In other news:
About health policy/law
Setting Public Health Priorities in the United States A thoughtful framework for setting these priorities.
States secure sweeping temporary restraining order against Trump's federal assistance 'pause' “A second federal judge has put the Trump administration's "temporary pause" and review of federal financial assistance on ice, and this time the temporary restraining order is indefinite and much more sweeping.
The order, handed down Friday afternoon by Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, comes after the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) rescinded a memo outlining a funding freeze that threw much of the country's federal funding recipients into a panic.”
In a related story: National Science Foundation suspends salary payments, leaving researchers unable to pay their bills “Though a judge blocked that suspension on Tuesday before it could take effect, and the administration rescinded the memo that ordered it on Wednesday, on Thursday the NSF’s online payment system was still down, throwing lives into uncertainty. An NSF email seen by STAT suggested salaries had been suspended to ‘ensure only eligible activities’ are funded.”
CDC removal of databases on sexual orientation, gender identity sparks alarm “Data from an expansive federal survey on youth behavioral habits, including their sexual orientation and gender identity, have been removed from the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which maintains the data.
The CDC and other federal agencies appeared to be racing to meet a Friday afternoon deadline to remove “gender ideology” from their websites, in accordance with a memo from the Office of Personnel Management. NBC News reported that all the CDC’s HIV pages were removed, but the main page appeared to have been restored later.”
N.Y. doctor charged with prescribing abortion pills to Louisiana girl “A New York doctor was criminally indicted Friday for allegedly prescribing abortion pills to a girl in Louisiana, setting up one of the first major legal challenges to ‘shield laws’ enacted by some Democratic-led states to protect doctors providing abortion access since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022.
Louisiana prosecutors accuse Margaret Carpenter, 55, of affecting a criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs. They also indicted her company, Nightingale Medical. Carpenter faces one to five years in prison and a $5,000 to $50,000 fine if convicted of violating a 2022 Louisiana law that bans abortion.”
KFF Tracking Poll on Health Information and Trust: January 2025 Too much information to summarize but look at the Figures. The level of mistrust and misunderstanding is very worrisome.
About pharma
Walgreens suspends quarterly dividend, stock plunges “Walgreens Boots Alliance is suspending its quarterly stock dividend to shareholders for the first time in 92 years, the latest sign that the Deerfield-based pharmacy chain is struggling to cut costs, improve margins and find stability.
The company said the dividend suspension is part of management’s plan to evaluate and refine its capital allocation policy amid a broader long-term turnaround plan. Doing so is aimed at strengthening Walgreens' balance sheet and allows it to focus on reducing debt and improving free cash flow.”
About health insurance
Allstate sells group health business to Nationwide in $1.25 billion cash deal “Insurance giant Allstate is selling its group health business to rival Nationwide for $1.25 billion in cash as part of its plan to focus on its core products such as property and casualty insurance.
Allstate is expected to post a financial book gain of $450 million from the sale of the business, which it acquired in 2021 as part of its purchase of National General, company Chief Financial Officer Jess Merten said in a statement.
The group health business, which provides insurance protecting small businesses from unexpected large medical claims, had revenue of $608 million and adjusted net income of $69 million for the first nine months of 2024, Allstate said.”
Cigna set to close $3.7B MA sale to HCSC in Q1 “age business in the first quarter of 2025, in line with its expectations.
The insurer announced plans to sell off its MA plans to Health Care Service Corporation in January 2024 in a deal valued at $3.7 billion. Chief Financial Officer Brian Evanko said that all federal antitrust approvals have been received, as have all but one state approval.”
Medicare Advantage Insurers Made Nearly 50 Million Prior Authorization Determinations in 2023
—"In 2023, there were nearly 2 prior authorization determinations on average per Medicare Advantage enrollee, similar to the amount in 2019.
—In 2023, insurers fully or partially denied 3.2 million prior authorization requests, which is a somewhat smaller share (6.4%) of all requests than in 2022 (7.4%).
—A small share of denied prior authorization requests was appealed in Medicare Advantage (11.7% in 2023).
—Though a small share of prior authorization denials were appealed to Medicare Advantage insurers, most appeals (81.7%) were partially or fully overturned in 2023. That compares to less than one-third (29%) of appeals overturned in traditional Medicare in 2022.”
Aetna, Centene, Blue Shield launch 'single payment' primary care model in California “Instead of each health plan using its own payment system, the three insurers use a single, shared system that rewards physicians for providing high-quality care, especially among underserved populations. The CQC will help practices implement the new system, improve care coordination, and integrate mental and physical health services. A platform called Cozeva will provide data to help physicians track their performance and close care gaps.
Participating providers are here. A full model guide is available here.”