Centene pulls its guidance Read in browser

Thursday, 3 July 2025

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After HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he wants every American using a wearable in the next four years, Shelby decided to look closer at the topic.  Her central question was: What evidence is there that wearables can improve health for as broad a population as every American? In particular, there seems to be interest from the administration in continuous glucose monitors, tools historically used by people with diabetes to measure blood glucose levels.  She spoke with three doctors and a researcher who pointed out the evidence — and often lack of evidence — for this technology for people without diabetes. And yet, this is the group of people that CGM device makers and startups are increasingly targeting.  What I found interesting was how much the rhetoric has turned to whether CGMs can achieve outcomes similar to popular GLP-1 medications. Shelby breaks down the caveats there too. Take a read here.  - Lydia

Here’s what’s new The Trump administration is promoting wearable health devices — with or without evidence Continuous glucose monitors, or CGMs for short, have been staples for helping people with diabetes manage their conditions. But lately they’ve been embraced and promoted by wellness influencers and the “Make America Healthy Again” movement as a better, natural way for just about anyone to manage their blood sugar and stave off disease, without having to resort to pharmaceuticals. Most medical experts Endpoints News spoke with doubted CGMs are the key to solving America’s chronic disease crisis. PBM reforms fail to make the cut as Senate passes Trump’s megabill Ef­forts to rein in phar­ma­cy ben­e­fit man­agers, for which drug­mak­ers have been build­ing bi­par­ti­san sup­port over the years, were left out of the Sen­ate-passed ver­sion of Pres­i­dent Don­ald Trump’s mega­bill.

Quote of the week “Preventive care, getting your annual physical, your labs, has proven to be a better measure of long-term health than an expensive wearable.” Disha Narang, endocrinologist and director of obesity medicine at Chicago-area health system Endeavor Health

This week in health Тech Centene, one of the biggest health insurers in the ACA marketplace, pulled its 2025 guidance Tuesday after new actuarial data showed that market is growing slower and the members are sicker than the company expected. It could be a bad sign for other ACA insurers, Wall Street analysts warned. Woebot founder and CEO Alison Darcy talked to Stat News about why the company shut down its signature therapy chatbot app, shedding light on where conversational AI and regulations are coming to a head in digital health. “What is more important to us right now? Is it the regulatory clearance, or is it the ability to create the best possible experience for users? You can’t do both right now,” Darcy said. “Operation Gold Rush” uncovered billions of dollars in Medicare fraud related to claims for urinary catheters, the Washington Post reports. A group of companies in 2022 started submitting claims collectively for 1 billion catheters — more than the US can even make, according to one of the investigators.

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