Last year, private equity firms were responsible for 17 (21%) of 80 total health care bankruptcy filings, while another wave of these bankruptcies is expected in 2024, according to the Private Equity Stakeholder Project.

Obesity and excess weight were estimated to have cost U.S. businesses and employees $425.5 billion in 2023.

Pharmacy benefit manager Optum Rx plans to launch Clear Trend Guarantee in 2025 to allow employers and health insurers to more easily manage their drug spending, while creating more predictability for patients around costs.

The new lawsuit, which follows similar litigation filed by AdventHealth and Allegiance Health Management, names Aetna, Elevance Health, Cigna, UnitedHealth Group and Humana as "co-conspirators" in the "MultiPlan cartel."

An increasing number of employers are offering their employees access to psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, as part of their mental health coverage to treat depression, anxiety and PTSD - and to lower costs.

With drug shortages at an all-time high, the Senate Finance Committee wants to create a new program to incentivize improved contracting and purchasing practices in the supply chain by offering bonuses to hospitals and providers.

With concerns that costs could reach more than $1 billion over the next 6 years, North Carolina opted to stop coverage for the pricey new GLP-1s, saying the contracts between the drugmakers and the PBMs "are all-or-nothing."

The agency has stepped up its campaign against drugmakers' improper listing of patents in the FDA's Orange Book, which it contends are ploys intended to delay generic competition, by disputing junk patent listings for 300 drugs.