business

Senate report calls out UnitedHealth’s ‘profit-centered strategy’

In a 105-page report, the Senate Judiciary Committee outlines how UnitedHealth Group turned its coding of patients in the Medicare Advantage program into “a major profit-centered strategy, which was not the original intent of the program.” The report, released yesterday, is based on 50,000 pages of documents from the conglomerate, which Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) requested last year after my colleagues released their award-winning series on the company, Health Care’s Colossus.

The report focuses on an insurance practice called risk adjustment, in which health insurers are paid more to cover sicker members. UnitedHealth has pushed its tactics “to the utmost degree,” the report says. Read more.

health

State of the union’s cardiovascular health

A new analysis published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology paints a picture of disease burden, quality of care, and mortality trends in the U.S. Some notable stats include:

• Half of Americans still have high blood pressure, unchanged from 2009 to 2023.
• Rates of coronary heart disease have been rising since 2019, and only half of people who could benefit from medications are taking them.
• Hospitalizations for heart attacks have fallen — except they’ve increased among young people.

“What’s surprising is how wide the gap is between what we know works and what’s happening in practice,” the study’s lead author, cardiologist Rishi Wadhera, told STAT’s Elizabeth Cooney. “A meaningful part of this story is uniquely American.” Read the Q&A for details on the report’s biggest surprises, where we may be going backwards, and more.  

courts

Judge says HHS move likely had a ‘retaliatory motive’

A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore nearly $12 million in funding to the American Academy of Pediatrics on Sunday, after determining that HHS likely had a “retaliatory motive” when it terminated the grants in December. The funds include money for rural health care, the prevention of sudden infant death, programs to support teens dealing with substance use or mental health challenges, and more.

The AAP has continually expressed support for the protective power of childhood vaccination and the legitimacy of gender-affirming care for trans youth — two issues that federal health agencies under Trump have targeted. Read more from the AP on what the judge had to say.