About pharma
Weight loss surgery more cost effective than GLP-1s: Study “The long-term cost-effectiveness of GLP-1s versus bariatric surgery has been a looming unknown in the healthcare industry. Gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy operations typically cost between $17,400 and $22,850. In contrast, the average annual cost of GLP-1s is between $9,360 and $16,200, but the ideal duration of GLP-1 regimens has not been established.
After analyzing the costs of these treatments until death (up to 50 years) and clinical trial efficacy findings for thousands of patients, the researchers uncovered two main findings.
First, bariatric surgery added two quality-adjusted life years and saved patients about $9,000 more each year compared to GLP-1s. Second, combining surgery and GLP-1s led to more benefits, with average savings of about $7,200 a year and five additional quality-adjusted life years compared to surgery alone.
For GLP-1s alone to achieve similar cost-effectiveness, their prices need to drop by about 75%, according to Joseph Sanchez, MD, the study's lead author. “
About the public’s health
Tobacco Product Use Among Middle and High School Students — National Youth Tobacco Survey, United States, 2024 “From 2023 to 2024, current (previous 30-day) use of any tobacco product declined among high school students from 12.6% to 10.1%, largely driven by the decline in high school e-cigarette use (from 10.0% to 7.8%). During 2024, e-cigarettes remained the most commonly used tobacco product among U.S. youths; nicotine pouches were the second most commonly used tobacco product.”
About healthcare IT
UnitedHealth, CVS and Humana increasingly deploy AI and deny post-acute care claims, Senate report finds “The country’s three largest Medicare Advantage (MA) insurers obstruct seniors’ ability to receive post-acute care, a scathing report from the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations shows.
It outlines attempts from UnitedHealthcare, CVS and Humana—which collectively cover nearly 60% of all MA enrollees—to use technology to reject prior authorization claims, all while reaping profit.
Between 2019 and 2022, the three insurers denied claims for post-acute care at “far higher” rates than for other types of care, and, in 2022, Humana denials in post-acute care were 16 times higher than the companies’ overall denial rates, the report (PDF) says. UnitedHealthcare and CVS denials were three times higher in the same year.”
Solera Health Study Suggests Virtual Healthcare Networks Can Reduce the Cost of Care by up to 3.1% “Conducted in conjunction with healthcare machine-learning company Health at Scale, the research demonstrated that strategically shifting site of care from in-person care to virtual creates a potential 2.3-3.1% reduction in total medical claims spend. Based on Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) estimates of private insurer expenditures in 2022, that could yield a U.S. cost savings of $37 billion to over $50 billion annually.”