Trump’s pick to head DEA withdraws after GOP criticism of his covid policies “Chronister, a career law enforcement officer who has spent little time on the national stage, announced his withdrawal from consideration on social media early Tuesday evening, just three days after Trump’s selection. Chronister said he planned to continue serving as the sheriff in Hillsborough County.”
About health insurance/insurers
Police Hunt for Gunman After UnitedHealthcare C.E.O. Is Killed in Midtown Manhattan “he executive, Brian Thompson, was shot in what the police described as a ‘brazen targeted attack’ outside a hotel where the company was holding an investor meeting. The assailant was last spotted in Central Park, investigators said at a news conference.”
9 States Poised To End Coverage for Millions if Trump Cuts Medicaid Funding “More than 3 million adults in nine states would be at immediate risk of losing their health coverage should the GOP reduce the extra federal Medicaid funding that’s enabled states to widen eligibility, according to KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News, and the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. That’s because the states have trigger laws that would swiftly end their Medicaid expansions if federal funding falls.
The states are Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Utah, and Virginia.”
The largest commercial insurer in every state | 2024 FYI
Small employers are fleeing from fully insured market, analyst tells regulators “Roughly 40% of employers with three to 99 employees are escaping from the fully insured small-group health insurance market by using level-funded plans, an analyst told state insurance regulators earlier this month in Denver.
In 2018, fewer than 10% of small firms had level-funded health plans, according to Kelly Edmiston, policy research manager at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' Center for Insurance Policy and Research.”
Insurers Collected Billions From Medicare for Veterans Who Cost Them Almost Nothing “A Wall Street Journal analysis of Medicare and VA data found that Medicare Advantage insurers collected billions of dollars a year in premiums to provide medical coverage for about one million veterans like Kitt, even though they go to the VA for some or all of their healthcare needs.
The analysis found the insurers paid far fewer medical bills for those veterans than for typical members. About one in five members of Medicare Advantage plans that enroll lots of veterans didn’t use a single Medicare service in 2021, the Journal found. That compares with 3.4% of members of other Medicare Advantage plans.
The federal government paid insurers an estimated $44 billion from 2018 through 2021 to cover Medicare Advantage-plan members who were also users of VA services, based on average payments for all members of those plans. The VA spent $46 billion on the same group’s medical care, according to VA data reviewed by the Journal. The figures exclude pharmacy costs, which many Medicare Advantage plans focused on veterans don’t cover.”
About hospitals and healthcare systems
Kaiser's Risant Health acquires 2nd health system “Risant Health, a nonprofit formed by Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente, acquired Greensboro, N.C.-based Cone Health, a five-hospital system, effective Dec. 1.
The transaction cements Risant as the sole corporate member of Cone Health. There was no purchase price or exchange of cash.”
About pharma
Lilly lands first blow against Novo in head-to-head study of weight loss drugs “op-line results from the Phase IIIb SURMOUNT-5 trial showed that on average, Zepbound led to weight loss of 20.2% compared to 13.7% with Wegovy after 72 weeks. Participants on Zepbound lost 50.3 lbs (22.8 kg), while those given Wegovy lost 33.1 lbs (15.0 kg)”
Nearly 30% of US drugstores closed in one decade, study shows “Nearly three out of 10 U.S. drugstores that were open during the previous decade had closed by 2021, new research shows.
Black and Latino neighborhoods were most vulnerable to the retail pharmacy closures, which can chip away at already-limited care options in those communities, researchers said in a study published Tuesday in Health Affairs.
The trend has potentially gained momentum since the study’s timeframe, because many drugstores are still struggling. In the last three years, the major chains Walgreensand CVS have closed hundreds of additional stores, and Rite Aid shrank as it went through a bankruptcy reorganization.”
About the public’s health
UK junk food ad ban includes porridge and pitta bread snacks “Unhealthy versions of breakfast cereals including muesli, porridge oats and granola will be included in a UK junk food advertising ban from next year. Pitta bread snacks, rice cakes, tea and coffee with added sugar also fall within the regulations that prevent unhealthy food being advertised online or before 9pm on TV. The UK government wants to reduce children’s exposure to foods high in fat, sugar or salt to tackle obesity-related diseases such as diabetes.”
Comment: A laudatory move, but the many special interests in this country would make this move very difficult here.
Acceptability of Guidelines to Stop Colon Cancer Screening by Estimated Life Expectancy “While many older adults found guidelines limiting colon cancer screening after 75 years of age to be somewhat or very acceptable, a sizable minority did not, and this finding is consistent across respondents with different life expectancies.”
About healthcare IT
Use of Artificial Intelligence in Peer Review Among Top 100 Medical Journals “Overall, 78 medical journals (78%) provided guidance on use of AI in peer review. Of these provided guidance, 46 journals (59%) explicitly prohibit using AI, while 32 allow its use if confidentiality is maintained and authorship rights were respected. Internationally based medical journals are more likely to permit limited use than journals’ editorial located in the US or Europe, and mixed publishers had the highest proportion of prohibition on AI use.”
Secure Messaging Use and Wrong-Patient Ordering Errors Among Inpatient Clinicians “In this cohort study of inpatient clinicians, higher daily secure messaging was associated with increased odds of wrong-patient ordering errors. Although messaging may increase cognitive load and risk for wrong-patient ordering errors, these results do not provide conclusive evidence regarding the direct impact of secure messaging on errors, as increased messaging may also reflect greater care coordination, increased patient complexity, or communication of the presence of a wrong-patient ordering error.”
About healthcare technology
Top health tech hazards of 2025 “The biggest safety concern in health technology for 2025 is artificial intelligence, a new report from nonprofit patient safety organization ECRI found.”
See the ECRI monograph or this article for the list.