Vic and Marcus mark 9/11, condemn political violence after the Charlie Kirk assassination, and review economic shifts including inflation at 2.9%, job revisions, rising unemployment, record markets, and healthcare’s outsized role in job growth. They cover major healthcare and policy moves (Strive’s $550M raise, AI voice agents, Epic antitrust case, drug ad limits, California PE scrutiny, CMS pressure on Medicaid payments), rising employer costs and PBM battles, payvider and consumer health updates (Kaiser in Nevada, Hims & Hers testosterone, Instacart tackling food insecurity), pharma news (Novo layoffs, Novartis acquisition, J&J bladder-cancer treatment, GLP-1 weight-loss challenges), and tech/AI shifts from billionaire longevity pushes to tokenized securities, Robinhood’s social trading, Oracle’s AI-first EHR and $300B OpenAI deal, and the first AI-made feature film

Links

4:52 - Charlie Kirk Assassination Raises Fear of Surging Political Violence NYT

6:31 - In Public and in Private, New York Prepares to Mark 9/11 Anniversary NYT

6:36 - Inflation Rose to 2.9% in August WSJ

10:42 -  U.S. Added 911,000 Fewer Jobs in the Year Ended in March WSJ

11:03 -  US Initial Jobless Claims Jump to Highest in Almost Four Years Bloomberg

12:12 - Hiring Stalled in August, With 22,000 New Jobs WSJ

12:32 - Healthcare Jobs Are a Rare Bright Spot in the Stalling Labor Market WSJ

14:30 - All Three Major Stock-Market Indexes Close at Records on Hopes for Deeper Rate Cuts WSJ

15:57 - Inflation Erased U.S. Income Gains Last Year WSJ

20:09 - Strive Health Secures $550M to Advance Value-Based Kidney Care Model MedCity

21:42 - Hello Patient secures $22.5M as investors bet on AI voice agent growth Fierce Healthcare

22:16 - MAHA Commission's 128 recommendations on kids' health include more research on vaccines, antidepressants Fierce Healthcare

24: 54 - Healthcare software giant Epic must face rival’s antitrust lawsuit, US judge rules Reuters

26:49 - Trump Moves to Crack Down on Drug Advertising NYT

28:52 - California Bill Would Put Private-Equity Healthcare Deals Under Scrutiny WSJ

30:11 - CMS issues guidance on limits for state-directed payments in Medicaid Fierce Healthcare

30:45 - Supreme Court Agrees to Fast-Track Trump’s Tariff Appeal WSJ

33:33 - Health Insurance Costs for Businesses to Rise by Most in 15 Years WSJ

35:34 - New survey finds more employers are weighing the switch to a transparent PBM Fierce Healthcare

36:23 -  CVS Caremark hit with class-action lawsuit over decision to drop Zepbound from formulary Fierce Healthcare

39:02 - Kaiser Permanente, Renown Health unveil insurance, outpatient joint venture Fierce Healthcare

39:36 -

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Marcus and Vic welcome Kevin Holloran, Senior Director and head of the US Public Finance Healthcare Team at Fitch Ratings, to break down how credit ratings work in healthcare, why balance sheet strength outweighs short-term operating swings, and how margins shifted from steady pre-COVID levels through pandemic collapse, the 2021 rebound, and the post-2022 labor and inflation crunch. They cover Fitch’s focus on hospitals and life plan communities, the sector’s “trifurcation” between winners, rural strugglers, and those stuck in the middle, and the impact of July’s policy shifts—including Medicaid pressures, site-neutral payments, supplemental payment changes, tariffs, and 340B tensions. Kevin also outlines system strategy around scale and outpatient migration, risks for life plan residents, and why the sector’s near-term stability masks growing uncertainty for 2025–26.

Kevin Holloran LinkedIn

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In this weekly rollup, Vic welcomes guest host Jinesh Patel, CEO of Uptime Health, to unpack a packed week across the health and tech economy: a stronger Q2 GDP print alongside rising jobless claims and pricier equities, the AI-driven efficiency wave and large-company layoffs, venture updates from workflow and dementia-care AI to immigrant-care platforms, policy turmoil around the CDC and HHS budgets, a Google antitrust outcome that stops short of a Chrome spinoff, payer and provider shifts (Cigna’s specialty-pharmacy bet, SCAN’s MA expansion, UPMC’s rebound, HonorHealth’s clinic pickup), the aging-alone crisis and home-care labor headwinds, the Web3 through-line from a high-profile Bitcoin listing to Polymarket’s U.S. push, and new AI moves like Epic’s model trained on massive EHR data and OpenAI’s product-testing acquisition—plus how all of it hits frontline operations and revenue in care settings. 

Links

14:29 U.S. Economy Grew Faster in Second Quarter, New Estimate Shows WSJ

17:25 US Initial Jobless Claims Rise to Highest Level Since June Bloomberg

20:50 U.S. Stocks Are Now Pricier Than They Were in the Dot-Com Era WSJ

23:31There's new evidence the job market is softening Axios

25:27 Oracle lays off thousands—or more—globally amid rapid AI shifts Fast Company

27:49 Predoc raises $30M to scale AI health information management platform Silicon Angle

29:34 NewDays Secures $7M To Expand Treatment for Cognitive Impairment, Dementia MedCity

32:01 Welcome Tech raises $7.5M to expand AI immigrant services Mobi Health

32:39 VCs Had No Time Off This Summer. Blame AI. WSJ

36:59 We Ran the C.D.C.: Kennedy Is Endangering Every American’s Health NYT-Op

37:58 Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: We’re Restoring Public Trust in the CDC WSJ-Op

Enough is Enough Letter: website

43:47 House Republicans propose 6% budget cut to HHS for 2026 fiscal year Fierce Healthcare

45:35 Google Dodges Worst Penalties in U.S. Antitrust Case WSJ

48:30 Cigna’s Evernorth invests $3.5B in ex-Walgreens specialty pharmacy Healthcare Dive

50:23 SCAN Health Plan to expand MA footprint into Washington for 2026 Fierce Healthcare

51:26 UPMC is flipping 2024's operating losses halfway through the new year Fierce Healthcare

52:14 HonorHealth to pick up Evernorth primary care clinics in Phoenix Fierce Healthcare 

53:41 More Older Americans Are Aging Alone. Who Will Take Care of Them? WSJ

56:47 Trump Brothers-Backed Bitcoin Mining Company Surges After Nasdaq Listing WSJ

58:27 Polymarket cleared for US users X

59:39 Comet: A New Medical Intelligence for Clinical and Operational Insights Epic Website

1:02:58 Banner and Ant

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Vic hosts the weekly Health Further rollup with guest cohost Mitch Mudra (Ladder Health) while Marcus is abroad; they open with the Minneapolis mass shooting’s human toll, then cover Mitch’s background at United/Optum and digital therapeutics, Ladder Health’s virtual-first pediatric PT/OT/speech model addressing long wait times (NICU follow-up, Medicaid access, nights/weekends care) and expansion beyond Massachusetts and North Carolina; the economy segment hits Walmart’s inflation-era gains, a stagnant job market, and a K-shaped recovery, plus Nashville’s proposed Boring Company tunnel; venture/biotech news spans LSAI’s $250M back-office automation, allogeneic CAR-T advances, phone-call automation funding, sleep-tech skepticism, and iBot’s mall eye-exam kiosks; policy and payers include Medicare prior auth pilots, the abrupt CDC leadership shake-up and vaccine guidance clash, 340B rebate pilot pushback, a broader DOJ probe into UnitedHealth, a Hopkins–United contract rift, No Surprises Act arbitration costs, LA Children’s layoffs, health-system lab outsourcing, and Walgreens’ breakup; pharma and tech touch Novo hiring freezes, Lilly’s oral GLP-1, Ethereum and stablecoin payments for cheaper rails, Nvidia’s tempered but massive AI buildout, Apple eyeing Gemini for Siri, a Gmail credential scare, Perplexity’s publisher rev-share, Anthropic’s copyright settlement, deepfake avatar abuse, and a NYT case of a teen confiding suicidality to a chatbot prompting AGs’ call for stronger child protections. 

Links

14:29 U.S. Economy Grew Faster in Second Quarter, New Estimate Shows WSJ

17:25 US Initial Jobless Claims Rise to Highest Level Since June Bloomberg

20:50 U.S. Stocks Are Now Pricier Than They Were in the Dot-Com Era WSJ

23:31There's new evidence the job market is softening Axios

25:27 Oracle lays off thousands—or more—globally amid rapid AI shifts Fast Company

27:49 Predoc raises $30M to scale AI health information management platform Silicon Angle

29:34 NewDays Secures $7M To Expand Treatment for Cognitive Impairment, Dementia MedCity

32:01 Welcome Tech raises $7.5M to expand AI immigrant services Mobi Health

32:39 VCs Had No Time Off This Summer. Blame AI. WSJ

36:59 We Ran the C.D.C.: Kennedy Is Endangering Every American’s Health NYT-Op

37:58 Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: We’re Restoring Public Trust in the CDC WSJ-Op

Enough is Enough Letter: website

43:47 House Republicans propose 6% budget cut to HHS for 2026 fiscal year Fierce Healthcare

45:35 Google Dodges Worst Penalties in U.S. Antitrust Case WSJ

48:30 Cigna’s Evernorth invests $3.5B in ex-Walgreens specialty pharmacy Healthcare Dive

50:23 SCAN Health Plan to expand MA footprint into Washington for 2026 Fierce Healthcare

51:26 UPMC is flipping 2024's operating losses halfway through the new year Fierce Healthcare

52:14

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Vic is joined by guest host Mitch Mudra, founder of Ladder Health, to discuss the Minneapolis mass shooting, his background at UnitedHealth, and building Ladder to address developmental delays in children. They cover Walmart’s gains during inflation, job market risks, Nashville’s tunnel project, and major healthcare VC deals including LS AI and CAR T therapy. Other topics include AI in back-office operations, sleep and vision tech startups, CMS pre-authorization, CDC leadership turmoil, 340B rebate changes, UnitedHealth’s DOJ probe, Johns Hopkins’ contract fight, no-surprise billing costs, children’s hospital layoffs, Quest’s lab joint venture, and Walgreens’ breakup. They also review pharma updates from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, Web3 payment innovations, Nvidia’s growth slowdown, Apple’s potential deal with Google Gemini, perplexity’s publisher model, and the dangers of AI misuse highlighted by a teen suicide linked to ChatGPT.

Guest Host Mitch Mudra - LinkedIn - http://bit.ly/4p7wxnJ

Links

00:45 How the Minneapolis Catholic School Shooting Unfolded WSJ

17:15Walmart Wins Over More Shoppers as Tariffs Push Prices Higher WSJ

18:12 Stagnant Job Market Is a Rising Risk for the U.S. Economy WSJ

19:15 Dow Loses About 350 Points After Record-Breaking Run WSJ

20:05 Boring Co. faces $1.7M annual fee for airport tunnel access in Nashville's ambitious transit plan Nash Business Journal

20:33 EliseAI banks $250M to fire up healthcare automation business Fierce Healthcare

22:37 Wugen woos VCs, landing $115M to bring fratricide-resistant CAR-T cell therapy to market 

25:10 Assort Health nabs $50M to automate patient phone calls TechCrunch

25:38 Sleep.ai raises $5.5M to aid in rest with data-backed sleeping insights Silicon Angle

27:34 Eyebot gets $20M Series A to expand eye care access TechCrunch

29:04 Medicare Will Require Prior Approval for Certain Procedures NYT

31:08 CDC Director Susan Monarez ousted one month after confirmation Fierce Healthcare

31:53 White House Says New C.D.C. Director Is Fired, but She Refuses to Leave NYT

35:06 ‘Solution in search of a problem:’ AHA slams 340B rebates pilot Modern Healthcare

37:04 UnitedHealth Ongoing Criminal Probe Is Broader Than Medicare Bloomberg

40:35 Johns Hopkins hospitals, clinicians leave UnitedHealthcare's network amid contract dispute Fierce Healthcare

41:52 No Surprises dispute resolution is creating billions of dollars in extra costs, could raise premiums: analysis Healthcare Dive

43:25 Hundreds of L.A. children’s hospital employees just had positions eliminated

44:54 Corewell Health, Quest Diagnostics unveil lab testing joint venture Fierce Healthcare

45:37 Walgreens going Private Process????

46:38 Novo Nordisk Freezes Hiring in Non

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Vic hosts solo as Marcus steps away after losing a pet, then runs a tight roundup: stronger corporate earnings and Fed minutes ahead of Jackson Hole; likely September rate‑cut odds; venture moves including Molecular You’s $5M biomarkers raise, Eight Sleep’s $100M and retail push plus FDA plans; AI in revenue cycle with Develop Health’s $14.3M; Chamath’s new SPAC with tougher sponsor terms; AAP guidance diverging from CDC on pediatric COVID shots; Medicare Advantage star‑ratings loss for a plan and a $289M whistleblower hit for CVS; UnitedHealth’s new governance committee; Emory layoffs and WARN‑act suit, Mass General Brigham’s layoff costs; FDA expanding Wegovy to liver disease; rising survival and uncertainty with metastatic cancers; Circle insider selling after its IPO; Texas AG probing Meta and Character.AI mental‑health claims; EHR AI escalation from Epic (160 projects) and Athenahealth, plus Google’s on‑device Magic Queue and Fitbit coaching; deepfake risks from politics to CEO scams, with a NYT quiz that fools viewers; and a Loom “lamp” robot that folds laundry.

Links

0:48 Strong Crop of Earnings Eases Investors’ Economic Concerns WSJ

1:38 Fed Minutes Reveal Broad Support for Holding Rates Steady Last Month WSJ

2:34 Behind Powell’s Big Gamble in Final Jackson Hole Speech NYT

3:40 B.C. healthy longevity company Molecular You raises $5M to expand biomarker testing Geek Wire

4:05 Eight Sleep raises $100 million, preps retail stores Axios=

5:18 Develop Health garners $14.3M for AI prior authorization platform Mobi Health

5:59 ‘Spac King’ Chamath Palihapitiya returns with a new blank-cheque vehicle https://www.axios.com/2025/08/20/chamath-palihapitiya-spac

7:58 Leading Pediatrics Group Recommends Covid-19 Shots for Young Children, Differing From CDC WSJ

9:01 Elevance Health loses Medicare Advantage star ratings suit to CMS Fierce Healhcare

10:00 Pennsylvania judge hits CVS with $289M fine in whistleblower suit Fierce Healthcare

10:34 UnitedHealth forms board committee focused on enhanced governance Fierce Healthcare

11:07 Former Emory Healthcare employee files class action lawsuit after wave of layoffs  Atlanta News First

12:28  Despite stronger Q3, Mass General Brigham's operations down $44M across 9 months due to layoff expenses Fierce Healthcare

12:54 FDA Approves Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy for Liver Disease WSJ

13:26 A New Reality for Terminal Cancer: Longer Lives, With Chronic Uncertainty WSJ

15:33 CEO Jeremy Allaire Is Selling Circle Stock Yahoo

16:59 Texas attorney general accuses Meta, Character.AI of misleading kids with mental health claims TechCrunch

18:11 How athenahealth is approaching AI for physician practices as tech innovation accelerates Fierce Healthcare

18:45

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Vic and Marcus talk with Carlos A. Rodriguez, MBA, CEO and Co-Founder of Humanate Inc., about his career from Bain and health system leadership to building a $40M SaaS startup and now launching Humanate, a company focused on agentic AI for healthcare. The discussion covers the origin of “Cassie,” a multilingual AI clinical concierge with ASL support, how staffing shortages and labor inflation shaped the product, case studies reducing record turnaround from 15 days to 48 hours and redeploying staff, a pricing model at half the cost of a human role with higher productivity, capturing patient-experience data at checkout, strict data privacy practices with no data storage and EMR-only transfer, NVIDIA’s partnership and vision for AI agents replacing apps, and the 60-day trial approach accelerating adoption across clinics and health systems. 

LinkedIn Link

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Vic and Marcus recap Marcus’s keynote covering two years of show themes, then dig into Trump’s pace of change, Newsom’s X strategy, July inflation and market reactions, major healthcare deals, Nvidia’s China workaround, U.S. R&D tax incentives, FDA moves, antitrust pushback, and payvider results. They also hit Omada’s growth, Lilly’s weight-loss pill troubles, crypto’s surge, Oracle Health’s EHR push, state AI rules, OpenAI’s rocky rollout, and close with caregiving, healthspan, and their new studio.

Links

8:30 Inflation Held Steady at 2.7% in July WSJ

9:33 U.S. Stocks Amble to Fresh Records on Optimism for a September Rate Cut WSJ

10:26 Isaac Health secures $10.5M to advance technology for brain health and dementia care Fierce Healthcare

11:07Citizen Health Inks $30m Sereis A VC Journal

14:53 Reprieve Cardiovascular raises $61M for heart failure treatment system Mass Device

15:26 Conformal Medical nets $32M to complete trial of foam-based heart occluder Fierce Healthcare

15:57  Tony Robbins and Peter Diamandis’ longevity company Fountain Life raises $18M TechCrunch

16:56 Gameto Secures $44M to Advance Stem Cell Therapy for Infertility and Menopause HIT  Consultant

17:41 Arintra Raises $21M to Help Providers Win the Reimbursement Fight MedCity

18:03 SetPoint Medical nabs $140M to commercialize neuromod device Modern Healthcare

18:36 With Billions at Risk, Nvidia CEO Buys His Way Out of the Trade Battle WSJ

23:14 No More Offshore. Startups Look to Spend and Hire in U.S. Due to Trump Tax Change. WSJ

25:03 Vinay Prasad, in surprise reversal, to rejoin FDA after abrupt departure Biopharma Dive

28:10 Nearly 6,500 providers reject Blue Cross antitrust deal Modern Healthcare

29:04 Cardinal Health Posts Mixed Results, Strikes $1.9 Billion Solaris Health Deal WSJ

30:14 Providence narrows operating losses in Q2 on volume, commercial rate gains Fierce Healthcare

30:36 Kaiser Permanente ahead of last year on revenue and profit Healthcare Finance

36:47 Omada grows revenue, membership in public earnings debut Healthcare Dive

37:59 Eli Lilly Shares Slide as Weight-Loss Pill Results Dent Enthusiasm WSJ

40:20 Bayer, Kumquat Biosciences Team Up on New Potential Cancer Drug WSJ

40:57 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi3A4443HDo

41:52 Crypto Firm Circle Posts Loss in First Earnings Report After IPO WSJ

47:22 Bullish’s Stock Soars in Latest Test for IPO Market WSJ

48:56 Coinbase App X

50:56 Oracle Health debuts

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In this episode of Health Further, Vic is joined by guest host Emily Evans to cover the rise in long-term unemployment, Trump’s criticism of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the struggles of working-class Americans in a K-shaped economy. They discuss potential Fed leadership changes, a housing supply push in New York, Apple’s $100 billion U.S. investment, and tax law changes spurring corporate spending. The conversation covers venture funding in autism care, cardiac imaging AI, IPO news, and AI-driven drug discovery, along with cuts to mRNA COVID-19 vaccine funding, legal challenges to Trump’s tariff powers, and opening 401(k)s to private assets. Payer updates include Blue Shield’s price tool, Oscar Health’s losses, Hy-Vee’s ICHRA plan, and UnitedHealth’s acquisition of Amedisys. They also explore Hinge Health’s earnings, Hims & Hers’ expansion, major pharma moves, fall prevention, AI in heart failure care, consulting disruption, OpenAI announcements, AI market manipulation, and the threat of AI-driven propaganda.

Links

0:57 Unemployed Americans Endure Longer Job Searches in a Cooling Market WSJ

6:43 Trump Seeks Bigger Overhaul at Labor Statistics Bureau, Adviser Says WSJ

7:48 Why the B.L.S. Regularly Revises Jobs Data NYT

12:35 Earning More but in Worse Shape: Hardship Overwhelms Many American Families WSJ

17:41 Trump Just Got a Fresh Shot at Bending the Fed to His Will WSJ

21:35 How an NYC Suburb Is Actually Managing to Bring Rents Down WSJ

25:10 Trump Announces Additional $100 Billion Apple Investment in U.S. NYT

27:53 Cash Windfall From Trump’s Tax Law Is Starting to Show Up at Big Companies WSJ

31:15 Positive Development Rakes In $51.5M To Grow Developmental Therapy Model for Autism MedCity News

32:50 Ultromics nets $55M to boost its AI ultrasound software for detecting hidden heart failure Fierce Healthcare

35:28 Heartflow pumps up IPO plans to $300M Fierce Healthcare

36:08 OpenAI-backed Chai raises $70mn for AI-driven drug discovery FT

38:22 Kennedy Cancels Nearly $500 Million in mRNA Vaccine Contracts NYT

42:57 Trump’s Tariffs Questioned by Appeals Court WSJ

48:06 Trump to Sign Order Easing Path for Private Assets in 401(k)s Bloomberg

51:19 Blue Shield of California launches new prescription price transparency tool for members Fierce Healthcare

52:27 Oscar Health misses estimates in Q2, plans layoffs and inks Hy-Vee-branded ICHRA plan Fierce Healthcare

56:15 UnitedHealth, Amedisys to sell off facilities in settlement with DOJ Fierce Healthcare

58:46 Hinge Health beats Wall Street expectations on revenue in first public earnings Healthcare Dive

59:06 Hims & Hers stock falls 12% on revenue miss as company plots expansion into lab testing, longevity Fierce H

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Vic and Marcus are joined by Dr. Eric Stecker, cardiologist, professor of medicine at Oregon Health and Science University, and co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of Insight Health. They explore the origin story of Insight Health, how generative AI inspired its creation, and what sets their AI apart from typical ambient note-taking tools. The episode covers AI-driven patient intake, EHR integration, improving efficiency in clinical care, reducing physician burnout, and how AI assistants can gather nuanced medical histories and support post-visit follow-ups. Dr. Stecker explains how the platform is being used in real-world clinics, its quality assurance safeguards, and what’s next as AI expands into pediatric care and diagnostic support. They also discuss Insight’s business model, physician satisfaction metrics, and the broader vision of transforming population health through scalable clinical automation.

LinkedIn - http://bit.ly/3Hdbq1X

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