OptumRx is changing the way it pays pharmacies, reimbursing them more for branded drugs and less for generics, the company announced.
Why it matters: Drug supply middlemen like Optum are facing more criticism for using anticompetitive tactics that steer business to their own affiliates and can disadvantage independent pharmacies.
Prospective cuts to domestic HIV prevention efforts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could widen health disparities and weigh heaviest on young Black and Hispanic men in the South, public health officials say.
Why it matters: A Health and Human Services plan reportedly under consideration that would scrap the agency's HIV prevention division and transfer its functions elsewhere would mark a significant shift from President Trump's first term, when he pledged to end HIV in the U.S. by 2030.
Pharmaceutical companies and other health interests are increasingly using terminology associated with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s public health movement as they seek to work with the new administration.
Why it matters: It's common for businesses and organizations to shift their communications strategy when a new administration takes office. But Kennedy's high-profile push to upend the public health care system and take on corporate influences in medicine makes the communications pivot more urgent for health organizations.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is making infant formula the next target of his review of the food supply, launching an initiative on Tuesday that includes evaluating nutrients and increasing testing for heavy metals and other foreign substances.
Why it matters: The supply chain for infant formula, which is complicated to manufacture and highly regulated, is notoriously fragile.
Optum Rx — which includes the pharmacy benefit manager of health care conglomerate UnitedHealth Group — is dropping annual reauthorization requirements for 80 drugs, which will eliminate more than 10% of overall pharmacy prior authorizations, the company announced.
Why it matters: Prior authorizations have rocketed to the center of health carepolicy conversations, driven largely by patients' frustration with a practice that can result in delayed or even denied care.
Trump administration spending cuts and freezes to federal grants are roiling major academic medical research programs, prompting layoffs, and leading administrators to abandon studies and rescind admissions offers to graduate students.
Why it matters: Experts predict the face of university research could be permanently changed, affecting work on treatments for cancer, Alzheimer's, and diabetes, among other conditions, along with studies on the underpinnings of disease.
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