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Weekly issues
- 71%Medicare’s $2,400 drug cap and four more changes
Medicare Advantage drug plan enrollees in contracts rated 4 stars or higher for 2027. Up from about 67% for 2026 by the same CMS table. These ratings set 2028 quality bonus payments.
Every story
- -950,503We checked UnitedHealth's Medicare Advantage cut against CMS files. A third of its PPO members left.
UnitedHealth Group Medicare Advantage members, CMS December 2025 file to September 2026 file. 10,294,359 to 9,343,856, down 9.23%. PPO plans fell 683,895, or 33.51%.
- 1 in 10Oura and WHOOP start research studies with Abu Dhabi's health regulator
Births worldwide that are preterm, the problem Oura's Project CRADLE studies. About 15 million babies a year, per the World Health Organization, as cited by Oura (Oct 21, 2026).
- 90 daysTrump order tells NIH to create a Women's Health Division within 90 days
Deadline for NIH to set up its new Women's Health Division. Executive Order 14437, signed Oct 19, 2026; published in the Federal Register Oct 22, 2026 (91 FR 66779).
- About halfFDA clears a bioMérieux vaginitis test that gives results in about 20 minutes
Share of women diagnosed with vaginitis by older, non molecular tests who get the right treatment. bioMérieux, Oct 22, 2026, citing Hillier et al., Sexually Transmitted Diseases, published online May 12, 2026.
- 9 in 10FDA approves the first generic Climara Pro, a weekly hormone patch for menopause
US prescriptions filled with generic drugs. FDA, Oct 20, 2026, in its release on the first generic Climara Pro.
- 28%FDA proposes cadmium limits for baby food, with 10 parts per billion for most jars and pouches
Estimated cut in cadmium exposure from baby fruits, vegetables and mixed foods for children who eat the most of them. 90th percentile of consumption, FDA draft guidance (Oct 2026), published in the Federal Register Oct 23, 2026.
- 52.9%FDA approves Roche's Enspryng for thyroid eye disease after one of its two trials missed
Share of active thyroid eye disease patients on Enspryng whose eye bulging dropped 2 mm or more at week 24 in SatraGO 2. Against 23.4% on placebo. The twin trial, SatraGO 1, missed its main goal (Enspryng label, Oct 2026).
- 36.0MMedicare Advantage passes 36 million members, CMS's October file shows
People in Medicare Advantage plans, October 2026. 36,024,875, up 906,965 (2.6%) from 35,117,910 in October 2025. Counts are as of the Oct 1, 2026 payment.
- 638KYour Medicare Advantage plan is leaving your county. Here's what to do, and by when
People with Medicare in counties with no Medicare Advantage drug plan open to general enrollment in 2027. About 638,000 people in 193 counties, KFF counts, up from 399,000 people in 123 counties in 2026.
- 71%Some rectal cancer patients can now skip surgery, chemo and radiation after FDA approves Jemperli
Share of AZUR-1 trial patients treated with Jemperli alone, with no surgery, chemotherapy or radiation and no disease progression. 110 of 154 patients, median follow-up 26.3 months (FDA, Oct 19, 2026).
- 22 to 50What the FDA has actually cleared in cuffless blood pressure
Ages covered by the FDA clearance of Happy Health's cuffless, calibration-free blood pressure software. 510(k) K254000, cleared Sep 3, 2026. Most Medicare patients are 65 or older.
- 3 yearsFDA will treat most apps that come with prescription drugs like ads, unless the drugmaker proves they help
Time between FDA's draft guidance on drugmaker companion apps and the final version. Draft issued Sep 19, 2023; final released Oct 20, 2026 (FDA; Federal Register, Oct 21, 2026).
- 95%Humana says 95% of its Medicare Advantage members are in 4-star plans for 2027, up from 20%
Humana Medicare Advantage members in plans rated 4 stars or higher for 2027, per the company. Up from 20% for 2026 (Fierce Healthcare). Across MA-PD plans: about 71% (CMS, Oct 8, 2026).
- 17 to 4CMS plan would stop Medicare paying for outsourced remote monitoring
Remote monitoring billing codes if CMS adopts the bundled G-codes it floated. A comment request in the CY 2027 proposed rule (Jul 16, 2026), not a formal proposal. CMS says it could finalize the codes after reading comments.
- 71%AEP 2027 scorecard: more members in 4-star plans, fewer counties for some big insurers
Share of MA-PD enrollees in contracts rated 4 stars or higher for 2027. Up from about 67% for 2026, by CMS's enrollment-weighted table. These ratings set 2028 quality bonus payments.
- 713Oscar grows its county count 24% as ACA insurers set 2027 plans
Counties in Oscar's 2027 ACA footprint, across 21 states. A 24% increase in counties from last year (Oscar, Oct 20, 2026).
- $149How drugmakers and wearables are reaching patients directly
Starting monthly self-pay price for the Wegovy pill through NovoCare. For the 1.5 mg dose; higher doses cost $199 to $299 a month (NovoCare, checked Oct 20, 2026).
- 13,000Doximity adds UpToDate to its AI tool, days after its OpenEvidence lawsuit ended
UpToDate topics and best-practice guides behind the new answers in Doximity Ask. Rolling out in the coming weeks at health systems that use both products (Wolters Kluwer, Oct 20, 2026).
- 24%FDA approves Hibsago, a hepatitis B drug that lets some patients stop treatment
Share of Hibsago patients who met the requirements to stop their existing hepatitis B medicine. Compared with none on placebo, across two trials (FDA, Oct 20, 2026).
- 1Judi Health gets a CMS contract for its own employer retiree Part D plan
Company holding the CMS contract, enrollment, compliance and claims under Judi's model. Judi says traditional employer Part D setups split these across several vendors (Judi Health, Oct 20, 2026).
- 5Oura adds Cardio Effort and automatic VO2 max to its ring
Qualifying GPS walks, runs or hikes before Oura gives a first automatic VO2 max estimate. Oura Labs feature for Gen3 rings and later (Oura, Oct 20, 2026).
- 20,000+PacBio and Verily team up to pair long-read genomes with clinical data
Researchers using Verily Pre's Workbench, where the PacBio data will be analyzed. Workbench has supported more than 700 publications, per the companies (Oct 19, 2026).
- 90CMS proposes MA directory checks and PBM pay rules
Days, at most, between provider directory checks in the CMS proposal. Proposed rule released Oct 16, 2026; most of it applies from 2028.
- 6CMS official says parts of the WISeR AI prior auth test are not working
States in Medicare's WISeR AI prior authorization test. Arizona, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas and Washington; runs Jan 1, 2026 through 2031.
- $2,400Medicare open enrollment opens with Part D changes
Part D out-of-pocket cap in 2027, up from $2,100. Open enrollment runs Oct 15 to Dec 7; changes take effect Jan 1, 2027.
- 3Google Health's data deals and Medicare's rules
Data deals Google Health signed in two months. Abbott Lingo (Aug 11), Function Health and Flo Health (both Oct 12).