Health:Further

Vic and Marcus discuss revised jobless claims, Nvidia's continued AI-driven growth, and major developments across healthcare, technology, and policy. They cover Cityblock's acquisition of Homeward Health, new telehealth prescribing rules, Meta's $17.1 billion settlement over teen social media protections, and Medicare overbilling allegations involving Humana-owned Villages Health. The episode also examines cyberattacks affecting medical device companies, a new FDA-approved treatment for pancreatic cancer, Alzheimer's blood testing, diabetes monitoring technology, and concerns about AI transparency in healthcare. They close with Nvidia's reported move to acquire Hugging Face, Stripe's OpenRouter acquisition, and warnings from major technology companies about the growing threat of AI-enabled cyberattacks.Story Lineup1 — In This Economy2:32 - Story 1: U.S. Jobless Claims Fall to 203,000; Labor Market Stays Resilient  [WSJ]4:45 - Story 2: Nvidia Reports Record $96.2B Revenue, Projects 70% Growth; AI Spending Boom Intact  [WSJ]7:11 - Story 3: Fed Chair Warsh Faces Pressure at Jackson Hole; Treasury-Fed Boundary Tensions Rise  [WSJ]2 — VC Deal Review11:15 - Story 1: Cityblock Health Secures $116M Series E, Acquires Homeward Health to Expand Rural Medicare Advantage  [MedCity News]12:24 - Story 2: Onos Health Raises $17M Series A for AI-Driven Behavioral Health Platform  [MedCity News]3 — Policy13:09 - Story 1: DEA Sends Final Telehealth Prescribing Rule to White House for Review; Would Enable Controlled-Substance Prescribing via Telehealth  [Becker's]14:29 - Story 2 : Meta to Pay up to $17.1 Billion4 — Health Payors18:17 - Story 1: Humana's Villages Health Settles Medicare Advantage Billing Fraud for $541.5M Over Fake Diagnosis Codes  [Healthcare Dive]5 — Health Systems19:43 - Story 1: UPMC Swings to $18.3M Operating Loss in Q2; Insurance Revenue Up, Patient Revenue Flat Signals Margin Pressure  [Becker's]20:27 - Story 2: Boston Scientific Operations Disrupted by Cyberattack; Ordering and Shipping Systems Hit  [Healthcare Dive]6 — Pharma & Novel Therapies25:26 - Story 1: FDA Approves Daraxonrasib (Rasonque), First RAS Inhibitor for Advanced Pancreatic Cancer—Landmark Breakthrough  [WSJ]26:48 - Story 2: Roche and Eli Lilly Win FDA Clearance for First-of-Its-Kind Alzheimer's Biomarker Blood Test  [WSJ]28:09 - Story 3: Novo Nordisk Shares Fall as Eli Lilly Outcompetes GLP-1 Market; Stock Down 70% from June 2024 Peak  [WSJ]7 — About Health & Us / The Clinician's Voice30:05 - Story 1: FDA Clears Abbott's First-of-Its-Kind Wearable Ketone Sensor to Detect Diabetic Ketoacidosis Risk  [Fierce Biotech]31:07 - Story 2: Nearly Half of Americans Unaware Whether AI Has Been Used in Their Care, Pew Survey Finds  [Healthcare Dive]37:32 - Story 3: Oura Health Wearable Ring Faces Class-Action Lawsuit Over Sleep-Tracking AI Accuracy Claims  [MedCity News]8 — The AI Tracker40:10 - Story 1: Nvidia Reportedly Acquiring Hugging Face AI Model Hub for ~$13B; Control Over Open-Source Infrastructure Consolidates  [Gizmodo]41:58 - Story 2 : Stripe Buys A.I Start-Up Open Router48:41 - Story 3: OpenAI, Microsoft, 100+ Firms Sound Alarm on Imminent AI-Enabled Cyberattack Wave Targeting Hospitals  [NYT]

Vic and guest host Paul Kappleman discuss the state of U.S. healthcare under the Trump administration, including access, affordability, hospital closures, consolidation, and the potential rise of Medicare for All. They examine weakening retail sales, interest rates, $40 trillion in U.S. debt, healthcare venture capital, at-home sleep apnea diagnosis, pancreatic cancer screening, primary care, FDA leadership and AI-enabled medical devices, Medicaid asset limits, Costco entering Medicare, Providence Health Plan's exit, and Moderna's personalized cancer vaccine. They also cover an exercise pill, patient access to test results, Bitcoin and the CLARITY Act, robotic blood draws, Epic's AI platform, OpenAI's new protections for teens and enterprise users, and Amazon's expansion of drone delivery.1 — In This Economy17:09 - U.S. Retail Sales Fell 0.6% in July to $763.6 Billion, Missing Forecasts for Growth  WSJ17:26 - Fed Minutes Reveal Broader Support for Rate Increases WSJ17:56 - U.S. Debt Hits $40 Trillion as America’s Borrowing Binge Continues NYT2 — VC Deal Review19:58 - Happy Health Snags $75M to Support Home-Based Care MedCity sleep21:24 - Craif raises $33M to boost work on its urine test for cancer Fierce Healthcare. Urine pancreatic cancer22:27 - Aligned Marketplace Secures $20M for Advanced Primary Care Marketplace MedCity3 — Policy25:05 - Trump Taps Dr. Heidi Overton to Lead FDA NYT27:18 - FDA: Considerations for the Regulation of Generative AI-Enabled Medical Devices: Discussion Paper and Request for Feedback. Reg.gov4 — Health Payors29:25 - Medi-Cal plans brace for ‘devastating’ asset limit crunch Beckers31:35 - Costco Sells Vacations, Gas and, Soon, Medicare Plans WSJ33:33 - Providence Health Plan to close completely after Medicare Advantage deal falls through Healthcare Dive5 — Pharma & Novel Therapies37:11 - Moderna Shares More Than Double on Success of mRNA Cancer Vaccine WSJ39:50 - An ‘Exercise Pill’ Just Cleared Its First Human Test Gizmodo6 — About Health & Us / The Clinician's Voice41:44 - Nearly 7 in 10 patients view test results before a clinician weighs in: Study Beckers7 — Web345:16 - Bitcoin hits $69,000, ether jumps 10% as Treasury buybacks, SEC crypto proposal fuel market rally The Block45:51 - Trump pushes Congress to move on Clarity Act during White House crypto event Coindesk8 — The AI Tracker48:05 - FDA authorizes 1st-of-its-kind blood draw robot BeckersVideo  50:39 - Epic expands AI ambitions with agent platform, Cosmos-powered predictions and workflow automation Fierce Healthcare54:29 - What Parents Need to Know About OpenAI’s New ChatGPT for Teens WSJ55:38 - OpenAI’s Latest Bid to Fight Anthropic: A Promise Not to Keep Customer Data WSJ58:06 - Amazon to Expand Drone Delivery Service to Nearly 500 Locales WSJ

Retail sales fell 0.6% in July. Inflation held steady at 3.4%. Jobless claims jumped to 209,000. Marcus and Vic ask if the Federal Reserve (Fed) still has room to cut rates, or if the job market is the next thing to break.President Trump signed an order to cut back the childhood vaccine schedule and repeated a debunked claim linking vaccines to autism. Medical groups pushed back hard. A federal court also struck down a key pricing rule in the No Surprises Act, which could raise what insurers pay out-of-network doctors. Employers are dropping the three biggest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), and small businesses are bracing for 14% premium hikes in 2027.Biotech kept raising big money. PTC Therapeutics bought a gene therapy out of Sangamo's bankruptcy sale. Epicrispr raised $90 million. Braveheart Bio went public in a deal worth close to $440 million. A new Tufts University study found that artificial intelligence (AI) agents can deliver up to 82 times the return on investment (ROI) in cancer drug trials.Google DeepMind is losing top talent, including Jeff Dean, who is leaving to start his own company. OpenAI is restructuring ahead of a planned public offering. Tether passed its first clean audit from KPMG, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) pushed back its crypto rulemaking plan again.Marcus and Vic break down what matters and what's just noise.00:00 Intro📊 THE ECONOMY 00:57 Retail Sales Fall 0.6% in July | WSJ ↳ https://www.wsj.com/economy/weak-retail-sales-number-adds-to-softening-economic-data-c047dce9?mod=rss_socialeconomyfeed 02:04 Inflation Holds at 3.4% | WSJ ↳ https://www.wsj.com/economy/central-banking/inflation-federal-reserve-interest-rates-296d1430?mod=rss_socialeconomyfeed 03:01 209,000 File for Unemployment in the Week Through Aug. 8 | WSJ ↳ https://www.wsj.com/economy/jobs/u-s-jobless-claims-rose-again-last-week-29384997?mod=rss_socialeconomyfeed💰 VC & BIOTECH DEALS 04:21 Epicrispr Raises $90M for Gene Therapy | Fierce Biotech ↳ https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/epicrispr-bags-90m-rewrite-treatment-rare-muscle-disease 05:10 Vaderis Lands $152M for AKT Inhibitor | Fierce Biotech ↳ https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/vaderis-lands-152m-squeeze-akt-inhibitor-through-phase-3-and-regulatory-approval 06:09 Khartis Launches with $95M Seed | Fierce Biotech ↳ https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/pfizer-chemistry-whiz-debuts-khartis-therapeutics-sights-set-thyroid-eye-disease⚖️ POLICY 07:17 Trump Signs Vaccine Schedule Order | WSJ ↳ https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/trump-signs-order-to-reduce-childhood-vaccines-repeats-unfounded-autism-link-e9c9651d?mod=rss_socialhealth 09:52 Bill Aims to Protect the 340B Program | MedCity News ↳ https://medcitynews.com/2026/08/340b-drugs-senate/🏥 HEALTH PAYORS 14:09 Insurers Seek 14% Premium Hikes for 2027 | Healthcare Dive ↳ https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/small-business-health-insurance-premiums-2027-kff-rate-filings/827247/🏨 HEALTH SYSTEMS 16:37 Healthcare Faces a Cybersecurity Crisis | Healthcare Dive ↳ https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/healthcare-cybersecurity-crisis-def-con/827428/ 18:41 HHS Moves to Decertify an Organ Network | Healthcare Dive ↳ https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/hhs-decertify-organ-procurement-group-patient-safety-failures-network-for-hope/827334/💊 PHARMA & NOVEL THERAPIES 22:19 PTC Wins Sangamo Gene Therapy in Bankruptcy Auction | MedCity News ↳ https://medcitynews.com/2026/08/ptc-sangamo-therapeutics-bankruptcy-auction-fabry-gene-therapybid-wins-bankruptcy-auction-for-sangamo-gene-therapy-ptct-sgmoq/ 23:29 Braveheart Bio's $440M IPO | MedCity News ↳ https://medcitynews.com/2026/08/braveheart-bio-ipo-obstructive-hcm-myosin-inhibitor-cardiomyopathy-brve/🩺 HEALTH & WELLNESS 24:39 Health Nerds Feed Data to AI Chatbots | WSJ ↳ https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/the-datamaxxers-feeding-their-every-health-move-to-ai-df0af9b5?mod=rss_Technology🪙 WEB3 28:58 Tether Passes First Clean Audit | The Block ↳ https://www.theblock.co/news/business/2026-08-13-tether-kpmg-first-full-audit-usdt-clean-opinion-411760 32:48 SEC Delays Crypto Rules Again | CoinDesk ↳ https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/08/13/sec-cancels-long-awaited-proposal-of-reg-crypto-postponing-meeting-without-new-date🤖 THE AI TRACKER 34:58 Google DeepMind Loses Jeff Dean | The Verge ↳ https://www.theverge.com/podcast/979370/google-deepmind-ai-race-lose-jeff-dean-demis-hassabis 39:59 OpenAI Restructures Before IPO | Axios ↳ https://www.axios.com/2026/08/14/openai-executive-greg-brockman-ipo 42:21 Gemini vs. GPT: The Speed Race | Decrypt ↳ https://decrypt.co/375580/google-openai-super-fast-ai-models-gemini-flash-gpt-ultrafast 47:26 Grok Bot Launches | x.ai ↳ https://x.ai/news/introducing-grok-bot-----------------more at healthfurther.com

Vic and Marcus discuss the yen carry trade and its implications for the Federal Reserve, the rapid transformation of the U.S. economy by AI, and the growing risks surrounding AI investment and infrastructure. They cover major healthcare and biotech funding, including LifeMine Therapeutics, Function Health, and Quant Health, along with the Senate confirmation of Dr. Erica Schwartz as CDC director and a 2.3% Medicare hospital payment increase for 2027. The episode also examines CVS Health's GLP-1 partnership with Eli Lilly, Amazon's $50-a-month GLP-1 offering for Medicare patients, rising numbers of uninsured Americans, and a potential AstraZeneca-Bristol Myers Squibb merger. They also discuss extreme heat's growing impact on Americans, rising heart disease rates among younger women, patients using AI to interpret medical results, DeepSeek's dramatically lower AI costs, AI models behaving deceptively during testing, and the accelerating path toward recursive self-improvement and AGI.Story Lineup1 — In This Economy1:30 - Story 1: https://www.wsj.com/economy/central-banking/scott-bessents-yen-trade-has-unintended-consequences-for-the-markets-5297044b?mod=Searchresults&pos=1&page=16:57 - Story 2: The AI Boom Is Transforming the American Economy—and Healthcare Must Contend With Energy Constraints  [WSJ]2 — VC Deal Review15:36 - Story 1: LifeMine Therapeutics Raises $188M Series E From Gates and Bezos to Revive Fungal-Therapeutic Platform  [Fierce Biotech]16:23 - Story 2: Function Health Raises $450M Growth Round to Expand Preventive Care Lab and Imaging Footprint  [MedCity News]17:48 - Story 3: QuantHealth Raises $45M Series B to Reduce Pharma Trial Failure via AI Clinical-Trial Simulation  [MedCity News]3 — Policy20:30 - Story 1: Senate Confirms Dr. Erica Schwartz as CDC Director in Party-Line Vote; First Permanent Director in Year  [Becker's Hospital Review]22:17 - Story 2: Hospital Price Caps Gain Momentum Across Multiple States, Making Affordability a CEO Accountability Issue  [Becker's Hospital Review]4 — Health Payors23:37 - Story 1: CVS Health Partners With Eli Lilly on GLP-1 Weight Management, Lifts Full-Year Outlook on Strong Health Plan Results  [WSJ]24:11 - Story 2: Amazon Pharmacy Now Offers GLP-1 Weight-Loss Drugs to Medicare Part D Beneficiaries at $50/Month  [WSJ]5 — Health Systems25:25 - Story 1: ACA Subsidy Expiration Drives Millions Uninsured; Hospitals Report Rising Uncompensated Care and Revenue Losses  [WSJ]6 — About Health & Us / The Clinician's Voice28:36 - Story 1: 90% of Americans Report Extreme Heat Affecting Their Health and Daily Life; Major Shift in Climate-Health Awareness  [Axios]31:46 - Story 2: Rising Cardiovascular Disease Among Young Women Examined; Prevention Strategies and Risk-Profile Shifts Discussed  [New York Times]33:05 - Story 3: One-Third of Adults Now Use AI to Interpret Medical Test Results Despite Physician Objections  [WSJ]7 — The AI Tracker34:35 - Story 1:  https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/deepseeks-new-ai-model-is-by-far-cheapest-well-known-models-run-research-firm-2026-08-03/37:44 - Story 2: OpenAI and Anthropic AI Agents Engaged in Sustained Hacking Attempts on Real Infrastructure; U.K. AI Security Institute Reports Deceptive Behavior During Safety Testing  [WSJ]41:17 - Story 3: Leading AI Architects Declare Singularity Threshold Reached; Google Signals Major Leadership Rupture as Industry Enters Intelligence-Explosion Phase  [Axios]

Vic and Marcus discuss the return of Trump's tariffs, the Federal Reserve's evolving approach under Chairman Warsh, and the continued strength of AI infrastructure as Microsoft and Amazon report surging cloud growth. They cover major healthcare funding rounds, including AI revenue cycle management, vision therapies, and an AI-powered smart toilet for early disease detection. The episode also examines FTC action against Hims & Hers, the end of Medicare drug plan subsidies, Medicaid work requirement rulings, payer earnings, ACA market instability, rising uninsured rates, hospital consolidation, biotech acquisitions, the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, new wearable health monitoring technology, blockchain adoption across finance, AI agents handling payments, AI safety legislation, and Google's latest humanoid robotics advances.cognitive decline remind us that prevention and early detection remain the frontier of clinical care.Story Lineup1 — In This Economy00:33 -Story 1: Healthcare Faces 100% Drug Tariff Shock Starting July 31  [Becker's Hospital Review]8:54 - Story 2: Fed Holds Rates Steady but Internal Split Signals Future Pressure on Inflation  [WSJ]13:13 - Story 3: Microsoft Azure Exceeds $100B as Tech Giants Diverge on AI Spending ROI  [WSJ]2 — VC Deal Review14:29 - Story 1: Candid Health Raises $120M Series D for AI-Powered Revenue Cycle Management  [MedCity News]16:49 - Story 2: Claris Biotech Emerges with $118M Series B for Corneal Disease Therapy  [Fierce Biotech]18:03 - Story 3:Throne Science Raises $10M Series A for AI Toilet Sensor in Colorectal Cancer Screening  [MedCity News]3 — Policy20:22 - Story 1: FTC Sues Hims & Hers Over Illegal Data Sharing With Meta and Snapchat  [Gizmodo]22:59 - Story 2: CMS Ends Medicare Drug Plan Premium Subsidies; Seniors Face Higher 2027 Costs  [WSJ.com: Health]26:57 - Story 3: Federal Court Upholds Medicaid Work Rules; Policy Shift Takes Effect  [Becker's Hospital Review]4 — Health Payors28:07 - Story 1: Cigna Raises 2026 Outlook on Strong Q2 Employer Plan Growth; $1.7B Profit  [Becker's Hospital Review]28:54 -  - Story 2: "Back On Track" Centene Swing more than $1B in Profit in Q230:50 - Story 3: Humana Maintains Adjusted Earnings Outlook, Underwhelming Investors  31:44 - Story 4: Humana Retreats From Lower-Margin Medicare Advantage Plans Ahead of 2027  [Healthcare Dive - Latest News]32:50 - Story 5: ICHRA Adoption Slowed by ACA Exchange Instability and Affordability Concerns  [Healthcare Dive]5 — Health Systems34:09 - Story 1: Hospital Uninsured Patient Volume Surges After ACA Subsidy Cliff  [NYT]36:27 - Story 2: 29 Large Health Systems Announce M&A: Consolidation Boom Driven by Scale and Capital Access  [Becker's Hospital Review]6 — Pharma & Novel Therapies38:39 - Story 1: J&J Partners With Sail Biomedicines on In Vivo CAR-T Therapy; $785M Upfront, $2.85B Acquisition Option  [MedCity News]39:57 - Story 2: Argenx Acquires Forte Biosciences for $2B; CD122 Antibody Targets Autoimmune Orphans  [MedCity News]7 — About Health & Us / The Clinician's Voice41:12 - Story 1: DRC Ebola Outbreak Now Second-Deadliest Ever; 1,500+ Deaths in Record-Breaking Two Months  [The New York Times]42:44 - Story 2: Smart Ring Sensors Track Nutrition and Insulin Response via Finger Sweat; New Biomarker Frontier  [Gizmodo]8 — Web344:21 - Story 1: BNY Mellon Targets $8.6 Trillion Transfer Agency Market via Blockchain; Major Traditional Finance Adoption  [CoinDesk]45:33 - Story 2: Institutional Crypto Trading Hits Record 72% as Wall Street Dampens Market Volatility  [CoinDesk]47:59 - Story 3: MoonPay Embe...

Vic and Marcus celebrate the 200th episode of the Health Further podcast while reflecting on four years of healthcare transformation, innovation, and policy change. They discuss the financial pressures facing hospitals from Medicaid funding cuts, the future of AI in healthcare, automation's impact on jobs, Google's massive AI investments, OpenAI's cybersecurity incident, the growing debate over open versus closed AI models, and why healthcare leaders may be underestimating the pace of disruption across the industry.Story Lineup8:35 -  Story 1: LA Safety-Net Hospital Braces for $80–100M Annual Medicaid Hit From HR 1 Cuts  [Becker's Hospital Review]10:30 -  Story 2: Trump Administration Pauses $1B in Medicaid Payments  [HealthCare Dive]13:33 - Story 3: OpenAI Launches ChatGPT Health Nationwide; Claims Models Reason at Clinician Level, Intensifying Healthcare AI Adoption Debate  [The Verge]18:01 - Story 4: Molina Plans Further ACA Exchange Exits in 2027 Despite Stable Medicaid and Strong MA Growth  [Healthcare Dive]30:14 - Story 5: Travis Kalanick's Atoms Robotics Raises $1.7B Series C Led by a16z  [TechCrunch]45:27 - Story 6: Big Tech's AI Capex Binge Raises Doubts on Returns as Google, OpenAI Pour Billions Into Infrastructure  [The New York Times]57:30 - Story 7: OpenAI's GPT Models Escaped Sandbox and Autonomously Hacked Hugging Face in Test Gone Wrong—Major AI Safety Incident  [WSJ]

Vic and Marcus discuss easing inflation, the growing number of workers locked out of the job market, and major venture funding rounds for AI-powered healthcare companies. They examine proposed Medicare physician payment cuts, prior authorization policy, Medicaid challenges, insurer earnings, and mounting financial pressure on hospitals as care continues shifting to outpatient settings. They also cover Eli Lilly's latest acquisition, a first-of-its-kind cholesterol pill, food safety concerns, new wearable health technology, Visa's stablecoin platform, AI agent commerce, and China's rapid advances in artificial intelligence that are reshaping global competition.Story Lineup1 — In This Economy📊 Economy Vitals — this week's macro readings6:56 - Story 1: 📉 Inflation — CPI (June, rel. Jul 14):  CNBC8:09 - Story 2:👷 Labor — initial jobless claims (wk ending Jul 4): https://www.wsj.com/economy/jobs/unemployment-long-term-job-market-629199f9?mod=Searchresults&pos=1&page=12 — VC Deal Review10:05 - Story 1: Chai Discovery Raises $400 Million Series C for AI Molecule Design Platform Adopted by Pharma Giants  [Fierce Biotech]11:07 - Story 2: Neko Health Secures $700 Million Series C for U.S. Clinical Diagnostics Expansion  [MedCity News]3 — Policy12:16 - Story 1: CMS Proposes 2027 Physician Pay Cuts Amid Broader Medicare Value-Based Payment Reforms  [Healthcare Dive]13:46 - Story 2: Senate Republicans Block Democratic Bid to Repeal Medicare AI Prior Authorization Pilot  [Healthcare Dive]4 — Health Payors17:30 - Story 1: UnitedHealth Reports $5.5 Billion Q2 Profit, Raises 2026 Guidance on Cost-Control Discipline  [Healthcare Dive]18:17 - Story 2: Elevance Shuts Down D.C. Medicaid Business, Eyes Additional Market Exits  [Healthcare Dive]19:35 - Story 3: CVS/Caremark Settles FTC Insulin Pricing Case, Required to Stop Formulary Bias Toward Higher-Cost Drugs  [Healthcare Dive]5 — Health Systems21:09 - Story 1: HCA Healthcare Slashes 2026 Earnings Forecast After Losing $400 Million in ACA Plan Dropouts  [Healthcare Dive]24:21 - Story 2: Health Systems Race to Build Ambulatory Surgery Center Networks as Outpatient Revenue Growth Outpaces Inpatient  [Becker's Hospital Review]6 — Pharma & Novel Therapies28:48 - Story 1: Eli Lilly Acquires AtaiBeckley for $2.8 Billion, Entering Psychedelic-Based Mental Health Market  [MedCity News]30:23 - Story 2: Merck's Lipfendra Approved as First-of-Kind Oral Cholesterol Drug Beyond Statin Monotherapy  [WSJ.com: Health]7 — About Health & Us / The Clinician's Voice32:56 - Story 1: Cyclospora Outbreak Spreads to 30+ States; CDC Struggles to Identify Source Amid Surveillance Capacity Gaps  [WSJ]38:55 - Story 2: New Smart Ring Technology Enables Non-Invasive Blood Pressure Measurement Without Calibration  [9to5Mac]8 — Web341:48 - Story 1: Visa Launches Institutional Stablecoin Platform for Banks and Fintechs; Enables Digital Dollar Integration  [Decrypt Media]9 — The AI Tracker52:32 - Story 1: China's Moonshot AI Releases Kimi K3 Model, Claiming Parity with GPT-5.6 and Anthropic Systems at Lower Cost  [Axios]1:00:40 - Story 2: Meta Negotiates ~$10 Billion Compute Lease to Anthropic; AI Infrastructure Bottleneck Fuels New Business Models  [The New York Times]1:07:57 - Story 3: Former Mayo Clinic Leader Sues System Over Alleged AI Safety and Privacy Concerns Retaliation  [MedCity News]1:15:36 -  Story 4: https://x.com/chamath/status/2077018028852588687?s=20

Vic and Marcus discuss uncertainty around Federal Reserve interest rate policy, continued strength in AI infrastructure and semiconductor markets, and major venture funding across biotech and value-based care. They examine proposed NIH research policy changes, the impact of Medicaid enrollment reductions and rising ACA premiums, Medicare Advantage legal disputes, healthcare bankruptcies, labor strikes, and Ascension's acquisition of Williamson Health. They also cover major pharmaceutical acquisitions, expanding access to peptides, advances in brain-computer interfaces, the challenges of integrating wearable data into clinical care, blockchain's growing role in banking, China's evolving AI strategy, Apple's lawsuit against OpenAI, and the rapid expansion of AI data center infrastructure.Story Lineup1 — In This Economy00:58 - Story 1: Fed Chair Warsh Signals Divided Views on Inflation Path Amid AI Buildout  2:12 - Story 2: SK Hynix Lands $26B Nasdaq IPO, World's Largest Non-US Chip Offering  [CNBC]2 — VC Deal Review4:00 - Story 1: Leo Cancer Care Secures $65M Series D for Upright Radiotherapy System Ahead of IPO  [Fierce Biotech]4:42 - Story 2: MeiraGTx Secures $400M Growth Capital for Gene Therapy Commercialization  [Fierce Biotech]5:57 - Story 3: Pearl Health Raises $110M to Scale Value-Based Care Infrastructure for Medicare  [MedCity News]3 — Policy7:04 - Story 1: Trump OMB Grant Overhaul Draws 99K Comments From Scientists Warning of NIH Politicization  [The New York Times]9:06 - Story 2: Biotech Revenue Projections Darkened by Trump Tax Bill's Medicaid Enrollment Impact  [Fierce Biotech]4 — Health Payors11:39 - Story 1: ACA Marketplace Insurers Propose 14% Median Premium Hike for 2027—Second Straight Double-Digit Increase  [Healthcare Dive]13:54 - Story 2: Elevance Healthcare Sues CMS Over Medicare Advantage Stars Recalculation, Alleging $115M Loss  [Healthcare Dive]15:39 - Story 3: Alignment Healthcare Faces Whistleblower Accounting Fraud Lawsuit Over Capex Misclassification  [Healthcare Dive]5 — Health Systems16:56 - Story 1: Healthcare Bankruptcies Accelerate in 2026, Driven by Staffing Costs and Reimbursement Pressure  [Becker's Hospital Review]17:49 - Story 2: Massachusetts' Largest Healthcare Strike Ever: 4,000+ MGB Nurses and Home Health Staff Walk Out Over Wages  [MedCity News]20:33 - Story 3: Ascension Acquires Williamson Health for $1B, Securing Regional Hospital Consolidation in Tennessee  [Healthcare Dive]6 — Pharma & Novel Therapies22:01 - Story 1: Vertex Acquires Crinetics for $10B—Largest Deal in Company History—Targeting Endocrine Diseases  [Fierce Biotech]24:30 - Story 2: FDA Advisory Committee to Vote on Peptide Regulation July 23–24—Major Inflection for GLP-1s  [Becker's Hospital Review]26:57 - Story 3: AstraZeneca's Late-Stage Cardiac Trial Failure Narrows Pipeline Beyond Oncology  [WSJ]7 — About Health & Us / The Clinician's Voice28:21 - Story 1: Non-Surgical Brain-Computer Interfaces Increasingly Match Surgical Performance, Reshaping BCI Strategy  [MedCity News]30:18 - Story 2: Physicians Cite Reimbursement and Workflow Barriers to Actionable Wearable Data Adoption  [Healthcare Dive]8 — Web336:88 - Story 1: Circle Wins Final OCC Approval to Open National Trust Bank—First Crypto Firm to Secure Charter  [The Block]37:28 - Story 2: SWIFT Launches Blockchain Ledger Enabling 24/7 Tokenized Payments for 17 Major Global Banks  [The Block]39:09 - Story 3: CFTC Chair Warns Regulators Will 'Write All the Rules' for Crypto If Clarity Act Stalls  [The Block]9 — The AI Tracker43:15 - Story 1: Beijing Weighs Limits on Homegrown AI Models—Escalating US-China AI Geopolitics  [WSJ]46:10 - Story 2: -  https://www.wsj.com/tech/apple-openai-lawsuit-f86bd58c?mod=breakingnews 46:52 -  Story 3:

Vic and Marcus discuss slowing U.S. job growth, Meta's move into AI cloud infrastructure, record venture funding driven by AI, and what those trends mean for the technology sector. They examine Medicare coverage for weight loss drugs, proposed CMS changes affecting hospitals, Medicaid work requirement lawsuits, and the continued shift of care away from hospitals. They also cover major healthcare advances, including expanded gene therapy for children with sickle cell disease, AI-powered drug discovery partnerships, and the first FDA-approved Treg cell therapy. The episode concludes with the record-low U.S. death rate, stablecoin adoption, blockchain tokenization, and the growing AI competition between the U.S. and China.Story Lineup1 — In This Economy3:47 - Story 1: U.S. labor market cools sharply: June jobs report shows only 57,000 positions added  [WSJ]7:14 - Story 2: Meta Is Planning a Cloud Business to Sell AI Computing Power  [Bloomberg]2 — VC Deal Review10:30 - Story 1: Global startup investment surges to record $510B in H1 2026 as AI exits accelerate  [Crunchbase News]12:40 - Story 2: Beeline raises $126M Series A extension on heels of $300M launch, bolsters autoimmune pipeline  [Fierce Biotech]3 — Policy14:15 - Story 1: Medicare begins covering GLP-1 weight-loss drugs for seniors at $50/month out-of-pocket starting July 1  [WSJ]15:17 - Story 2: CMS targets 340B drug discount program and site-neutral pay in 2027 outpatient rule overhaul  [Becker's Hospital Review]21:20 - Story 3: Twenty-six states sue Trump administration over Medicaid work requirements rule implementation  [Healthcare Dive]4 — Health Payors28:59 - Story 1: Evernorth commits $100M through 2028 to AI-powered specialty pharmacy program expansion  [MedCity News]5 — Health Systems30:28 - Story 1: 10-year outlook: outpatient volumes set to grow 20% while inpatient discharges rise just 7%, reshaping hospital economics  [Becker's Hospital Review]32:45 - Story 2: Large health system EHR migrations collapse 40% year-over-year as Epic dominance and vendor delays lock in incumbency  [Becker's Hospital Review]6 — Pharma & Novel Therapies37:55 - Story 1: FDA expands Vertex's Casgevy CRISPR gene therapy to children as young as 2 with sickle cell disease  [Becker's Hospital Review]39:36 - Story 2: Takeda partners with Insilico on AI drug discovery platform worth up to $600M across multiple therapeutic areas  [WSJ]41:21 - Story 3: Orca Bio's Tregzi becomes first FDA-approved regulatory T cell therapy for graft-versus-host disease  [MedCity News]7 — About Health & Us / The Clinician's Voice43:45 - Story 1: U.S. Death Rate Falls to Its Lowest Point on Record [WSJ]8 — Web346:52 - Story 1: Open USD stablecoin launch backed by Visa, Mastercard, and Google challenges USDC/USDT incumbents  [Decrypt Media]49:41 - Story 2: Ondo launches SEC-compliant tokenized ETF and equities with Ethereum settlement, signaling institutional crypto infrastructure maturation  [The Block]9 — The AI Tracker51:28 - Story 1: Health systems pivot from proving AI efficacy to scaling implementations; inflection point for health tech adoption  [Becker's Hospital Review]56:53 - Story 2: Anthropic unveils Claude Science AI workbench for pharma research execution ahead of anticipated IPO  [MedCity News]59:52 -Story 3: New Chinese AI model matches Anthropic Claude performance; likely to reshape White House AI policy overhaul  [WSJ]1:08:23 - Story 4: OpenAI proposes handing Trump administration 5% stake [FT]

Vic and Marcus discuss rising inflation, the AI-driven data center boom, and growing concerns about the long-term economic impact of artificial intelligence. They examine major healthcare venture funding rounds, the resurgence of biotech investment, Medicare policy changes, PBM scrutiny, rising healthcare spending driven by GLP-1 drugs, rural hospital transformation, chemotherapy drug shortages, new cancer treatments, and the growing use of Wegovy in children. The episode also covers Bitcoin's sharp decline, venture capital consolidation, and the future of healthcare innovation.Story Lineup1 — In This Economy1:59 - Story 1: PCE Hits 4.1% — The Iran War, the AI Build-Out, and a Fed Caught in the Middle  [WSJ]7:13 - Story 2: AI Infrastructure Is Inflation's New Structural Driver  [WSJ]16:17 - Story 3: AI Bubble Fears Trigger Nasdaq Rout; KOSPI Crashes 10% Overnight  [Axios]18:02 - Story 4: Scott Bessent: Hamilton Inspires Trump Economic Statecraft  [WSJ]2 — VC Deal Review20:33 - Story 1: Menlo Ventures Closes $3B Fund — Biggest Ever — on the Back of Its Anthropic Bet  [TechCrunch]28:49 - https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/ai-and-machine-learning/assort-health-scores-120m-series-c-scale-voice-ai-agent-platform-healthcare 30:21 - Story 2: Cadence Closes $100M Series C at $1.23B Valuation for AI-Powered Chronic Care  [MedCity News]31:33 - Story 3: Ollin Biosciences Hauls In $330M Series B to Challenge Roche's Vabysmo in Wet AMD  [Fierce Biotech]3 — Policy32:34 - Story 1: U.S. Health Spending Hits $5.7 Trillion in 2025 — GLP-1 Costs Are a Primary Culprit  [Healthcare Dive]34:43 - Story 2: 31 House Democrats Demand Transparency on CMS's AI Prior-Auth Pilot in Medicare  [Healthcare Dive]4 — Health Payors38:35 - Story 1: Florida Opens Antitrust Probe Into CVS/Caremark as State-Level PBM Crackdown Accelerates  [Healthcare Dive]43:07 - Story 2: Abarca Health and LucyRx Merge to Build a Scaled Independent PBM Alternative  [MedCity News]44:33 - Story 3: Medicare Advantage at an Inflection: Reset or Retreat?  [MedCity News]5 — Health Systems50:11 - Story 1: Cancer Chemo Shortages Force Hospitals to Consider Rationing  [Becker's]52:33 - Story 2: Eli Lilly Halts 340B Discounts for Non-Compliant Hospitals, Triggering Legal Battle  [MedCity News]55:39 - Story 3: States Are Using the $50B Rural Health Fund to Shrink Hospitals, Not Transform Care  [Healthcare Dive]6 — Pharma & Novel Therapies57:38 - Story 1: FDA Approves Two New Drugs to Replace Chemo as First-Line Treatment for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer  [WSJ]59:23 - Story 2: Pfizer's First Major ADC From the $43B Seagen Acquisition Fails Phase 3  [Fierce Biotech]59:47 - Story 3: AbbVie Pays $10.9B for Apogee to Challenge Dupixent in Eczema  [Fierce Biotech]7 — About Health & Us / The Clinician's Voice1:00:39 - Story 1: Wegovy for Elementary Schoolers: Pediatricians Turn to GLP-1s as Childhood Obesity Rates Climb  [WSJ]8 — Web31:03:47 - Story 1: Bitcoin Hits Multi-Year Low of $58K as BTC and ETH Each Post 20%+ Monthly Losses  [CoinDesk]9 — The AI Tracker1:06:18 - Story 1: Anthropic Accuses Alibaba of Running a 'Brazen' Campaign to Illicitly Access Claude  [WSJ]1:10:30 - Story 2 : https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/glm-52-why-im-replacing-opus-in-claude1:12:32 - Story 3: OpenAI Unveils 'Jalapeño' — Its First Custom AI Inference Chip Built With Broadcom  [WSJ]1:13:05 - Story 4: X - Satya Nadella - "Frontier without an ecosystem is not stable."  [X]

Marcus welcomes Ash Shehata, former KPMG executive and current Impact Advisors leader, as guest host for a wide-ranging discussion on healthcare, technology, finance, and policy. They examine the Federal Reserve’s evolving approach under Kevin Warsh, the economic implications of reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and SpaceX’s historic IPO alongside its reported Cursor acquisition. The conversation also covers the resurgence of biotech and pharmaceutical M&A, FDA flexibility around gene therapies, rural hospital transformation funding, information blocking enforcement, Medicare Advantage contract disputes, PBM transparency battles, smart hospital rooms, longevity medicine, GLP-1 coverage expansion for seniors, digital assets, tokenized stocks, and the growing role of AI across healthcare and society.Story Lineup1 — In This Economy2:34 - Story 1: Warsh's Fed Ditches Forward Guidance — Markets Brace for Hikes  [NYT]New Fed Chair Kevin Warsh holds rates but abandons forward guidance at his first FOMC presser, sending rate-hike odds higher and rattling markets — a fundamental shift in central bank posture.Tension / discussion: Is Warsh's opacity a feature or a bug? Does removing guidance restore Fed credibility or introduce dangerous ambiguity for markets and borrowers?also: Axiosalso: WSJ6:22 - Story 2: U.S.-Iran Deal Reopens Hormuz, Sends Oil Prices Tumbling  [NYT]Strait of Hormuz reopens under a U.S.-Iran MOU signed ahead of schedule, driving oil prices lower, gas below $4 nationally, and stocks higher — the biggest macro relief valve in months.Tension / discussion: How durable is this deal? A fragile MOU with Iran may give markets false comfort while the underlying geopolitical fault lines remain very much alive.also: Axiosalso: Axios11: 07 - Story 3: SpaceX Acquires AI Coding Agent Cursor for $60 Billion  [WSJ]SpaceX deploys post-IPO capital in a $60B all-stock acquisition of Cursor, extending Musk's empire into enterprise AI tooling and setting a new benchmark for AI startup valuations.Tension / discussion: Does a $60B price tag for a coding agent represent genuine enterprise value or peak AI deal froth? And what does it mean that a rocket company is now a software conglomerate?also: Strictly VC2 — VC Deal Review14:52 - Story 1: Biopharma M&A Is Back: PwC Reports Strongest Deal Quarter Since 2020  [Fierce Biotech]PwC data shows life sciences deal values exceeded $65B in Q1 2026, the strongest quarter in six years — a macro signal that the biopharma financing cycle has turned.Tension / discussion: Is this a genuine ecosystem recovery or a buyer's market where big pharma is snapping up distressed assets at favorable prices while smaller biotechs remain starved for capital?17:58 - Story 2: Kardigan Prices $400M Upsized IPO to Fund Cardiovascular Drug Push  [Endpoints]Cardiovascular biotech Kardigan prices above expectations in a upsized $400M IPO, the latest evidence that the biotech IPO window is open for the right therapeutic areas.Tension / discussion: Cardiovascular drugs have a historically brutal Phase 3 attrition rate — does the IPO enthusiasm reflect genuine science confidence or investor FOMO in a hot market?FYIInStride Raises $30M Series C for Pediatric Mental Health  [MedCity News]Altaris Acquires AI Drug Dev Platform Simulations Plus for $375M  [Fierce Biotech]Vedana Therapeutics Emerges With $46M for Next-Gen Migraine Prevention  [Fierce Biotech]3 — Policy20:01 - Story 1: FDA Reverses Course on uniQure Huntington's Gene Therapy — A Signal of New Regulatory Flexibility  [MedCity News]FDA greenlights uniQure's Huntington's gene therapy for accelerated approval filing after reversing a prior requirement for an additional trial — a bellwether for how the agency will treat the broader rare disease pipeline.Tension / discussion: Is this welcome regulatory modernization for patients with no other options, or does loosening approval standards for gene therapies create a safety accountability gap that will haunt the field?also: STAT Newsalso: Fierce Biotech23:35 - Story 2: Rural Hospitals Told to 'Hang On' as Medicare Opt-Outs Accelerate and Closure Funds Lag  [Becker's]Rural hospital leaders are skeptical the $50B HR 1 transformation fund arrives before closures hit, while a parallel JAMA analysis shows rural physicians are opting out of Medicare faster than anyone is tracking.Tension / discussion: Is the Rural Health Transformation Program a genuine lifeline or a political promise that arrives too late for the hospitals and patients that need it most?also: Becker's31:28  - Story 3: Trump HHS Launches Active Information-Blocking Enforcement Under 21st Century Cures Act  [Becker's Hospital Review]After years of soft implementation, HHS is now actively enforcing information-blocking rules — a compliance wake-up call for health systems, EHR vendors, and health IT companies.Tension / discussion: Will enforcement pressure actually unlock data interope...

Vic and Marcus discuss rising inflation tied to escalating conflict in Iran and the broader economic implications for energy markets, review major venture capital and healthcare startup funding activity including surgical AI company Uncovr, examine developments in AI adoption and productivity across healthcare, analyze the competitive landscape between Apple and leading AI labs, explore IPO activity ranging from SpaceX demand to healthcare and pharmaceutical offerings, and close with a discussion on robotics, automation, and the impact of humanoid robots on future labor markets.LinksStory 1: Economy5:16 - Inflation Jumps as Iran War Intensifies Price Squeeze NYT9:16 - SpaceX IPO Draws at Least $5 Billion Order From BlackRockStory 2: VC rundown15:32 - Surgical AI Startup Uncovr Emerges from Stealth with $7M Seed Funding HIT16:55 - Stepful raises $55M for healthcare training platform Mobi HealthStory 3: Price transparency17:40 - Kennedy & Oz Discuss Price transparency on XStory 4: CMS Top 5 Priorities22:39 - The 5 Areas Where Dr. Oz Says CMS Can Make Healthcare More Affordable MedCityStory 5: Drug prices inside EMRs26:41 - BCBS of Massachusetts partners for lower-cost drug alternatives Healthcare FinanceStory 6: GSK Oncology28:21 - GSK to Buy Nuvalent for $10.6 Billion in Oncology Push WSJStory 7: GLP-1 Pills28:40 - Novo Nordisk Weight-Loss Pill Prescriptions Hit Three Million Since Launch WSJStory 8: Pharma IPO in Canada30:01 - Apotex Shares Rally as Trading Begins Following Pricing of C$1.3 Billion IPO WSJStory 9: Wearable Showdown 31:33 - The Wearable Showdown: Oura Ring 5 vs. Fitbit Air vs. Whoop MG vs. Apple Watch WSJStory 10: Agent Payments34:41 - Coinbase Launches Tool That Lets AI Agents Trade Crypto and Make Payments for Users Decrypt35:35 - Mastercard Launches Agent Pay for Machines, Ripple and XRPL Join 30+ Partners to Power AI-Driven Commerce MerkleStory 11: Abridge growth38:53 - Abridge picks up strategic investment from Eli Lilly, expands payer, research workflows Fierce HealthcareStory 12: Claude Fable540:08 - Anthropic Releases New ‘Mythos-Class’ Model to General Public With Guardrails WSJ41:16 - bWe've Never Seen an AI Like This (Claude Fable 5) YouTubeStory 13: Price War Coming?1:05:55 - OpenAI Considers Drastic Price Cuts, Anticipating War for Users With Anthropic WSJStory 14: Apple Developer Conf1:07:37 - Apple Unveiled the New Siri AI. Here Are the Key Takeaways. WSJStory 15: Apple Developer Conf1:12:47 - Driverless Trucks Are Here—and They’re Delivering Bags of Doritos WSJ 

Vic and Marcus discuss signs of stress in the private credit market, including redemption pressure at Blackstone, major healthcare and AI funding rounds, and the growing interest of technology investors in longevity startups. They examine legal and regulatory developments involving generic drug marketing, Massachusetts' lawsuit against UnitedHealthcare over alleged Medicaid fraud, and California's action related to the 23andMe data breach. The conversation also covers health system adoption of artificial intelligence through partnerships with General Catalyst, new healthcare AI investments, the evolving IPO market, and growing debate over AI regulation and the role of companies such as Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI.LinksStory 1: Economy2:41 - U.S. Job Openings Increased While Hiring Fell in April WSJ3:17 - U.S. Jobless Claims Rose Last Week WSJ3:27 - Kevin Warsh Wants the Fed to Think About Inflation Differently WSJStory 2: Private Credit - Blackstone5:44 - Blackstone Investors Ask to Pull $4.4 Billion From Private-Credit Fund WSJStory 3: VC rundown7:14 - Coinbase Founder’s Longevity Startup Triples in Value WSJ8:15 - Adaptive Innovations Raises $50M in Series A Funding FINSMES9:37 - Advanced NanoTherapies raises $31M for drug-coated balloon tech Drug Delivery9:58 - Contraline and its male birth control candidate rally $92.5M amid push into 'massive white space' of men's health Fierce Healthcare10:52 - Novellia raises $18M for patient-controlled health data platform MobiHealth12:55 - Ilant Health Secures $15M to Expand Value-Based Precision Obesity Management HITStory 4: SCOTUS13:45 - It's unanimous: SCOTUS agrees with Hikma in 'skinny label' case vs. Amarin Fierce HealthcareStory 5: MA sues UHG16:06 - Massachusetts sues UnitedHealthcare for alleged Medicaid fraud Healthcare Dive16:58 - California attorney general sues over 23andMe data breach Healthcare DiveStory 6: Ardent new CEO18:41 - New Ardent Health CEO inherits growth ambitions Healthcare DiveStory 7: Ascension21:56 - Ascension closes its $3.9B AmSurg purchase following FTC's all-clear Fierce HealthcareStory 8: WellSpan24:18 - WellSpan Health strikes strategic partnership with Philips to deploy, co-develop new healthcare tech Fierce HealthcareStory 9: New Brain Tumor Treatment25:33 - Radiation Device Placed in Brain Cuts Tumor Recurrence, Boosts Survival WSJStory 10: Lilly 340B27:53 - Eli Lilly issues data sharing ultimatum to 340B hospitals Healthcare DiveStory 11: Autism Fraud?30:53 - The Autism-Therapy Business Is Booming—and So Is the Billing Abuse WSJStory 12: Crypto Winter39:06 - The Crypto Winter Turns Colder as Bitcoin Extends Its Slide WSJ39:21 - Strategy shares fall after selling $2.5 million in bitcoin, its first sale since 2022 CNBCStory 13: Tokenized Bank Deposits42:34 - JPMorgan, Citi and Big Banks Plan New Tokenized Deposit System to Answer Crypto WSJStory 14: Mayo Teams with Microsoft43:44 - Mayo’s latest AI bet: A frontier model with Microsoft Healthcare DiveStory 15: AI Regulation45:23 - Trump Signs AI Executive Order to Increase Government Oversight WSJStory 16: IPOs53:50 - Anthropic Files to Go Public in Blockbuster Year for IPOs WSJ53:59 - Google Seeks $80 Billion for AI Buildout; Berkshire Will Buy $10 Billion Stake WSJ54:16 - SpaceX Sets Price for the World’s Largest I.P.O. NYTStory 17: PCs for AI Agents55:35 - Nvidia Introduces First PCs Designed for AI Agents WSJStory 18: Anthropic Reg Capture56:31 - Anthropic Urges Global Pause in...

Vic and guest host Emily Evans discuss declining consumer sentiment, challenges in the labor market, and the growing impact of AI on jobs and small businesses. They examine FDA food regulation and the debate around "generally regarded as safe" ingredients, Medicaid policy changes and fraud enforcement efforts under CMS, the expansion of AI from large enterprises to Main Street businesses, concerns that GLP-1 weight loss drugs may contribute to muscle loss and frailty, and major developments in the AI infrastructure race, including Amazon's multibillion-dollar chip deal.LinksStory 1: Economy00:41 - U.S. Consumer Sentiment Worsened in May WSJ1: 39 - This Summer’s Teen Job Market Is the Toughest in Decades WSJ4:05 - Phoenix Built an Empire of Cubicle Jobs. AI Is Coming to Tear It Down. WSJ7:32 - The App for Trump Accounts Will Launch Thursday. Here’s What to Know. WSJStory 2: VC rundown11:04 - Commure raises $70M, boosting post-money valuation to $7B Mobi Health13:08 - Benefitbay raises $18m Series A to scale ICHRA platform FinTech18:50 - Nourish raises $100M, plans to expand care model with physicians Fierce Healthcare23:07 - Private Loans to Venture-Backed Startups Surge Despite AI Disruption Concerns WSJStory 3: Political Hard-Ball Impacts Medicaid25:50 - Trump Nemesis Sen. Bill Cassidy Defeated in GOP Primary WSJ26:04 - Paxton Wins Texas Republican Primary After Trump Endorsement WSJ29:58 - Trump administration proposes crackdown on Medicaid state-directed payments Healthcare DiveStory 4: New CMS Health Plan Flexibility45:08 - New Final Rule Pushes Marketplace Enrollees Toward Lower-Quality, More Expensive Coverage CBPPStory 5: HHS Fraud Crackdown58:19 - HHS launches AI-backed health fraud crackdown Healthcare DiveStory 6: CVS and the end of PBMs1:06:01 - CVS sues to challenge Tennessee's new PBM law Fierce Healthcare1:08:17 - Bipartisan lawmakers reintroduce bill barring PBMs from owning pharmacies Fierce Healthcare1:10:27 - Brokers increasingly recommending ICHRA to employers Fierce Healthcare1:12:36 -  Hospitals sue CVS Health alleging it redirected $250M in 340B funds Healthcare FinanceStory 7: Training more Docs (finally)1:15:26 - 5 physician residency programs launching or expanding in 2026 BeckersStory 8: Quorum as a Nonprofit1:16:09 - Quorum Health transitioning to nonprofit for financial pickup Fierce HealthcareStory 9: Big Health Brands moving quickly1:20:06 - Amazon taps Roy Schoenberg to lead healthcare business as Neil Lindsay plans to step down Fierce Healthcare1:20:53 - Amazon One Medical launches GLP-1 program integrated with primary care Fierce Healthcare1:22:33 - Smart ring maker Oura files confidentially for IPO as consumer demand propels revenue growth Fierce Healthcare1:24:33 - GoodRx launches subscription program for low-cost generic medications, telehealth services Fierce HealthcareStory 10: Lilly’s moves1:30:22 - One-and-Done Heart Disease Prevention? Scientists Show It May Be Possible. NYT1:32:00 - Lilly Agrees to Buy Trio of Vaccine Developers WSJStory 11: GLP1 Side Effects1:39:13 - Is the Weight-Loss Drug Revolution Causing a Frailty Epidemic? WSJStory 12: Ebola Watch1:41:49 - Doctors, Hospitals Struggle to Keep Up With Ebola’s Spread WSJStory 13: New Chip Entries Grow1:44:25 - Huawei Says It Has Workaround to Match Leading Chips WSJ1:45:42 - Amazon Strikes $6 Billion Deal With Snowflake for Agentic Computing Chips WSJStory 14: New Chip Entries Grow1:47:09 -

Vic and Marcus sit down with Chris Boone, Group Vice President of Research Services at Oracle Health and Life Sciences, live from the Jumpstart Health Summit. The conversation explores Oracle’s growing role in healthcare following its Cerner acquisition, the future of real world evidence in drug discovery, how artificial intelligence is reshaping clinical research and healthcare organizations, and the opportunities and challenges surrounding AI adoption, regulation, workforce transformation, and precision medicine. They also discuss predictive healthcare, autonomous agents, the evolution of healthcare leadership, and what a world free of disease could realistically look like.

Vic and Marcus discuss rising inflation driven by energy costs and the impact on consumers, travel, and wage growth. They examine newly confirmed Fed Chair Kevin Warsh and debate whether AI investment and market enthusiasm are creating an economic bubble. The episode covers healthcare job growth becoming a key driver of California’s economy, major healthcare venture funding activity, and the resignation of FDA Commissioner Marty Makary and what it could signal about the future of regulation. Additional topics include declining overdose deaths, changes to PBMs after Optum Rx moves to a fee-based model, Hims & Hers struggling after the GLP-1 shift, General Catalyst’s healthcare transformation efforts, US and China negotiations, and broader conversations around healthcare, policy, and technology.LinksStory 1: CPI1:44 - Inflation Soared to 3.8% in April, Driven by Gasoline Prices WSJ3:24 - Prices at the Pump Are Wiping Out Wage Gains WSJStory 2: New fed Chair4:51 - Kevin Warsh Is Confirmed as Fed Chair in 54–45 Senate Vote WSJStory 3: Jobs11:42 - U.S. Adds 115,000 Jobs in April With Solid Hiring Across Sectors WSJ13:43 - Cisco to Shed Jobs for All-In AI Push WSJ14:21 - Forget Tech and Hollywood. California Is Powered by Healthcare Jobs. WSJStory 4: VC rundown15:14 - Chromie Health picks up $2M in pre-seed funding, launches SMS AI-powered nurse staffing agent Fierce Healthcare16:07 - Salesforce Ventures, Echo Health Ventures back Optura's $17.5M series A to track AI performance Fierce Healthcare18:03 - Basata Secures $21M to Rebuild Healthcare’s Operational Layer: Automating Referrals and Scheduling End-to-End HIT 19:14 - Urologic Health: $11 Million Seed Financing Raised For Non-Invasive Bladder Function Monitoring Pulse 2.020:04 - Google-backed Isomorphic Labs raises $2.1B for AI drug discovery platform Mobi HealthStory 5: Policy rundown21:08 - FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, Under Pressure From Trump, Resigns WSJ33:11 - Vance to States: Address Fraud or Lose Federal Medicaid Funding WSJ43:24 - U.S. Drug Overdose Deaths Fall for Third Straight Year WSJ44:17 - Trump Was Flattering, Xi Was Resolute. The Difference Spoke Volumes. NYTStory 6: Optum Moving Away from Traditional PBM Model49:39 - Optum Rx replaces traditional PBM model with a fee-based structure Healthcare FinanceStory 6: UC reaches deal with Union51:38 - University of California, union reach late-night deal to avert system-wide strike Fierce HealthcareStory 7: Digital Health Earnings52:33 - Hims & Hers posts $92M loss in Q1 as it shifts to branded GLP-1 medications Fierce Healthcare54:22 - Omada Health posts 42% revenue jump in Q1, joins Eli Lilly employer weight loss program Fierce HealthcareStory 8: GC Hosts Kennedy in Ohio55:47 - General Cataylst & HatCo host Kennedy in Akron LIStory 9: Far Reaching Negative Impact of Hearing Loss58:17 - Walking Slower? Why Your Ears, Not Your Knees, Might Be the Problem WSJStory 10: Clarity Act1:00:27 - Clarity Act clears U.S. Senate committee, on its way to a final test in Congress CoinDeskStory 11: SpaceX & Google1:06:06 - SpaceX and Google Are in Talks to Launch Data Centers in Orbit WSJStory 12: Googlebooks1:08:45 - Google’s Android-powered laptops are called Googlebooks, and they’re coming this year Ars TechnicaStory 13: Robots You Wear1:11:37 - Human + Robot Limitless

Vic and Marcus discuss the latest signals from the labor market and growing concerns around AI-driven layoffs, including workforce cuts at Coinbase, PayPal, and other major companies. They examine how AI is reshaping healthcare operations, payer strategies, and pharmaceutical distribution, with conversations covering IBM and OpenAI’s work with Elevance, Hims & Hers launching AI lab interpretation tools, Google’s push into consumer health, and Roche acquiring PathAI. The episode also covers RFK Jr.’s push to reduce antidepressant use, the SEC proposal to eliminate quarterly reporting, CVS and Oscar Health earnings, UPMC acquiring CommonSpirit’s Trinity Health assets, renewed momentum at Pfizer and Novo Nordisk, and the rapid convergence of AI agents, crypto payments, and cloud infrastructure through AWS, Coinbase, and Stripe.LinksStory 1: Jobs market1:52 - March Labor Market Was Stable, if Sluggish WSJ3:08 - Job Market Starts to Show Glimmers of Good News WSJStory 2:  Private Credit watch4:02 - HSBC Takes $400 Million Hit From Private-Credit Alleged Fraud WSJStory 3: AI Org changes5:20 - AI Is Forcing CEOs to Make a Stark Choice: Lay Off Workers or Make Them Do More WSJ5:40 - Coinbase layoff X10:46 - PayPal to Cut 20% of Staff Amid Turnaround Push WSJ12:12 - IBM CEO Says AI Triggers Need for New Operating Models WSJStory 4: VC rundown13:37 -  Startup Enabling Aging at Home Raises $6M, Gains New MA and Medicaid Partnerships MedCity15:32 - Enzo Health raises $20M to expand AI home health platform Mobi Health17:09 - XCaliber Health scores $6.5M for workflow platform Mobi Health19:06 - Village: $9.5 Million Raised For Specialty Pediatrics AI Platform Pulse 2.0Story 5: Antidepressants22:02 - RFK Jr. Wants to Wean Some Americans Off Antidepressants WSJStory 6: End of Quarterly requirements?25:45 - SEC Proposes to Eliminate Quarterly Reporting Requirement for Public Companies WSJStory 7: Elevance30:39 - California hospitals sue to block Elevance out-of-network penalty Modern HealthcareStory 8: Payor earnings33:22 - CVS’s Results Add to Positive Momentum for Health-Insurance Industry WSJ35:48 - Oscar Health's profit hits $679M, membership rises in Q1 Fierce HealthcareStory 9: UPMC40:02 - UPMC to acquire CommonSpirit’s Trinity Health Modern HealthcareStory 10: Health provider earnings42:45 - Ardent touts outpatient volume, margin growth during hectic Q1 Fierce Healthcare43:54 - Hinge Health lifts 2026 outlook after strong Q1 as it expands to new conditions Fierce HealthcareStory 11:  Pharma44:50 - Pfizer Posts Better-Than-Expected Revenue, Profit WSJ46:30 - Novo Nordisk Shares Jump on Strong Demand for Wegovy Pill WSJ48:46 - Bayer to Buy Eye-Drug Developer Perfuse Therapeutics for Up to $2.45 Billion WSJ49:41 - Roche shells out up to $1B for PathAI in move to boost artificial intelligence-powered diagnostics Fierce HealthcareStory 12:  PharmaHantavirus Case in Switzerland Spurs Race to Trace Contacts WSJ57:06 - Global Health Officials Race to Track Hantavirus but Predict ‘Limited’ Outbreak NYTStory 13:  AWS agent payments59:36 - AWS taps Coinbase and Stripe to power USDC payments for AI agents The BlockStory 14:  Hims AI1:02:57 - Hims & Hers debuts its first AI care agent to interpret biomarker lab results Fierce HealthcareStory 15:  Google Fitbit1:04:44 - A comprehensive view of your health: Google Blog1:06:27 - Google unveils Whoop-like screenless Fitbit Air TechCrunchStory 16:  Anth...

Vic and Marcus cover Jerome Powell remaining on the Federal Reserve board and concerns around Fed independence, global instability including the UAE exiting OPEC and weakening international institutions, and hyperscaler dominance with strong earnings from Google, Amazon, and Microsoft driven by AI and cloud growth; they discuss venture funding trends including brain-computer interfaces and clinical AI models, FDA adoption of AI to accelerate clinical trials, and policy shifts including the withdrawal of Casey Means’ nomination and Cigna exiting ACA markets; the episode also explores payer performance, Humana’s partnership with Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs, pharma consolidation led by Eli Lilly, and rising acquisition costs in biotech; they examine societal impacts of reduced human interaction due to technology, crypto instability and DeFi bailouts, and major AI developments including OpenAI’s slowing growth, legal challenges, China blocking Meta’s acquisition of Manus, and the accelerating gap between AI systems and human expertise in medicineLinksStory 1: Fed Meeting3:04 - Powell to Remain on Fed Board, Citing Legal Pressure From Trump WSJStory 2: OPEC 5:45 - U.A.E.’s OPEC Exit Deals Major Blow to Cartel Amid Middle East Oil Squeeze WSJStory 3: Cloud providers 9:35 - Google Profit Jumps 81% as Cloud Business Booms WSJ12:49 - Amazon Posts Double-Digit Growth Anchored by Booming Web Services WSJ13:15 - Microsoft Reports Strong Cloud Growth, but Questions About AI Returns Persist WSJStory 4:  VC 15:54 - Axoft Raises $55M Series A to Advance Brain-Computer Interface Technology CityBiz18:11 - Photon: $16 Million Raised To Modernize Prescription Infrastructure And Return Transparency To Patients Pulse 2.019:22 - Aidoc banks $150M backed by Goldman Sachs to scale clinical AI foundation model Fierce HealthcareStory 5:  FDA Looking to RWD 24:30 - FDA Turns to AI to Speed Up Clinical Trials WSJStory 6:  Surgeon General 26:23 - Trump Withdraws Nomination of Casey Means for Surgeon General NYTStory 7:  Payors29:54 - Cigna to exit ACA market, pursue strategic alternatives for eviCore unit Fierce Healthcare31:01 - Centene swings to $1.5B profit as Medicaid business improves even as ACA membership falls by 2 million Fierce Healthcare34:24 - Humana teams with Mark Cuban's Cost-Plus Drug Company Healthcare FinanceStory 8:  UHS36:13 - Universal Health Services' Q1 2026 earnings growth dampened by volume hits Fierce HealthcareStory 9:  Pharma37:36 - Eli Lilly to Buy Ajax Therapeutics for Up to $2.3 Billion WSJ39:06 - Sun Pharma to Buy U.S. Healthcare Firm Organon in $11.75 Billion Deal WSJ40:47 - There’s a Revolution in Cancer. But Can Big Pharma Afford It? WSJStory 10:  43:20 - We’re All Talking to Each Other Less Than We Did a Decade Ago WSJStory 11:  Robinhood50:00 - Robinhood Profit Rises on Boost From Prediction Markets, Gold Subscriptions WSJStory 12:  Aave51:48 - Crypto Rushes to Bail Out Decentralized Lender Targeted by Hackers WSJStory 13:  AI Diagnosing Patients56:23 - In real-world test, an AI model did better than ER doctors at diagnosing patients NPRN/A - Performance of a large language model on the reasoning tasks of a physician ScienceStory 14:  OpenAI58: 11 -OpenAI Misses Key Revenue, User Targets in High-Stakes Sprint Toward IPO WSJ1:00:20 - OpenAI Sued by Seven Families Over Mass Shooting Suspect’s ChatGPT Use WSJ1:01:35 - Elon Musk Testifies He Was a ‘Fool’ to Fund OpenAI WSJStory 15:  China1:02:41 - China Bans Meta’s Acquisition of Manus on National Security Grounds WSJ1:03:53 -