Read today’s Kaiser Health News
About Covid-19
Most COVID-19 Drugs Fall Short, Meta-Analysis Confirms: A systematic review and network meta-analysis published in The BMJ evaluated 40 treatments across 187 randomized trials involving more than 166,000 participants. Only two antivirals, nirmatrelvir-ritonavir (Paxlovid) and remdesivir, were found to moderately reduce the risk for hospitalization.
No treatment reduced mortality, although some treatments were associated with a shorter duration of symptoms. These findings are expected to guide future WHOtreatment recommendations.
About health insurance/insurers
Employers pull back on high-deductible health plans, eye PBMs as costs mount: The high cost of employee health benefits has employers looking for new pharmacy benefit manager options and backing off high-deductible health plans that lower-wage workers struggle to cover, according to Gallagher's 2025 U.S. Benefits Benchmarks Report.
The report from the Rolling Meadows-based insurance brokerage also points to a trend of employers adopting a more holistic approach to benefits that encompasses physical, emotional, career and financial health. It is based on Gallagher's 2025 U.S. Benefits Strategy & Benchmarking Survey of more than 4,000 organizations across the U.S.
The survey found that only 12% of employers responding are improving their pharmacy benefits, but 32% are carving out pharmacy benefits to a PBM — a 13-point increase from 2024.
Potential Factors Associated With Commercial-to-Medicare Relative Prices at the Substate Level: This cross-sectional study of 1.2 billion claim lines in 2020 and 1.5 billion claim lines from June 2020 through May 2023 found that commercial in-network allowed amounts were 246% of Medicare rates for hospital services and 124% for professional services, with substantial geographic variation. Higher commercial-to-Medicare price ratios were associated with high hospital market concentration, lower insurer concentration levels, presence of a major teaching hospital, and higher share of the population who were uninsured.
About hospitals and healthcare systems
Genesis HealthCare files for Chapter 11: Genesis, which operates about 175 nursing facilities in 18 states and employs more than 27,000 workers… In filing its case, Genesis said it has roughly $708.5 million in secured liabilities and more than $1.5 billion in unsecured debt, according to Bloomberg.
Obstetric Care Access Declined In Rural And Urban Hospitals Across US States, 2010–22: We identified obstetric service status for every rural and urban short-term acute care hospital in every US state. During 2010–22, seven states had at least 25 percent of hospitals close their obstetric service lines. By 2022, more than two-thirds of rural hospitals in eight states were without obstetric services.
Comment: This situation will get worse when the new tax bill is fully implemented.
About pharma
Walgreens shareholders approve private-equity buyout: Walgreens Boots Alliance shareholders gave the thumbs up to the private-equity buyout by Sycamore Partners, with about 96% of votes cast approving the sale, the Deerfield-based retail pharmacy giant announced this morning.
About the public’s health
Cities with the most, fewest adults in poor health FYI: Three cities in Texas have the highest percentage of adults with fair or poor health, according to WalletHub’s annual ranking, published July 7.
To determine the ranking, WalletHub compared 182 cities across four dimensions — work stress, financial stress, family stress, and health and safety stress — and evaluated those dimensions using 39 weighted metrics. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the highest levels of stress.
About healthcare personnel