The Gist Healthcare Podcast

Incoming President Donald Trump is reportedly weighing significant changes to Medicaid, and some states are rushing to get their waiver requests in before President Biden leaves office. UnitedHealth Group announces Change Healthcare’s clearinghouse services are fully operational following a massive cyberattack on the company earlier this year. And, nearly 10,000 Corewell nurses in southeast Michigan will unionize. 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.

Scott Christensen, Senior Vice President at Kaufman Hall, dives into the evolving landscape of retail healthcare delivery. He discusses the mixed results of major players like CVS and Amazon compared to the struggles of Walmart and Walgreens. The conversation highlights the key factors shaping the future of retail health—convenience, pricing transparency, and consumer expectations. Christensen shares insights on Walmart's challenges in sustaining its healthcare initiatives and the broader economic pressures that impact patient access.

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.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, UMass Memorial Health in Worcester, Massachusetts began to pilot a new hospital-at-home program: one for postpartum patients. Benjamin Hamar, MD, Director of the Maternity Center at UMass Memorial and a member of the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Division, joins the podcast to tell host J. Carlisle Larsen more about the first-in-the-nation model. 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.