Public health and access to lifesaving vaccines are on the line in a high-stakes leadership battle at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s push to fire CDC director Susan Monarez is more than an administrative shake-up. The firing marks a major offensive by Kennedy to…
How does formulary restrictions impact health outcomes for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS)? To answer this question, Blaylock, Van Nuys and Joyce (2025) use data 100% Medicare claims data from 2018-2022 covering patients with both prescription drug plans (PDPs) and Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug plans (MA-PDs). Individuals were categorized as above vs. below average formulary…
Amy Frank dijo que pasó 17 horas al teléfono durante casi tres semanas, rebotando entre su aseguradora y el sistema hospitalario local, para asegurarse de que el plan de salud cubriera la atención que su esposo necesitaba después de una cirugía. Muchas de sus llamadas no pasaron de la música en espera. Cuando lograba comunicarse,…
“So far AI in health care is being used to drive existing profits on workflows and increase revenue per event that patients in the end have to pay for. That’s not a win for anyone long term!” Included Health’s CEO Owen Tripp dives into the present and future use of AI, LLMs, patient self-triage and…
John McGing couldn’t reach a human. That might be business-as-usual in this economy, but it wasn’t business; he had called the Social Security Administration, where the questions often aren’t generic and the callers tend to be older, disabled, or otherwise vulnerable Americans. McGing, calling on behalf of his son, had an in-the-weeds question: how to…
Amy Frank said it took 17 hours on the phone over nearly three weeks, bouncing between her insurer and her local hospital system, to make sure her plan would cover her husband’s post-surgery care. Many of her calls never got past the hold music. When they did, the hospital told her to call her insurer….
LISTEN: Measles. Chickenpox. Meningitis. Many vaccines can run more than $100 a dose out-of-pocket. Jackie Fortiér tells WAMU’s “Health Hub” how Trump administration changes to the federal vaccine guidelines could make some routine shots too expensive for families. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist, replaced the members of…
FDA uses expedited regulatory pathways (ERPs) in order to accelerate the availability of drugs and diagnostic tests for severe conditions that have unmet medical needs. How often is this process used and has this changed over time? A recent paper by Horn et al. (2025) provides the answer as applied to colorectal cancer (CRC) drugs….
Durante una cena bajo palmeras en la terraza de Mar-a-Lago en diciembre, el presidente electo Donald Trump tranquilizó a los directores ejecutivos de las farmacéuticas Eli Lilly y Pfizer diciéndoles que el activista antivacunas Robert F. Kennedy Jr. no sería una elección radical para dirigir el Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos (HHS). “Creo que…
“NHS will pay diet apps who help to slim patients with weight-loss drugs”AI is creating new math.Denmark economy and Novo Nordisk.CDC resignations continue.Employer strategies for reference-based pricing of provider reimbursement.