The Gist Healthcare Podcast

President-elect Donald Trump nominates Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the next Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. And the Biden Administration sues to halt Optum’s multibillion dollar acquisition of home health provider Amedisys on antitrust grounds. We get those stories—and more—coming up on today’s episode of the Gist Healthcare podcast. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cigna confirms it is not pursuing an acquisition of rival health insurer Humana. OptumHealth and Aetna agree to settle a class action lawsuit alleging that they billed health plan members for administrative fees coded as medical expenses.  And, hospital-associated infection rates are down, according to recent data from the CDC. We’ll get that story—and more—coming up on today’s episode of the Gist Healthcare

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

• General Catalyst’s HATco signs a definitive agreement to purchase Akron, OH-based Summa Health. The Food and Drug Administration plans to remove a common—but ineffective—decongestant ingredient from the market. And, more young people are landing in the emergency department for consuming too much caffeine. We’ll get that story—and more—coming up on today’s episode of the Gist Healthcare

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Share prices of Medicare Advantage health insurers jump following former-President Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential race. Novant Health completes its acquisition of 200-provider group from a South Carolina health insurer. And, Medicaid’s gross spending on GLP-1 drugs grew by 500% over a four-year period. We’ll get that story—and more—coming up on today's episode of the Gist Healthcare podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Physicians are facing a Medicare pay cut again in 2025 and are calling on Congress to fix the issue. Virtual mental health provider company Cerebral has reached an agreement with the federal government to pay fines tied to allegations that it overprescribed controlled substances, like Adderall. And, a smaller proportion of healthcare workers have received the latest COVID shot. We’ll get that story—and more—coming up on today’s episode of the Gist Healthcare podcast. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Medicare’s largest accountable care program saved the federal government more than $2 billion dollars last year. CVS bucks the retail-healthcare contraction trend and announces expanded primary care services for its Aetna members at its MinuteClinic locations in certain markets. And, Cigna’s CEO brushes off Humana purchase rumors in a call to investors. We’ll get that story—and more—coming up on today’s episode of the Gist Healthcare podcast. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A government watchdog finds that Medicare paid health insurers billions for what it says were questionable home diagnoses. UnitedHealth and home healthcare company Amedisys are reportedly appealing to regulators in an effort to finalize their proposed multi-billion-dollar merger. And, Novo Nordisk wants to block compounding pharmacies from creating Ozempic knockoffs. We’ll get that story—and more—coming up on today’s episode of the Gist Healthcare podcast. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Medicare Advantage market has seen unprecedented growth in recent years, with a majority of Medicare eligible beneficiaries enrolling in one of these privately administered plans in 2024. But over the past couple of years, the industry has experienced some growing pains—ranging from more regulatory scrutiny to higher costs associated with members utilizing more healthcare services.  

In the second half of their conversation, Joyjit Saha Choudhury, Managing Director of the Kaufman Hall’s Strategy and Business Transformation practice, joins host J. Carlisle Larsen to talk about the potential worst-case scenario for the market.  

You can find the first part of their conversation here. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The February cyberattack on Change Healthcare could have compromised the data of 100 million people, making it the largest healthcare data breach reported to the federal government. The Cleveland Clinic and Amazon to partner on primary care clinics in Ohio.  And, Senators want more information from Eli Lilly and Pfizer about their direct-to-consumer platforms. We’ll get that story—and more—coming up on today’s episode of the Gist Healthcare podcast. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.