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In other news:
About health insurance/insurers
Humana posts $693M loss in Q4 “Humana lost $693 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to the company's year-end earnings report published Feb. 11.
The results reflect increased benefits expenses, particularly in Medicare Advantage and state-based contracts. Despite the challenges, the company projected earnings per share of $15.88 for 2025, with an adjusted EPS of approximately $16.25.”
UnitedHealth to pay $20M to settle emergency claims lawsuit from Labor Department “UnitedHealth Group reached a $20.25 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor on Feb. 7, resolving allegations that its subsidiary, UMR, improperly denied claims for emergency room visits and urinary drug screenings for thousands of patients.
The Labor Department originally filed its lawsuit against UnitedHealth subsidiary UMR in July 2023 in a Wisconsin federal court. UMR is UnitedHealthcare's third-party administrator that provides health benefits services to more than 2,100 self-funded employer plans, according to the complaint.”
Kaiser Permanente clears $115B revenue in 2024 thanks to Risant Health additions “Kaiser Permanente pushed its annual operating revenues to new heights last year thanks to the addition of its value-based care subsidiary Risant Health.
The integrated nonprofit health system shared Friday that it brought in $115.8 billion in operating revenues across 2024, up 14.9% from the prior year. Operating expenses also leapt 14.6% to $115.2 billion.
Taken together, Kaiser and new Risant acquisitions Geisinger Health and Cone Health posted an operating income of $569 million (0.3% operating margin) for the year.”
About hospitals and healthcare systems
20 large health systems growing bigger FYI
About pharma
How Medicare Says It Arrives At ‘Fair’ Prescription Drug Prices A great review of this process.
Novartis inks $925M Anthos takeover to buy back phase 3 clot-busting candidate “Novartis has brought abelacimab back into the fold. Six years after spinning the asset out to form Anthos Therapeutics, Novartis has struck a deal to buy Anthos for $925 million upfront to add the clot-busting prospect to its late-phase pipeline.
Abelacimab, an anti-factor XI/XIa antibody, is designed to stop blood clot formation without raising the risk of bleeding and bruising.”
About the public’s health
COVID vaccination saved more than 5,000 US lives in 7 months in 2023-24, CDC estimates “COVID-19 vaccination averted more than 5,000 US in-hospital deaths, 13,000 intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, and 68,000 hospitalizations in 7 months in 2023-2024, researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimatedlate last week in Vaccine, although with considerable uncertainty.”