More patients on insulin will pay less for the drug this year after a leading manufacturer joined rivals in curbing monthly costs or lowering prices.
Why it matters: Amid a broader debate over high drug prices, rising insulin costs sparked outrage given that it's an old drug that millions of Americans with diabetes depend on.
Health insurance behemoth Cigna is reportedly in advanced talks to sell its Medicare Advantage business to Health Care Service Corp. for as much as $4 billion.
Why it matters: The move marks a reversal of the company's expansion into the senior government health insurance sector and follows a failed December 2023 attempt to negotiate an acquisition of rival Humana.
Researchers found ChatGPT incorrectly diagnosed over 8 in 10 selected pediatric case studies, raising questions about some bots' suitability for helping doctors size up complex conditions.
The big picture: Large language models like OpenAI's ChatGPT are trained on massive amounts of internet data and can't discriminate between reliable and unreliable information, researchers at Cohen Children's Medical Center wrote.
A number of states require places like gyms and sports arenas to keep automated external defibrillators (AEDs) on hand, but those laws have made little difference in how often the life-saving devices are deployed in emergencies, a new JAMA Internal Medicine study finds.
Why it matters: AEDs, which provide an electric shock that can restore normal heart rhythm, can greatly improve the chances of survival from cardiac arrest if bystanders act quickly to use them.
The discontinuation of a popular asthma inhaler this week has raised alarms among doctors who worry about patients, particularly kids, experiencing delays in accessing alternatives.
Why it matters: The potential gaps in access come at a peak time in respiratory virus season, when breathing conditions like asthma, commonly treated with the inhalers, are more likely to be exacerbated.
A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled that Texas can prohibit emergency abortions despite the Biden administration arguing that federal guidance trumps state laws.
The big picture: The state had sued the Department of Health and Human Services over its guidance on the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), which requires that health providers perform abortions in emergency situations.
More than 500 drugs are expected to see price increases early this month, according to a new analysis.
Why it matters: Drugmakers are more likely to raise or lower drug prices around the start of a new year, but the practice may get more scrutiny as the Biden administration conducts the first-ever Medicare drug price negotiations and cracks down on companies that hike drug prices faster than inflation.
For all the frenzied speculation about how AI can transform health care, some companies are leveraging the technology for a decidedly simpler but still critical task: making shopping for health insurance less terrible.
Why it matters: Many Americans typically stick with their health plan year after year even when better and cheaper options are available, often because it's too hard to predict how much care they'll need or figure out if they can actually get a better deal.
