotics to improve surgeons’ workflows.
    • “Medtronic said cranial surgeons can use the system to create patient-specific brain maps, while the benefits for ENT teams include visualization tailored to the sinuses and skull base.”

From the public health and medical / Rx research front,

  • USA Today reports,
    • “A “highly mutated” COVID variant that flew under the radar for years has been detected in a growing number of U.S. states, health officials said this week.
    • “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a March 19 report that it was tracking variant BA.3.2, nicknamed “Cicada,” after routine surveillance noted an increase in U.S. cases. The World Health Organization (WHO) likewise listed the strain on its “variants of monitoring” record, as it has been detected in at least 23 countries.
    • “Cicada still accounts for only a small number of cases in the United States, but has ballooned to represent up to 30% in some European countries. Still, the CDC said its monitoring of the spread “provides valuable information about the potential for this new SARS-CoV-2 lineage to evade immunity from a previous infection or vaccination.” * * *
    • “The CDC’s latest data from Feb. 11 used wastewater collected by its National Wastewater Surveillance System and Stanford University’s WastewaterSCAN Dashboard. A pathogen’s existence and prominence can be measured by testing wastewater samples collected from sources such as sewage, industrial waste and stormwater runoff.
    • “The testing tracked the presence of BA.3.2 in 25 states, including: California, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and Wyoming.”
  • Stony Brook (NY) Medicine adds,
    • “The Cicada variant (BA.3.2) is a newer Omicron-related subvariant identified through global and U.S. monitoring systems. Like other recent strains, it has evolved with mutations that may influence how easily it spreads and how the immune system responds.” * * *
    • “Overall, while the Cicada variant may contribute to seasonal increases in cases, it does not currently appear to dramatically change the risk landscape.
    • “Health experts say that the BA.3.2 “Cicada” variant doesn’t seem to cause any new or unusual symptoms compared to other Omicron COVID‑19 variants. Right now, health organizations are mostly tracking how the virus spreads and changes, rather than listing new symptoms.”
  • The Wall Street Journal relates,
    • “Measuring cholesterol levels has long been the main way doctors assess the risk of heart disease. Increasingly, people are opting, too, for a simple, relatively affordable test: a coronary artery calcium scan, or CAC.
    • “The tests recently got a boost from influential clinical guidelines issued earlier this month by leading cardiology groups. These guidelines also included, for the first time, recommended levels of LDL—known as low-density lipoprotein or “bad” cholesterol—based on calcium scores from the scans.
    • “Why does this matter to you? The more calcium you have in your heart, the lower your LDL cholesterol should be to help reduce your risk of having a heart attack or stroke. So the scans give doctors and patients a more precise picture of your risk and whether you need to take action.”
  • The American Medical Association lets us know “what doctors wish patients knew about the deadly risk of stroke.”
    • “Every 40 seconds, someone in the U.S. has a stroke, which is a medical emergency that demands swift action. Meanwhile, every three minutes and 14 seconds, someone dies of stroke in this country. Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in the U.S. and a major cause of long-term disability for adults, but it is preventable and treatable. That is why patients and families need to know more about preventing and identifying stroke. 
    • “More than 795,000 people in the U.S. have a stroke every year. About 610,000 of these are first or new strokes. Meanwhile, nearly 25% of strokes are in people who have had a previous stroke. And about 87% are ischemic strokes in which blood flow to the brain is blocked, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).”
  • Health Day tells us,
    • “For parents of a child with obesity, a normal lab report from the pediatrician may suggest that their weight isn’t yet a problem.
    • “But even if the child’s blood pressure is steady and their sugar levels are fine, those encouraging results — called metabolically healthy obesity or MHO — might be a deceptive snapshot of a much riskier future.
    • ‘Researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden followed more than 7,200 children aged 7 to 17 who were in treatment for obesity. They were followed until age 30. 
    • “Over that period, researchers compared those with metabolically healthy test results to those with early warning signs, and to a control group of more than 35,000 from the general population.
    • ‘The study published March 23 in JAMA Pediatrics found that even kids with MHO — meaning they had normal blood pressure, liver values and blood fats — were at a disadvantage compared to their peers over the long term.”
  • CNN informs us,
    • “Calls to poison centers in the United States about the widely available herb kratom increased more than 1,200% between 2015 and 2025, new research has found.
    • “This data reflects a concerning trend,” study coauthor Dr. Christopher Holstege , director of the Blue Ridge Poison Center at the University of Virginia, said in a news release.
    • “The research was published Thursday in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
    • “Kratom is an herb from the leaves of the tropical tree Mitragyna speciosa native to Southeast Asia. It has both stimulant and sedative effects and carries a risk of addiction due to how it interacts with the brain, Dr. Oliver Grundmann , a leading kratom researcher and clinical professor in the department of medicinal chemistry at the University of Florida, told CNN in an August story.
    • “The psychoactive herb isn’t federally regulated and thus isn’t “lawfully marketed in the U.S. as a drug product, a dietary supplement, or a food additive in conventional food,” according to the US Food and Drug Administration. But in states that haven’t banned kratom, it’s sold at gas stations, smoke shops and convenience, grocery and health food stores in various forms, including powders, loose-leaf teas, capsules, tablets and concentrates. Some states allow people of any age to buy it.”
  • Neurology Advisor notes,
    • “Among multiple healthy dietary patterns, higher adherence to the DASH diet was associated with the greatest reduction in risk for subjective cognitive decline, supporting diet quality as a modifiable factor for cognitive health.”
  • Per Fierce Pharma,
    • “After notching a phase 2 trial win, Idorsia’s insomnia med Quviviq (daridorexant) is one step closer to potentially becoming a first-in-class treatment for children.
    • “The drug, a dual orexin receptor antagonist (DORA), was studied in children with insomnia between the ages of 10 and 17 years old, including those with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). 
    • “As measured through a two-week polysomnography sleep study, 165 patients who received a 10-, 25- or 50-mg dose of Quviviq experienced dose-dependent improvements in total sleep time from baseline, Idorsia reported on Monday.”
  • Per MedTech Dive,
    • “Boston Scientific’s Watchman FLX left atrial appendage closure device worked as effectively as blood thinners to lower stroke risk and death at three years in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation, study data unveiled Saturday showed.
    • “The study also demonstrated a 45% relative reduction in non-procedural bleeding risk in patients who received the Watchman FLX implant. The findings of the closely watched CHAMPION-AF clinical trial were presented at the American College of Cardiology’s annual meeting and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
    • “The 3,000-patient study met all of its safety and efficacy endpoints. Boston Scientific said it will seek to expand the indication and Medicare coverage for the device as a first-line stroke risk reduction option based on the results.

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

  • Beckers Hospital Review reports,
    • “Cigna’s Express Scripts continued its lead in the U.S. pharmacy benefit manager market for the second year in a row, processing nearly one-third of all prescription claims, according to a March 30 report from the Drug Channels Institute.
    • “The PBM handled 31% of total equivalent prescription claims last year, up from 30% in 2024. CVS Caremark, which dominated the sector until 2024, saw its share fall to 26% amid volume losses tied to major client transitions. Optum Rx, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, maintained a 23% share for the second straight year.
    • “Despite ongoing scrutiny from regulators and rising competition from smaller firms, the same three PBMs as last year still control 80% of the market.
    • “The rankings are based on Drug Channels Institute’s analysis of total equivalent prescription claims processed across the industry.”
  • and
    • “CVS Pharmacy will open its first pharmacy-only location in Chicago on March 30.
    • “The store, located at 2628 W. Pershing Road in the city’s West End, is part of a planned rollout of nearly 20 pharmacy-only, apothecary-style CVS Pharmacy locations expected to launch in select communities in 2026, according to a March 24 statement from CVS shared with Becker’s. The format reflects CVS’ shift toward smaller, pharmacy-focused stores amid declining retail sales.
    • “CVS is in the early stages of launching the new model, the first locations under which will average less than 5,000 square feet — about half the size of a traditional CVS store. The sites will stock health-related products but exclude general consumer goods like greeting cards and groceries.
    • “The launch comes as CVS repositions its pharmacy footprint. The company closed 270 locations in 2025 but plans to open nearly 100 new sites, including more than 60 acquired from Rite-Aid. According to CVS Health’s October 2025 “Rx Report,” 80% of patients prefer in-person pharmacy care and 84% view pharmacies as credible sources of healthcare. The small-format stores aim to meet these expectations while expanding access in underserved areas.”
  • BioPharma Dive relates,
    • “Obesity drugmaker Kailera Therapeutics plans to test investor appetites for another biotechnology initial public offering, according to a Friday securities filing.
    • “If successful, the company, which has several experimental weight loss medicines in testing, could join a short list of newly public biotechs that have raised more than $1.7 billion in proceeds so far this year.
    • “Kailera’s most advanced prospect, ribupatide, is a weekly GLP-1/GIP agonist in late-stage testing. So far, Kailera and its partner Hengrui Pharma have published data from a 48-week Phase 3 trial in Chinashowing that ribupatide helped people with obesity, on average, lose 18% of their body weight.
    • “The drugmaker expects to publish data from an earlier study of an increased dose next year, and findings from its global Phase 3 study in 2028.”
  • A MedCity News opinion piece explains why
    • “AI Can Expand Access to Healthcare — But Only With Human Action
    • “Health systems can turn insights into action, ensuring that preventive care actually happens by combining accurate risk prediction with human outreach and careful planning.”
  • Per an ICER news release,
    • “The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) announced today that it will assess the comparative clinical effectiveness and value of lorundrostat (Mineralys Therapeutics, Inc.) and baxdrostat (AstraZeneca) for hypertension.
    • “The assessment will be publicly discussed during a meeting of the Midwest Comparative Effectiveness Public Advisory Council (CEPAC) in October 2026, where the independent evidence review panel will deliberate and vote on evidence presented in ICER’s report.
    • “ICER’s website provides timelines of key posting dates and public comment periods for this assessment.
    • “Consistent with ICER’s process for announcing new assessments, we have spent the past five weeks conducting outreach and engaging with targeted stakeholders, including relevant patient groups, the manufacturers, and clinical experts. Based on this preliminary cross-stakeholder engagement, today ICER has posted a Draft Scoping Document outlining how we plan to conduct this assessment.  
    • “All interested stakeholders are encouraged to submit comments and suggested refinements to the scope to ensure all perspectives are adequately considered. Comments can be submitted by email to publiccomments@icer.org and must be received by 5 PM ET on April 17, 2026.”

Midweek report

David Ermer–ACA, CDC, CMS, Congress, FDA, Medical / Rx research, Medicare, Obesity, OPM, U.S. Healthcare–

From Washington, DC,

  • The Wall Street Journal reports,
    • “Top Senate negotiators said an effort to renew expired healthcare subsidies had effectively collapsed, likely ending the hopes of 20 million Americans that the tax-credit expansion could be revived and lower their monthly insurance premiums.
    • “Talks had centered on a proposal from Sens. Bernie Moreno (R., Ohio) and Susan Collins (R., Maine) to extend a version of the enlarged Affordable Care Act subsidies for at least two years, while cutting off higher-income people from participating and eventually giving enrollees the option of putting money into health savings accounts. It also would eliminate zero-dollar premium plans. But lawmakers from both parties now say the chances of a deal have all but evaporated.
    • “It’s effectively over,” Moreno said Wednesday. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R., La.)—the architect of an adjacent plan—agreed. While Collins declined to be as definitive, she did say that it was “certainly difficult.”
  • Federal News Network tells us,
    • “Following a year of the Trump administration’s overhauls to the civil service, a bicameral group of lawmakers on Wednesday launched a congressional caucus focused on the federal workforce.
    • “Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.), along with Reps. James Walkinshaw (D-Va.), Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.) joined federal unions and good government organizations to announce the newly formed Federal Workforce Caucus. The group aims to more cohesively advocate for federal employees.” * * *
    • “Members of the new Federal Workforce Caucus, which includes at least some bipartisan support, are expected to meet regularly with leaders from federal unions, employee groups and other organizations. The group plans to propose legislation and workforce policies focused on long-term improvements to the career civil service.
    • “The Partnership for Public Service, American Federation of Government Employees, National Federation of Federal Employees and National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, among several others, are also partners in the new caucus.”
  • OPM Director Scott Kupor has added another post to his Secrets of OPM blog.
  • Per a CMS news release,
    • “CMS continues to bring accountable care to more people with Medicare in 2026, expanding the benefits of high-quality, whole-person health care to achieve better health outcomes for millions of older Americans.
    • “As of January 2026, 14.3 million Medicare beneficiaries are estimated to receive care coordinated by Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), up from 13.7 million in 2025, representing a 4.4% increase. This includes patients whose health care providers are in Medicare Shared Savings Program (Shared Savings Program) ACOs and entities participating in Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMS Innovation Center) accountable care models, as well as other CMS Innovation Center models focused on total cost of care, advanced primary care, and specialty care.
    • “ACOs are groups of doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers who collaborate and provide coordinated, high-quality care to people with Medicare, and they are a critical tool to help Make America Healthy Again by supporting whole person care that addresses prevention, chronic illness and the root causes of disease.
    • “In addition to improving health care, ACOs save billions of dollars for the Medicare program by focusing on delivering the right care at the right time while avoiding unnecessary services and medical errors. ACOs achieve savings because health care providers are held accountable for saving money and improving health care quality, delivering a win for both patients and the Medicare Trust Funds.”

From the Food and Drug Administration front,

  • MedTech Dive reports,
    • “Johnson & Johnson’s Abiomed has sent an urgent medical device correction about a malfunction risk linked to 22 reports of serious injuries.
    • “The Food and Drug Administration, which published an early alertabout the devices on Tuesday, said sensor values in Impella RP heart pumps may drift over time.
    • “Erroneous information on automated Impella controllers has caused users to make inaccurate adjustments to the devices and unnecessary pump exchanges, the FDA said.”
  • The American Hospital Association News informs us,
    • “The Food and Drug Administration has identified a Class I recall of certain FreeStyle Libre 3 and FreeStyle Libre 3 Plus Sensors by Abbott Diabetes Care due to incorrect glucose readings that are lower than actual blood glucose levels. The FDA said patients with impacted sensors should immediately discontinue use and dispose of any affected products. Abbott has reported 860 serious injuries and seven deaths associated with the issue since Jan. 7.” 
  • USA Today relates,
    • “A shortage in estrogen patches because of manufacturing issues and some brand discontinuation has been exacerbated by an increase in prescriptions for estrogen since the Food and Drug Administration removed its black-box warning label last fall. The shortage has left women exhausted, frustrated and scrambling each month to call pharmacies for the medicine they need to treat their menopause symptoms.
    • Some women have switched from generic medication to available brand names, which costs them as much as $300 a month and are not covered by insurance. Others have been forced to use a different brand of estrogen each month, leading to inconsistent care. Women have driven 45 miles to pick up a coveted box of the tiny plastic patch they place near their belly button and change twice a week to help with their symptoms, from frozen shoulders to vaginal dryness.”
  • STAT News adds,
    • “Vertex executives warned that Casgevy, its curative treatment for sickle cell disease, would be slow to reach patients. But few expected it to be this slow.
    • “More than two years after its approval, only about 60 patients across the U.S., Middle East, and Europe have been treated with the gene-editing therapy. Specialists at four sickle centers told STAT they’ve been surprised by one of the key stumbling blocks to faster rollout: They can’t collect enough cells to create the treatment.

From the judicial front,

  • Healthcare Dive reports,
    • “The Federal Trade Commission has agreed to what it called a “landmark” settlement with Express Scripts, allowing the company to bow out of the agency’s lawsuit against major pharmacy benefit managers for allegedly inflating the cost of U.S. insulin.
    • “In return, Express Scripts, which is owned by Cigna and is one of the largest PBMs in the country, has agreed to make major changes to its drug benefit designs, including no longer preferring drugs with high list prices on its standard formularies when there are cheaper equivalents and delinking its compensation from the savings it negotiates with drugmakers, the FTC announced Wednesday.
    • “Express Scripts has also agreed to increase transparency, including reporting more data on drug spending and disclosing any kickbacks to brokers that help employers choose PBMs.
    • “Notably, the company also agreed to reshore its group purchasing organization Ascent from Switzerland back to the U.S.”

From the public health and medical / Rx research front,

  • The AHA News reports,
    • “The measles outbreak in South Carolina has increased to 876 cases, the state’s Department of Public Health reported Feb. 3. Last week, the South Carolina outbreak surpassed last year’s outbreak in Texas, which had 762 cases. The agency said the number of public exposure sites indicates community spread is occurring, increasing the risk of exposure and infection for individuals who are not immune due to vaccination or natural infection. “Vaccination continues to be the best way to prevent measles and stop this outbreak,” the department said.” 
  • MedPage Today informs us,
    • “In this self-controlled case series, myocardial infarction rates were nearly 9 times greater in the week after an RSV-related hospitalization compared with a control period prior to infection.
    • “Stroke rates were more than 7 times higher compared with the control period.
    • “Recent research has suggested that RSV vaccination lowers the risk of cardiorespiratory hospitalizations.”
  • and
    • The effectiveness of last season’s COVID vaccines among immunocompetent adults reached 40% against hospitalization and 79% against invasive mechanical ventilation or death.
    • Those levels of protection were similar among seniors and sustained through 6 months post-vaccination.
    • This study is a reminder that “vaccines still have a role, even in the current epidemiological landscape,” an expert said.
  • Per an NIH news release,
    • The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has opened the East Palestine Train Derailment Health Research Program Office to assess and address the long-term health outcomes stemming from the 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. The new office is the hub of a five-year, $10 million research initiative funded by NIH.
    • “Federal research experts will engage directly with the community, coordinate studies, and help enroll residents in federally supported health research through the new office.” * * *
    • Three years ago, on Feb. 3, 2023, a Norfolk Southern freight train derailment involving 38 railcars carrying hazardous chemicals — including vinyl chloride, butyl acrylate, ethylene glycol and benzene residue — resulted in prolonged fires and controlled burns in East Palestine. Several railcars burned for more than two days, and emergency responders conducted controlled burns that raised concerns about the potential airborne release of hydrogen chloride and phosgene.
    • “Local residents reported a range of initial health symptoms, including headaches and respiratory, skin and eye irritation. These reports prompted concerns about potential longer-term effects on maternal and child health, as well as psychological, immunological, respiratory and cardiovascular health.”
    • “This research program is designed to bring rigorous, independent science directly to the community,” said NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya. “By establishing a local presence, we can better engage residents, support enrollment in studies, and ensure the research reflects the real experiences and concerns of the people affected.”
  • Genetic Engineering and BioTechnology News observes,
    • “As drug‑resistant hospital infections continue to rise worldwide, a team of Australian researchers has identified a surprising new bacterial vulnerability: a sugar that only microbes make. By designing antibodies that recognize this sugar, the scientists were able to clear lethal infections in mice—offering a potential new strategy for tackling multidrug‑resistant pathogens.
    • “The work, published in Nature Chemical Biology, describes the development of monoclonal antibodies that target pseudaminic acid, a carbohydrate found on the surface of many dangerous bacteria but absent from human cells. The study, titled “Uncovering bacterial pseudaminylation with pan‑specific antibody tools,” demonstrates that this sugar may serve as a highly selective molecular flag for immunotherapy.”
  • Per Healio,
    • “Once-weekly subcutaneous tirzepatide may not raise risk for depression compared with placebo, according to a post hoc analysis of the SURMOUNT trials.
    • “As Healio previously reported, in January the FDA requested that risk for suicidal ideation and behaviors be removed from labels for liraglutide (Saxenda, Novo Nordisk), injectable semaglutide 2.4 mg (Wegovy, Novo Nordisk) and tirzepatide (Zepbound, Eli Lilly). 
    • “In data published in Obesity, researchers found adults receiving tirzepatide in three SURMOUNT trials did not experience worsening of depression throughout the studies.
    • “The low occurrence of these events with tirzepatide is similar to that observed in pooled analyses of semaglutide 2.4 mg and liraglutide 3 mg, both GLP-1 receptor agonists approved for weight management,” Thomas A. Wadden, PhD, professor of psychology in psychiatry at Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, told Healio. “The present report provides the first detailed analysis of the risk of these psychiatric events with tirzepatide.”

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

  • BioPharma Dive reports,
    • “Eli Lilly shares jumped early Wednesday after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue and shared higher forecasts for 2026, buoyed by its obesity and diabetes medicines.
    • “Fourth-quarter revenue soared 43% to $19.3 billion, Lilly said Wednesday. That’s 7% above the Wall Street consensus, Leerink Partners analyst David Risinger wrote in a note to clients. Earnings per share beat estimates by 9% and operating income came in 13% higher than analysts expected, he said.
    • “This year, Lilly expects revenue of between $80 billion and $83 billion, with non-GAAP earnings of $33.50 to $35 a share. Analysts had been expecting midpoint forecasts of $78.5 billion for revenue and $33.30 for EPS, according to Risinger.”
  • Fierce Pharma tells us,
    • “Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan is doubling down on a growth forecast for 2026, even as the Swiss drugmaker’s fourth-quarter results start to show the impact of the “largest patent expiry” in its history. And while a $4 billion revenue hole awaits, Narasimhan insisted that a wave of newer blockbusters will pull the company back into growth by year-end.
    • “The steep patent cliff that Narasimhan was referring to follows the 2025 U.S. entry of generic rivals to heart failure treatment Entresto, blood disorder drug Promacta and cancer therapy Tasigna.”
  • MedTech Dive informs us,
    • “Boston Scientific has been one of the big winners of the pulsed field ablation revolution. Over the past two years, the company has reported strong electrophysiology sales growth — sometimes in the triple digits — and declared itself the clear market leader in PFA.
    • “However, on a Wednesday morning earnings call, analysts questioned executives on the electrophysiology unit’s potential after U.S. sales growth stalled in the fourth quarter compared with the third quarter.
    • “CEO Mike Mahoney told investors that the company remains confident in PFA’s potential, even as the market becomes more penetrated and competition in the space ramps up. Mahoney said that the electrophysiology market should grow about 15% in 2026, and the company expects to grow above that rate.
  • Beckers Clinical Leadership notes,
    • [Nurse] workforce projections from HHS’ Health Resources and Services Administration indicate “the gap between the demand for and supply of RN services is expected to shrink over the next decade from 10% in 2027 to 6% in 2037,” according to a January report from the council. 
    • “This forecast is partly due to an increase in first-time examinees of the National Council Licensure Examination, according to the report. 
    • “By comparison, the U.S. supply of licensed practical nurses and licensed vocational nurses is projected to decrease a whopping 36% by 2037, HRSA data shows. These workforces have declined in labor participation and absolute licensure statistics across most states, the report said. 
    • “Although the projected outlook for the RN workforce is more favorable than it is for LPNs/LVNs, maldistribution of providers remains a critical issue, with nonmetropolitan areas projected to face significantly higher shortages than metropolitan areas in the coming years,” the report said. “These issues exacerbate the broader projected shortfall owing to the dual trends of increasing demand due to an aging population and an aging workforce.”
  • Cardiovascular Business lets us know,
    • “Early adopters have been using robotics to perform cardiac surgeries in the United States for years now, but multiple factors—including high costs and early concerns about patient outcomes—have held back widespread implementation.   
    • “According to a new commentary in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, however, robotic cardiac surgery has gained considerable momentum in the last year. Is now the time for this trend to truly take off?
    • “A convergence of improved training frameworks, maturing technology and increasingly standardized quality processes have supported a broader and more sustainable growth,” wrote co-authors Andrea Amabile, MD, a cardiothoracic surgery resident with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Heart and Vascular Institute, and Johannes Bonatti, MD, director of the cardiac robotic surgery at the UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute. “In this context, the past year has brought forward a set of notable global milestones that collectively illustrate the evolving capabilities of robotic cardiac surgery.”
  • Per Beckers Health IT,
    • “KLAS Research released its annual “Best in KLAS” report Feb. 4, ranking healthcare technology vendors and service providers across more than 140 market segments based on feedback from the clinicians and administrators who use them.
    • “The report, now in its 28th year, draws on tens of thousands of provider evaluations to identify the top-performing solutions in categories spanning electronic health records, revenue cycle, cybersecurity, AI and other areas. This year’s edition arrives as AI — particularly ambient speech technology — continues to reshape clinical workflows, and as health systems navigate tightening finances alongside growing vendor competition.
    • “For the 16th consecutive year, Epic was named the top Overall Health System Suite. Epic also won Best in KLAS recognition in 11 market segments.
    • [The article lists] the winners in some of the report’s most closely watched categories. The full report is accessible from KLAS Research here.
  • Per Beckers Payer Issues,
    • “Optum has launched a pair of AI-driven prior authorization products, one designed to speed up submissions on the provider side and another to accelerate clinical reviews for payers.
    • “The provider-facing product, Digital Auth Complete, went live in January in collaboration with digital health company Humata Health. The payer-facing product, InterQual Auth Accelerator, began piloting with two large health plans in late 2025, with the first payer expected to be fully live by April.
    • “It’s a combination of three things,” John Kontor, MD, senior vice president of clinical technology at Optum Insight, told Becker’s, explaining why the products are coming to market now. “It is the policy changes, including CMS-0057, that have accelerated everyone’s urgency to get this figured out. Two, it’s the readiness now of technology to be able to support solving many of these administrative, burdensome problems in healthcare. And third, the policy changes really reflect both industry frustration and impatience and the public’s real desire to get real and better answers to the problems of prior authorization.”
  • Per Fierce Healthcare,
    • “Epic is rapidly building out artificial intelligence tools integrated into its electronic health record solution as health IT companies strive to keep up with the dizzying speed of AI innovation.
    • “This week, the EHR giant released AI Charting, a built-in feature that ambiently listens during patient visits and drafts the clinician’s note. The AI charting feature also queues up orders based on the conversation. 
    • “Epic CEO Judy Faulkner announced the AI Charting technology during the company’s Users Group Meeting (UGM) in August as part of its collaboration with longtime partner Microsoft.
    • “AI models are advancing at a rapid pace; we continue to work with Microsoft on AI Charting and use a variety of different models through the Microsoft Azure platform,” an Epic spokesperson said Wednesday.”

Tuesday report

David Ermer–ACA, Congress, FDA, Medical / Rx research, Medicare, Obesity, SDOH, Telehealth, U.S. Healthcare–

From Washington, DC,

  • The American Hospital Association News reports,
    • “The House Appropriations Committee Jan. 20 released text of a three-bill minibus for fiscal year 2026 that includes funding for key health programs and other bipartisan health care provisions and extensions. The bill provides a discretionary total of $116.6 billion to the Department of Health and Human Services and maintains funding for key rural health, health care workforce and behavioral health programs. The bill has several priorities supported by the AHA, including one-year extensions of the Medicare-dependent Hospital and low-volume adjustment programs, a two-year extension of telehealth flexibilities, as well as a one-year delay of payment reductions for clinical laboratory services. It also includes a five-year extension of hospital at home flexibilities and eliminates Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital cuts until FY 2028. Additionally, the bill includes a provision requiring separate unique health identifiers for off-campus hospital outpatient departments, which the AHA says is redundant as hospitals already disclose care locations, and it would impose unnecessary costs and administrative burden by forcing changes to existing billing systems. The House is expected to vote on the bill this week, with the Senate expected to follow next week before the Jan. 30 funding deadline.”
  • STAT News notes,
    • “Th[is] bill would prohibit PBMs from linking their payments to drug prices in Medicare and increase transparency in that program. The bill would ban PBMs from charging Medicaid more than they pay for drugs, a practice called spread pricing. And in the commercial market, the bill would require PBMs to pass through 100% of rebates to employer-sponsored insurance plans. There also is a measure requiring that PBMs give pharmacies who want to be part of their network reasonable contracts. 
    • “However, some of those measures could be taken out if the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office determines that they would cost money, Smolinski said. The commercial market requirements and Medicaid spread pricing measures are examples of measures that the CBO could determine would increase government spending.”
  • Per Beckers Hospital Review,
    • [This bill] does not extend the enhanced ACA subsidies that expired at the end of 2025, a point of concern for hospitals as insurance premiums rise for millions of people across the country.
  • Govexec adds,
    • “Negotiators in both chambers of Congress have reached an agreement to fund every federal agency in fiscal 2026, with appropriators announcing a final deal on Tuesday, giving lawmakers 10 days to get the remaining bills to President Trump’s desk before a shutdown would occur.
    • “The Senate last week passed a second “minibus” package of spending bills, sending the measure to Trump to clear out half of the 12 annual must-pass appropriations bills. The House has already passed a third package—funding the departments of State and Treasury, and other governmentwide oversight agencies—and the Senate is expected to pass it next week. 
    • “Lawmakers on Tuesday unveiled the fourth and final minibus, which would fund the departments of Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Homeland Security, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development. Those agencies, as well as State and Treasury, are currently funded through a stopgap continuing resolution that is set to expire after Jan. 30. 
    • “The new package marks yet another breakthrough between Republicans and Democrats in both the House and Senate.” * * *
    • “The House is expected to approve the measure this week. The Senate would then take it up next week, when it returns from recess. Lawmakers will have to pass the bill and Trump would then have to sign it into law by Jan. 30 to avoid the second shutdown of the fiscal year.” 
  • Per an HHS news release,
    • The HHS Office of Inspector General released its annual report about “2025 Top Management & Performance Challenges Facing HHS.”
  • Per a CMS news release,
    • “January 20, 2026 – Medicare Secondary Payer and Certain Civil Money Penalties Group Health Plan Webinar Now Available 
    • “The presentation from the January 13th Medicare Secondary Payer and Certain Civil Money Penalties Group Health Plan Webinar is now available in the Download section below.”
  • Beckers Payer Issues ranks the States by Affordable Care Act enrollment change since 2025.
    • “New Mexico has seen the biggest increase in ACA enrollment from 2025 to 2026, while North Carolina has seen the largest decrease, according to KFF.”

From the Food and Drug Administration front,

  • BioPharma Dive reports,
    • “French vaccine developer Valneva said it is voluntarily pulling the paperwork underlying the approval of its chikungunya virus shot in the U.S., ending a short-lived marketing run marred by safety concerns. 
    • “In a Monday statement, Valneva said it recently learned that the Food and Drug Administraiton placed a clinical hold on the vaccine, Ixchiq, pending an investigation of a newly reported serious adverse event that occurred outside the U.S. The company has responded by withdrawing its FDA applications altogether.”
  • MedTech Dive tells us,
    • “Boston Scientific has told customers to stop using certain stents linked to three deaths, the Food and Drug Administration said Friday.
    • “The FDA published an early alert about issues with deployment and expansion of certain Axios Stent and Electrocautery Enhanced Delivery Systems.
    • “Boston Scientific wrote to customers about the issues, which the FDA said were linked to 167 serious injuries, late last year to prevent further use of the products.”
  • Radiology Business informs us,
    • “A group of PET scanners manufactured by GE HealthCare are the subject of a new recall from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 
    • “On January 16, the FDA updated its list of medical device recalls to include certain Omni Legend systems from GE. The recall was issued due to the potential for the systems to produce artifacts during PET exams, which could skew readers’ ability to assess images accurately.” * * *
    • “More information regarding the specific systems impacted by the recall can be found here.”  

From the judicial front,

  • The AHA News reports,
    • “The federal government has dropped its appeal of a preliminary injunction blocking implementation of the Department of Health and Human Services’ 340B Rebate Model Pilot Program.
    • “The move comes after the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Jan. 7 denied the government’s motion for a stay in a lawsuit filed by the AHA, the Maine Hospital Association and four safety-net health systems challenging the program.
    • “The 1st Circuit ruling follows a Dec. 29 decision from the U.S. District Court of Maine granting a preliminary injunction blocking implementation of the program, which was scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1. The district court held that the Health Resources and Services Administration’s approval of the nine manufacturer applications that collectively comprise the entire program likely violated the Administrative Procedures Act.
    • “In a court filing, the government has signaled it will restart the administrative process related to the program; however, it has not released specific details.” 

From the public health and medical / Rx research front,

  • Pulmonology Advisor reports,
    • “Increased risk for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in never-smokers is significantly associated with underlying chronic lung disease, a family history of lung cancer, and unemployment, researchers reported in Chest.” * * *
    • “These findings underscore the multifactorial nature of LCINS and highlight the need for a comprehensive, multifactorial risk-assessment approach to better identify high-risk populations among never-smokers,” the researchers concluded.”
  • The American Journal of Managed Care tells us,
    • Colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence is increasing among young adults, with significant survival disparities linked to socio-economic status (SES) and race.
    • Black patients and those from lower SES neighborhoods had poorer 3-year survival rates, but only SES remained significant after adjustment.
    • The study highlights the impact of structural inequities on survival outcomes, emphasizing the need for multilevel interventions.
    • Limitations include small sample sizes for certain racial groups and potential aggregation issues, affecting generalizability.
  • Health Day informs us,
    • “Fingertip blood oxygen monitors return false readings for people with darker skin tones.
    • “The devices might miss low blood oxygen levels among dark-skinned patients.
    • “The darker the skin tone, the more inaccurate the devices become.” * * *
    • “In the linked editorial, Valley and colleagues agreed that for the time being, doctors will have to do their best, while understanding the devices’ flaws.
    • “The goal is not to abandon pulse oximetry but to understand its limits and make it equitable, ensuring that the technology designed to measure oxygen does not itself perpetuate inequalities in those who receive it,” the editorial said.”
  • STAT News points out,
    • “In a new secondary analysis of the larger trial published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, [Mary Elizabeth] Patti [MD] and her colleagues asked how different social determinants of health affected outcomes after bariatric surgery compared to medical therapy for people with type 2 diabetes and obesity.
    • Bariatric surgery was better than medical therapy across all social backgrounds, they found, and not just in areas of higher deprivation. The ancillary study was smaller, and some of the participants randomized in earlier stages crossed over from medical to surgical treatment, and the reverse. The authors acknowledged and accounted for these limitations, along with the rapid development of more powerful obesity drugs not fully captured in the study. 
    • Still, “bariatric surgery remains an underutilized approach. Even in comparison to these really wonderful medications that we now have access to, it is still better,” Patti, director of the hypoglycemia clinic at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, told STAT. “I’m not a surgeon, but I think we need to keep in mind that surgery offers an approach which can be a durable therapy for type 2 diabetes and obesity.”
  • and
    • “Corvus Pharmaceuticals reported updated results Tuesday from an early-stage study of an oral treatment for eczema that has the potential to be more effective than currently approved drugs, including the blockbuster therapy Dupixent.
    • “After eight weeks, 75% of participants treated with the Corvus pill, called soquelitinib, achieved at least a 75% improvement in the extent and severity of skin lesions — an efficacy metric known as EASI 75 — compared to 20% of participants offered a placebo, the company said.
    • “The study also found that 33% of treated participants achieved clear or almost clear skin after eight weeks, as assessed by physicians, compared to none of the participants in the placebo group. 
    • “Side effects, all mild, were reported in 42% of participants treated with soquelitinib and did not result in any dose modifications or interruptions. No serious side effects were reported, Corvus said.”
  • The American Medical Association lets us know what doctors wish patients knew about hepatitis A, B and C.
    • “Chronic viral hepatitis affects millions of people worldwide. But the tricky part is that people infected with hepatitis viruses may not show symptoms, causing many to be unaware they have this condition. 
    • “While many patients with an acute infection fully recover after a few weeks, others develop chronic infection. That is why it is vital that patients know the ABCs of viral hepatitis and understand when to seek help.”
  • Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News relates,
    • “An international team of scientists, headed by a team at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), has discovered a new way that could speed up the healing of chronic wounds infected by antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
    • “Collaborating with researchers at the University of Geneva, the team’s preclinical study showed how a common bacterium, Enterococcus faecalis, actively prevents wound healing. The results of their collective studies in mice and in human cells showed that, unlike other bacteria, which produce toxins when they infect wounds, E. faecalis produces reactive oxygen species (ROS), which impairs the healing process of human skin cells.
    • “The team identified extracellular electron transport (EET) as a previously unrecognized mechanism by which E. faecalis generates ROS, which, in turn, activates the unfolded protein response (UPR) in epithelial cells and impedes their migration following wounding. The study also demonstrated how neutralizing this biological process can allow skin cells to recover and close wounds.
    • “Establishing a direct link between bacterial metabolism and host cell dysfunction, the study points to a potential new therapeutic strategy for chronic wounds. Co-senior and co-corresponding author, NTU associate professor Guillaume Thibault, PhD, at the School of Biological Sciences, and colleagues reported on their findings in Science Advances, in a paper titled “Enterococcus faecalis redox metabolism activates the unfolded protein response to impair wound healing,” in which they concluded, “Our findings establish EET as a virulence mechanism that links bacterial redox metabolism to host cell stress and impaired repair, offering new avenues for therapeutic intervention in chronic infections.”

From the U.S. healthcare business front,

  • The Employee Benefit Research Institute posted its reports about “The Shifting Landscape of Employment-Based Health Benefits: Long-Term Resilience, Small-Employer Erosion, and the Threat of Higher Premiums,” and its “2025 Workplace Wellness Survey.”
    • “Employers’ commitment to worker health dates back to the late 1800s, but it was during World War II that employers began to offer more formal health coverage. Employers today offer health coverage because of their belief that offering it has a positive impact on the overall success of the business. It can be argued that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974’s (ERISA’s) preemption of state law has created an environment of nationally uniform standards for employee benefit plans, thus giving employers the regulatory means to continue to offer health benefits as they do today. Despite predictions spurred by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) that employers would stop offering coverage, employment-based health insurance remains resilient.”
    • “This edition of the Workplace Wellness Survey found that American workers’ average level of concern about their physical, mental, and workplace well-being was a 5.8 out of 10, up from 5.5 in 2024. Some other the key conclusions in the survey were that 56 percent of workers were very or extremely satisfied with their current job, with a few expressing dissatisfaction; top suggestions for improvement to benefits were a greater employer contribution and more flexibility of benefits to choose from; and half of the workers were open to using AI as a tool to help with benefits, but significant shares remained skeptical.”
  • Beckers Payer Issues informs us,
    • “Sustained GLP-1 use slows medical cost growth, according to findings published Jan. 13 from professional services firm Aon.
    • “The firm analyzed 192,000 GLP-1 users from July 2022 to March 2025, comparing outcomes to non-users, through commercial medical and pharmacy claims data. This research builds off 2025 analyses.
    • “These results provide employers a much clearer view of how GLP‑1 therapies can change the trajectory of both health risks and longer-term costs in their workforce,” Aon North America Health Solutions Leader Farheen Dam said in a news release. “The real impact comes when employers consider not just coverage, but also how these medications are used, supported and sustained over time. By pairing thoughtful GLP-1 strategies with programs that encourage adherence and total well-being, organizations can improve outcomes for their workforce.”
  • Fierce Pharma notes,
    • “Five weeks after telling investors to expect a revenue decline in 2026, Pfizer has found a quick funding fix, selling off its stake in GSK’s ViiV Healthcare.
    • “The New York powerhouse has agreed to surrender its 11.7% interest in the HIV-focused company for $1.875 billion. Under terms of the agreement, Shionogi will pick up Pfizer’s shares for $2.125 billion, with GSK gaining a special dividend of $250 million.
    • “The deal allows majority owner GSK to retain its 78.3% interest in ViiV, while Osaka, Japan-based Shionogi will boost its stake in ViiV from 10% to 21.7%. The companies expect to close the deal in the first quarter of this year.”
  • and
    • “With star checkpoint inhibitors like Keytruda and Opdivo now sporting subcutaneous formulations, GSK has struck a deal aimed at ensuring its own PD-1 stalwart doesn’t miss out on the action.
    • “GSK, through its oncology subsidiary Tesaro, is handing over $20 million upfront to Alteogen for global rights to the Korean biotech’s novel hyaluronidase enzyme ALT-B4. Tesaro plans to use the tech to develop and potentially market a subcutaneous form of Jemperli (dostarlimab).
    • “To sweeten the deal, GSK and Tesaro are offering up to $265 million more tied to certain development, regulatory and sales milestones, Alteogen said in a Jan. 20 press release. Alteogen will also be in line to earn royalties on sales of subcutaneous Jemperli, should it win approval and go to market.”
  • BioPharma Dive adds,
    • GSK on Tuesday said it’s agreed to buy Rapt Therapeutics for $2.2 billion, gaining access to a drug that promises to help a wider population of patients avoid allergic reactions to food.
    • The medicine, ozureprubart, targets the immunoglobulin E, or IgE antibodies that are produced when a patient’s immune system overreacts after encountering allergens. Once released, the IgE antibodies help trigger allergic reactions that can sometimes be deadly for patients. 
    • Ozureprubart is currently in Phase 2b testing, and Rapt believes it has the potential to be administered every eight to 12 weeks, instead of the two-to-four week regimens currently used for Roche and Novartis’ Xolair. The company also expects the drug to be used by a bigger pool of patients, including those with high levels of IgE or a body weight that makes them ineligible to take Xolair.
  • Per Radiology Business,
    • “[Last] week iSono Health—a company that specializes in developing solutions catered to women’s health—announced the commercial launch of its wearable breast ultrasound system.  
    • “ATUSA is an artificial intelligence-enabled ultrasound device that delivers 3D automated imaging of the breast at the point of care. ISono Health developed the system to address the diagnostic gap between women with dense breast tissue and challenges accessing supplemental imaging. The company believes the product has the potential to address shortages of skills sonographers by putting the easy-to-use technology directly in the hands of providers in clinic. 
    • “ATUSA is a systemwide upgrade for women’s breast health,” Neda Razavi, CEO of iSono Health, said in an announcement. “We are putting the power of a world-class radiology suite into the hands of local clinicians, replacing slow, manual workflows with real-time diagnostic images at the point of care.”