Axios

The digital detox movement is gaining popularity, driven by grassroots efforts to limit screen time and a broader push among Gen Zers to switch off their phones.

The big picture: Phone-free bars, restaurants and entertainment experiences are on the rise while cellphone pouches are becoming an essential item at schools, weddings, proms and retreats, and search interest in apps that keep you off your phone skyrocketed.

Major health insurers including UnitedHealthcare, Humana and CVS Health/Aetna will adopt a single standard for health providers to request pre-treatment reviews starting next year, the insurers tell Axios.

Why it matters: Health plans often deny or delay coverage because of incomplete documentation.

• A standardized approach could reduce the back-and-forth between plans and providers — and improve the odds of delivering timely care.

You can learn a lot about the indomitable nature of the human spirit by training for and tackling a marathon.

Why it matters: It's a tremendous physical feat. But standing at the finish line — watching thousands of people arrive after 26.2 miles of pain, doubt and persistence — may be even more gratifying.

• I witnessed it this week at the atmospheric end of the Boston Marathon.

A long-awaited confrontation between Senate health committee Chair Bill Cassidy and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. passed without major fireworks on Wednesday — but with Kennedy indicating he would let the next Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director make decisions without interference.

Why it matters: Cassidy and Kennedy have increasingly been at odds over Trump administration health policies and Kennedy's criticisms of vaccines since the Louisiana Republican cast a decisive vote to confirm Kennedy last year.

Washington's anti-hospital animus is gaining momentum with new calls to crack down on federal financing of hospitals coming from a think tank with close ties to the Trump administration.

Why it matters: It's becoming apparent on both sides of the aisle that addressing health care costs means addressing their largest driver: Hospitals.

The nation's troubled organ transplant system may be about to get some help from above.

• NASA is researching whether unmanned drones could help solve reliability issues that have cost patients life-saving organs and left donor tissue lost in transit or unusable.

The Trump administration is indefinitely delaying a Medicare pilot program to cover weight-loss drugs after health insurance companies voiced concerns about participating, federal officials said Tuesday.

Why it matters: It's a blow to the administration after President Trump last year touted deals with Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to cut prices on GLP-1 drugs in exchange for access to a new pool of patients.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Health leaders at an April 16 Axios event warned that funding uncertainty and workforce shortages are colliding in the state.

Why it matters: An inability to pay providers, augment care centers, and train new staff threatens the quality of care for residents across North Carolina.

Axios' Mary Helen Moore and Caitlin Owens moderated conversations with North Carolina Healthcare Association CEO Josh Dobson, North Carolina Nurses Association CEO Tina C. Gordon and the North Carolina Office of Rural Health director Margaret Sauer. The event was sponsored by UnitedHealth Group.

Driving the news: The North Carolina General Assembly convenes Tuesday to pass an overdue state budget that will determine Medicaid funding.

By the numbers: North Carolina is projected to face $40 billion in budget cuts over the next 10 years.

• 3.1 million North Carolinians rely on Medicaid coverage.

The staffing bottleneck is real, with 80,000 qualified nursing applicants turned away in 2024 due to limited school capacity, according to Gordon.

What they're saying: "There's a false narrative … that all hospitals and all providers are flush with cash and there's all this money. That's just not the case," Dobson said.

• "We have a lot of burnout in the workplace for all clinicians. … We have a lot of retirements from an aging workforce, and we have a significant increase in need," Gordon said.

Threat level: If the current conditions aren't addressed, "hospitals close, patients don't have places to go for care," Gordon said.

The bottom line: Providers "want to be able to take care of their patients," Sauer said. "We just want to do the best thing, and sometimes we can't if we don't have the money."

Content from the sponsor's segment:

In a sponsored View From the Top conversation, Danielle Gray, UnitedHealth Group executive vice president of corporate and external affairs, and Meg Zomorodi, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor and senior associate provost for academic excellence, spoke to Axios publisher Nicholas Johnston.

• The organization announced a $3 million grant to UNC's Robert A. Ingram Institute for Healthcare Access.
• "Our community investment strategy is part and parcel of our mission … to help people live healthier lives and to help make the health system work better for everyone," Gray said.
• "Ingram's mission really centers around explore, employ and empower," Zomorodi said. "We can't be gap-filling. We need to actually be team building."

Steak n Shake — the chain that proudly cooks its french fries in "100% beef tallow" — has just named a chief "Make America Healthy Again" officer.

Why it matters: It's the latest sign of how Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s movement is influencing major food brands.

Doula care has gone from a niche birth option to a Medicaid-covered benefit in more than half of U.S. states.

Why it matters: Research has linked doula support to lower cesarean rates and fewer preterm births.

• And a new review of clinical trials published Tuesday in JAMA Network Open found doula support was most consistently associated with lower maternal anxiety, higher breastfeeding initiation and better postpartum follow-up care.