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Thursday, 4 December 2025 |
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A year of scrutiny for health insurers |
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A year ago, we started our day chasing down the shocking news that UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson had been shot and killed outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel.
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| The news, and especially the following online fury at the health insurance industry, seemed like a big moment. At the time, we wrote that “the reaction expressed a deep frustration with the healthcare system — and it would be a mistake for the healthcare industry to ignore that. There’s no time more vulnerable than when you need medical
care, and in that moment, you just want your healthcare benefits to work. It’s clear that’s not often people’s experiences.” |
| We asked a handful of trusted sources whether anything has changed, either for the industry or the public. (We also reached out to UnitedHealthcare, which declined to comment.) |
| Warris Bokhari, CEO of Claimable, a startup that uses AI to help people appeal insurance denials, said that if anything, things are worse. That’s in part because of how the health insurance industry has fared over the last year. Medical costs are cutting into insurers’ businesses, and over the last two years, organizations like CVS Health and
UnitedHealth have changed CEOs. Pressure is coming not just from consumers, but investors as well. |
| “We’re in a situation where these insurers are defending the indefensible. The question to me is, at what cost?” Bokhari said. |
| Healthcare consultant and insurance expert Ari Gottlieb said that nothing has fundamentally changed. Sure, insurance companies can be frustrating, but they don't mean to be destructive. The steps companies have taken have been minor, like eliminating some pre-authorization requirements, which some states have already gotten rid of. |
| Instead, the biggest challenge insurers will face this year is the federal funding pullback from Medicaid and the ACA marketplace. He expects little will change going forward. |
| “As much as hospitals complain about insurers, they prefer this model because they know how to make it work for them,” he said. "It's a lot of talk around the edges, but they've all figured out how to optimize it.” |
| Luigi Mangione, accused of killing Thompson, is currently awaiting trial and undergoing a pretrial hearing. He's pleaded not guilty. As the case gets underway, we’ll be watching to see how much of that initial frustration around the healthcare industry — if any — sticks around. |
| - Lydia and Ngai |
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Clinical trials tech startup Paradigm raises $78M, acquires part of Roche’s Flatiron
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When Ken Frazier led Merck, one of the challenges of developing Keytruda was getting the blockbuster-to-be immunotherapy to a broad set of patients. Many patients who could have benefited from the drug couldn't access it in the current trial system.
Frazier, who retired from Merck in 2021, is now on the board of Paradigm Health, a startup aiming to fix those problems that has just raised a $78 million Series B round. Alongside Thursday’s financing, Paradigm also said it acquired the clinical research business of Roche-owned Flatiron Health for undisclosed terms. |
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9-figure rounds |
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The number of health tech funding rounds that were above $100 million this year, totaling $5.9 million in funding by mid-November, according to a new report from PitchBook. |
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This week in health Тech |
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Two employer-focused health insurance startups raised significant funding in their respective Series B funding rounds. Curative raised $150 million for its no-copay, no-deductible approach to insurance (as long as members complete a preventive visit), while Angle Health raised $134 million for its AI approach to insurance. |
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John Carroll
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Editor & Founder
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Arsalan Arif
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Publisher & Founder
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Igor Yavych
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Architect & Founder
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Valentin Manov
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Creative Director
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Ryan McRae
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Chief Revenue Officer
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Amanda Florez
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Chief of Staff
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Drew Armstrong
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Executive Editor
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Liam Chua
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Chief Technical Officer
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Lydia R. Pflanzer
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Deputy Editor
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Zachary Brennan
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Senior Editor
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