Bob Herman

Trump administration proposes tiny pay raise to 2027 Medicare Advantage plans The Trump administration plans to increase payments to next year’s Medicare Advantage plans by less than 0.1% on average — far below what industry expected.

Trump's CMS agency is proposing tiny Medicare Advantage pay increase for 2027. Also some more big risk adjustment changes, including requiring diagnoses to be linked to actual encounters with doctors. Health insurers will scream. Still should get $17B more. www.statnews.com/2026/01/26/m...

Alex Pretti remembered by health care workers at a Minneapolis vigil as a ‘standup guy’ Health care workers brought flowers and wreaths, lit candles, and draped stethoscopes over a wooden cross as a makeshift memorial to nurse Alex Pretti

STAT actually has a little bureau here in the Twin Cities. I’m glad my colleague @mmolteni.bsky.social was able to get out and cover this health care worker’s vigil www.statnews.com/2026/01/26/a...

Alabama hospital system would gain monopoly with proposed $450 million deal A $450 million deal would leave Huntsville, Ala., with a single hospital system, unless regulators step in.

Attention residents and employers of Huntsville, Alabama: You are on the brink of a true hospital monopoly. www.statnews.com/2026/01/22/h...

Pretty galling what the first urologist tried to do here. www.statnews.com/2026/01/21/w...

Is 'shared decision-making' being hijacked by U.S. health officials to sow doubt about vaccines? Experts worry that health officials' use of 'shared decision-making' in new vaccine guidance distorts the concept's meaning and disregards the importance of evidence.

Shared clinical decision making was devised to help patients & their doctors make choices when the answer isn't clear cut. People who devised the approach fear it's being hijacked to undermine decades of study supporting #vaccines, @ericboodman.bsky.social writes. www.statnews.com/2026/01/20/s...

Opinion | Medicaid Work Requirements Are Cruel and Pointless

A reminder that just 3% of all people on Medicaid are not working long term. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/o...

Dr. Oz told health care executives at a fancy yacht club that they don't need to worry about the impending Medicaid cuts. Plus, he said the people who are about to lose Medicaid coverage are couch potatoes anyway. @tarabannow.bsky.social reports from #JPM26: www.statnews.com/2026/01/13/j...

When it comes to vaccine schedules, the U.S. is now the outlier, @helenbranswell.bsky.social and @jaspar.bsky.social report. www.statnews.com/2026/01/09/c...

Stopping obesity drugs means people regain weight and lose heart health benefits Why the weight, and heart risks, return after stopping GLP-1 drugs.

“Weight-loss drugs have arguably made weight loss very easy, but maintaining the weight loss is now a bigger challenge than ever.” Read more from @elizabethcooney.bsky.social about this downside of GLP-1s: www.statnews.com/2026/01/07/w...

Panel behind new dietary guidelines had financial ties to beef, dairy industries The industry connections of an advisory panel for the new dietary guidelines are notable, especially in light Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s criticism of corporate influence.

Nearly half of Trump-appointed experts involved in shaping the new dietary guidelines have financial ties to meat and dairy industries.

Exclusive with @sarah-todd.bsky.social and @elizabethcooney.bsky.social -->

www.statnews.com/2026/01/07/n...

"Good news, fewer babies from poorer families, and more babies from wealthier families with health insurance that pays high prices"

The silence of CMS Welcome BACK. So glad you’re here. I kicked off my 2026 by running a 5k with a friend, and now I’m wondering whether running continues to be a hobby or an

An actual statement from CMS, the agency that oversees Medicare, Medicaid, and all other taxpayer-funded health care: "No reporter is entitled to interviews, press calls, or access to internal staff." Read more from this week's Health Care Inc: www.statnews.com/2026/01/05/h...

Federal health officials slash recommended childhood vaccinations under Trump’s directive The number of recommended childhood shots drops from 17 to 11.

Under Trump and RFK Jr., federal health officials are paring down the number of recommended childhood vaccines from 17 to 11. “This new policy has not been vetted with pediatricians, the public, or the ACIP.” www.statnews.com/2026/01/05/c...

Our Reporters Reached Out for Comment. They Were Accused of Stalking and Intimidation. Our journalists reach out to people they’re writing about to ensure fairness. But in this environment, they’ve found their efforts to do so are more likely to be vilified than appreciated.

I wrote this column about the aggressive pushback our reporters have received for doing their jobs.

Our Reporters Reached Out for Comment. They Were Accused of Stalking and Intimidation.

NIH study was a beacon for the topical steroid withdrawal community. Then, amid federal upheaval, the research stalled An NIH study was a beacon for the topical steroid withdrawal community. Then, amid federal upheaval, the research stalled.

When an NIH scientist began studying a controversial illness, it gave patients with a glimmer of hope. Then came RIFs and spending freezes and too much uncertainty to continue the research.

@ericboodman.bsky.social with the 10th part of American Science, Shattered:

www.statnews.com/2025/12/22/t...

Employers drop coverage for weight loss drugs as pharma’s direct-to-consumer programs grow Doctors and groups representing employers said they’re increasingly hearing about companies cutting weight loss drugs out of health plans next year.

HCA Healthcare will not cover GLP-1 drugs for its workers, starting in 2026, and instead is directing people to get the drugs through Lilly's and Novo's cash-pay programs. More from @elaineywchen.bsky.social: www.statnews.com/2025/12/18/w...

Data on Humana’s clinics looked dismal. Then its corporate research machine got to work STAT investigation: Internal documents show how Humana is reshaping the debate over Medicare Advantage.

More one-sided Medicare Advantage research: “The whole research institute’s agenda was set around what kind of topics can we work on to make Humana look good in comparison to traditional Medicare.” Must-read from @caseyross.bsky.social and @tarabannow.bsky.social: www.statnews.com/2025/12/16/i...

Data on Humana’s clinics looked dismal. Then its corporate research machine got to work STAT investigation: Internal documents show how Humana is reshaping the debate over Medicare Advantage.

A @statnews.com investigation reveals Humana is skewing the debate over how to care for older Americans.

www.statnews.com/2025/12/16/i...

Medicare routes $16 billion to insurers to offset high drug costs The federal government has sent a record $16 billion to health insurers that sell Medicare drug plans, a flashing red sign that prescription drug spending is blowing up far beyond expectations.

NEW: Medicare has sent a record $16 billion to health insurers that sell Part D drug plans, a flashing red sign that prescription drug spending is blowing up far beyond what government officials and insurance experts had expected. www.statnews.com/2025/12/12/m...

FDA staff fear Tracy Beth Høeg will bring bias and instability to embattled drug center Høeg is set to become the fifth head of the FDA's drug center in a year.

NEW: I dug deep into new top drug regulator Tracy Beth Høeg's record at the FDA so far, talked to agency staff, and even found some old and interesting blog posts, to get a sense of how she'll lead the drug center. TLDR, staff are worried. More here:
www.statnews.com/2025/12/11/t...

American Science, Shattered An eight-decade partnership between universities and the federal government made U.S. science preeminent. It took Trump less than a year to shred that

The destruction of the enterprise of US academic science has been one of the most confounding aspects of a hugely confounding year. My @statnews.com colleagues are writing about the consequences for individuals & the country.
You want to read this series.
www.statnews.com/american-sci...

Major health insurers to skip J.P. Morgan conference, again High costs, quiet-period rules, investor skepticism, and lingering safety concerns are pushing major insurers to once again skip the event.

Major health insurers are skipping the J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference, again. More w/ @tarabannow.bsky.social: www.statnews.com/2025/12/10/i...

The CEO of a community health center that sues its patients over unpaid medical bills tried to intimidate ProPublica and patients as @aliyyaswaby.bsky.social reported the story. www.propublica.org/article/fede...

These Health Centers Are Supposed to Make Care Affordable. One Has Sued Patients for as Little as $59 in Unpaid Bills. Federally funded community health centers receive grants in exchange for serving patients regardless of their ability to pay. But ProPublica found at least five across the country garnishing patients’...

Community health centers were created to be medical safety nets for people who struggle to afford primary care.

But we found that several are suing patients and garnishing their paychecks – which experts say contradicts their mission.

www.propublica.org/article/fede...

Driven by GLP-1s, prescription drug spending explodes at major health insurers Some insurers have spent more on drugs in nine months this year than they did in all of 2024. Cost of weight loss drugs a major factor, STAT analysis finds.

Spending on prescription drugs is on another planet right now. Some insurers have spent more on drugs in the first 9 months of this year than they did in all of 2024. GLP-1s, cancer drugs, and Medicare's new $2k cap on drugs all contributing to this. www.statnews.com/2025/12/08/h...

Major health insurers are spending way more on prescription drugs, largely becuase of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic www.statnews.com/2025/12/08/h... via @bobjherman.bsky.social

CDC vaccine advisers appear likely to recommend delaying hepatitis B vaccine birth dose A panel that issues advice on U.S. vaccine policy appears prepared to vote Thursday to recommend a delay in when most babies begin to be vaccinated against hepatitis B.

It's hard to predict what the new #ACIP will do, but it looks like it will recommend that the universal birth dose for #hepatitisB be jettisoned. Experts warn even a delay of 2 months before the first dose will lead to chronically infected kids & deaths. www.statnews.com/2025/12/04/c...

Top drug regulator Richard Pazdur set to leave FDA Top drug regulator Richard Pazdur filed papers to retire from the Food and Drug Administration at the end of this month, but could withdraw them.

BREAKING scoop: Top drug regulator Rick Pazdur filed papers to retire from the FDA at the end of this month, according to agency sources. He alerted leaders at the drug center this morning. He could still withdraw the papers. www.statnews.com/2025/12/02/r...

Under RFK Jr., CDC reverses course on stance that vaccines don’t cause autism A CDC website now promotes the debunked idea of a link between vaccines and autism.

"Essentially Cassidy asked for a promise. And all he got was an asterisk." Former CDC senior leader Dan Jernigan on how, after promising not to do so, Kennedy's HHS has rewritten #CDC 's webpage on whether there's a link between #vaccines & autism. www.statnews.com/2025/11/20/c...

How RFK Jr., America's celebrity health secretary, is steamrolling science RFK Jr. is plowing ahead with sweeping changes to U.S. health care that have thrilled supporters, purged opponents, and horrified critics.

As HHS secretary, RFK Jr. has pledged to pursue gold-standard science, preserve access to vaccines, and insist on radical transparency in policymaking.

Here is our examination of his tenure to date:

www.statnews.com/2025/11/18/r... via @statnews.com