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Read today’s Kaiser Health News
In other news:
NIH restores DEI prohibition for grant recipients within hours of rescinding it: On Monday, the National Institutes of Health rescinded a 7-week-old DEI directive, only to reinstate it hours later without explanation.
The maneuvering dates back to April, when the National Institutes of Health began requiring grantees to certify they did not have diversity, equity, and inclusion policies that ran afoul of anti-discrimination laws or boycotts of Israel in order to receive funding for research. The move made some universities worry about their ability to accept grant funding from the NIH without opening themselves up to litigation from the Trump administration.
Dozens of states sue to block the sale of 23andMe personal genetic data without customer consent: Twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia on Monday filed a lawsuit in bankruptcy court seeking to block the sale of personal genetic data by 23andMe without customer consent. The lawsuit comes as a biotechnology company seeks the court’s approval to buy the struggling firm.
Biological samples, DNA data, health-related traits and medical records are too sensitive to be sold without each person’s express, informed consent, Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said in a news release about the lawsuit. Customers should have the right to control such deeply personal information and it cannot be sold like ordinary property, it said.
About health insurance/insurers
Moody’s downgrades UnitedHealth’s outlook to negative, affirms credit ratings: Moody’s Ratings has downgraded UnitedHealth Group’s outlook from stable to negative, citing “a number of adverse trends simultaneously.”
The ratings agency also affirmed the company’s strong credit ratings, including its long-term issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings, as well as its short-term commercial paper rating. UnitedHealthcare’s financial strength rating was maintained as well.
Moody’s downgraded UnitedHealth because of the higher than expected medical cost trend within its Medicare Advantage business, increased leverage post-cyberattack on Change Healthcare, a decline in the company’s risk-based capital level, reduced interest coverage, and potential credit risk from reported Justice Department investigations into its MA billing practices.
About hospitals and healthcare systems
15 profitable health systems in Q1 FYI
About pharma
Amazon Can’t Shed Supplement Label Deception Consumer Class Suit: Amazon.com Services LLC failed to shake off a proposed class action alleging the e-commerce marketplace misled consumers into thinking supplements they bought on the site had therapeutic value and that the marketing claims were reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration.
About healthcare IT
Joint Commission to create guidelines on AI’s use in healthcare: The Joint Commission has partnered with the Coalition for Health AI to establish and implement evidence-based guidance on the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare operations.
The first set of guidelines and best practices is slated to be released in the fall…
About healthcare personnel
Relocation Post-Dobbs Among Clinicians Providing Abortions: This survey study found that after Dobbs, 42% of survey respondents who provided abortions in states banning abortion relocated to another state. Almost all clinicians who relocated from any policy context relocated to states not banning abortion. We document practice relocation rates vastly exceeding those of obstetrician-gynecologists from 2005 to 2015, and among obstetrician-gynecologists post-Dobbs…Given that most study respondents provided both abortion and nonabortion health care, these accelerated relocations have implications for abortion access and for the broader maternal health workforce, exacerbating health care deserts and outcome disparities.
53% of benefit managers know their wellness programs are failing employees: Ultimately, well-being initiatives will only have an impact when they are employee-centered, culturally supported and strategically integrated into the broader benefits ecosystem. As companies grapple with rising healthcare costs and evolving employee expectations, it's no longer enough to offer wellness as an add-on. It must be a pillar of the employee experience.
Comment: The entire article is worth reading. Implementing employee heath programs without understanding what is being addressed and how individuals will adopt them is bound to fail.