Intro

Howie and Harlan are joined by Vin Gupta, a physician, a medical analyst for NBC News, and the chief medical officer of Amazon Pharmacy. Harlan reports on the Biden administration's proposal to cover obesity drugs with Medicare and Medicaid; Howie offers some reasons to be thankful.

Links:

Coverage of Obesity Medication

"White House Fact Sheet: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Takes Latest Step to Lower Prescription Drug Costs by Proposing Expanded Coverage of Anti-Obesity Medications for Americans with Medicare and Medicaid"

"The (Minimum) Emergency Savings Needed in America's 50 Largest Cities"

"The implications of defining obesity as a disease: a report from the Association for the Study of Obesity 2021 annual conference"

"Expanded Medicare Coverage of Antiobesity Drugs May Cost Billions Each Year"

Harlan Krumholz: "Eligibility for Cardiovascular Risk Reduction Therapy in the United States Based on SELECT Trial Criteria: Insights From the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey"

Vin Gupta

"Ozempic and Wegovy may help curb alcohol addiction, study suggests"

"Amazon Launches $5-a-Month Prescription Drug Plan in Further Healthcare Push"

"As Mail Order Pharmacies Continue to Climb in Customer Satisfaction, Chain Drug Stores Fall Behind, J.D. Power Finds"

"The Powerful Companies Driving Local Drugstores Out of Business"

"Amazon Purchase of One Medical Health Clinics Won't Be Blocked by FTC"

Anthropic: Meet Claude

"A.I. Chatbots Defeated Doctors at Diagnosing Illness"

Reasons to be Thankful

"As Medicaid Unwinding Concludes in Most States, KFF Finds 25 Million Lost Medicaid Coverage but Enrollment is 10 Million Higher Than Pre-Pandemic Levels"

"Egypt has been declared malaria-free by the World Health Organization"

"FDA Approves First Gene Therapies to Treat Patients with Sickle Cell Disease"

"Novel pulsed field ablation offers patients safer and faster atrial fibrillation ablation"

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Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.