More corporations are cutting ties with the three biggest pharmacy benefit managers and striking deals with smaller rivals to help manage their drug costs, a new survey from the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions found.
Why it matters: The findings are the latest sign of a shift underway in employer-sponsored health care as companies grapple with soaring health costs and a threat of worker lawsuits tied to how well they manage plans.
Artificial intelligence isn't just speeding up early-stage drug development, it's starting to unlock millions of dollars' worth of new efficiencies in clinical trials on cancer treatments, research shared first with Axios shows.
Why it matters: AI-powered tools could shave months offtime-consuming processes like recruiting and enrolling patients, monitoring results and interpreting data.
Providers and insurers are so divided over the process for resolving surprise billing disputes that they can't even agree on the true size of the payouts. And the blame game is likely to continue into next year.
The big picture: The continued sparring four and a half years after a federal surprise billing law took effect is fueling fresh calls for another congressional "fix" to address a staggering backlog of cases and questions, like which disputed items and services can be lumped together.
The Trump administration on Tuesday finalized a plan to cut off federal Medicaid funding for hormone therapy, puberty blockers and surgeries for transgender youths.
Why it matters: The rule is the latest escalation in the administration's effort to limit transition-related care, which has tested the boundaries of executive powers and could undercut federal and state protections.
A paramedic responding to a 911 call in coastal North Carolina recently piloted a "Jetsons"-like personal aircraft to the scene, landing in the patient's yard to begin treatment roughly 20 minutes before ground ambulances arrived.
Why it matters: That fast airborne response offers a glimpse of the future of emergency medical care in rural America, where hospitals are far away and time is critical to save lives.
The Trump administration on Monday proposed requiring food companies to tell the Food and Drug Administration when they determine ingredients are safe to eat and doing away with an oft-criticized voluntary notification program.
Why it matters: Food safety advocates have long complained that the "generally recognized as safe," or GRAS,designation is a major blind spot.
President Trump's call for a controversial overhaul of the childhood immunization schedule puts high-risk vaccine policy changes front and center just three months before the midterm elections.
Why it matters: The most immediate impact of Monday's executive order may be political, if childhood vaccines are as popular as polling suggests.
When Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez posted a video Saturday giving herself a shot in preparation to freeze her eggs, she instantly injected issues of fertility, family and feminism into political discourse.
And some of the online backlash from the conservative right is making Republicans, including some in the White House, a little nervous.
Why it matters: The New York Democrat's Instagram announcement — "Don't be weird about this, even though I know all of you will be," she said — dominated social media and furthered speculation that AOC is plotting a White House run in two years.
