iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Paul Ginsburg, a health economist at USC and a former MedPAC commissioner, said the bill “is the most extreme example that I am aware of in which a stakeholder has worked to undermine MedPAC’s independence.”

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

How are MA plans overpaid by $76 billion? Two main ways: coding games to make Medicare patients look sicker than they are ($22B). But now, the dominant factor ($57B) is "favorable selection" — the idea that MA plans attract healthier seniors.. www.medpac.gov/wp-content/u...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

This tells you everything you need to know about the Trump administration's drug price agreements with pharma companies. www.sec.gov/Archives/edg...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Hello, from UnitedHealth's "least-favorite reporter." www.statnews.com/2026/08/17/u...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Bigger picture: Health insurance premiums (both employer and employee contributions) have vastly outpaced inflation for decades. These are constant wage cuts, and everyone out there is getting hammered, silently behind the scenes. www.statnews.com/2026/07/07/s...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

This data surprised me: More small businesses than ever are throwing in the towel on health insurance. Many have pivoted to or are considering alternatives, like providing employees money to buy coverage on the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. www.statnews.com/2026/07/07/s...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

America’s employer health insurance is decaying. We’re launching a new series, Out of Pocket, Out of Reach, that chronicles how and why this system is harming everyone in a more urgent way than ever. Despair is most apparent among small businesses. www.statnews.com/2026/07/07/s...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Pretty wild: For every $9 we spent on retail prescription drugs in 2025, $1 went toward GLP-1s. www.statnews.com/2026/06/24/h...

By analyzing pharmaceutical company revenue data with federal health spending data, STAT found the two drugs specifically indicated for weight loss — Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound — accounted for 4% of the $519 billion in retail prescription drug spending in 2025. When combining the revenue for Novo’s and Lilly’s GLP-1 drugs for all conditions, including diabetes, this single class made up 11% of retail drug spending last year.

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

The Trump administration wants low-income people who have cancer, kidney failure, and other complex conditions to prove they can't work in order to keep their Medicaid coverage. www.statnews.com/2026/06/03/m...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

So many incredible parts from this @sarah-todd.bsky.social dispatch at a longevity conference, including organ replacement and her survey of how long these people think they'll live. www.statnews.com/2026/05/27/l...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Potentially coming to an ACA marketplace near you: Health insurance that isn't even really insurance. www.statnews.com/2026/05/18/t...

The selling point of catastrophic plans is their cheaper premiums, but the tradeoff is that they require members to pay for everything beyond preventive care until they hit their deductibles, which CMS proposes to increase to $17,500 for an individual and $35,000 for a family in 2028, according to a report from Veda Partners, an investment adviser. Veda said the individual deductible is roughly equal to the total cost of an average inpatient hospital stay, which lasts 5.5 days and costs $3,300 per day.

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

RFK Jr. did what kffhealthnews.org/public-healt...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Hospital CEOs are currently testifying in front on Congress. The American Hospital Association just held its annual meeting, and @danielpayne.bsky.social caught this extremely candid quote from Chuck Schumer showing just how much lobbying power hospitals have. www.statnews.com/2026/04/27/f...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

More than 20 years ago, UnitedHealthcare was getting rid of prior authorization. But when Steve Hemsley first became CEO of UHC's parent company, he brought it back. www.statnews.com/2026/04/27/f...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

The Trump administration has voiced some tough rhetoric about health insurers. But almost every major decision from Trump officials has benefited insurers and their bottom lines. The new Medicare Advantage rule is the latest example. www.statnews.com/2026/04/09/m...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

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

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

NEW: The entire process of finding Medicare coverage may be influenced by artificial intelligence in the not-too-distant future. CMS wants to use AI tools for its "Medicare Experience Modernization" project — and there are lots of question marks. www.statnews.com/2026/02/23/m...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

UnitedHealth Group is getting smaller. But there's more to the story: This purge of Medicare Advantage enrollees, other insurance members, and unnamed assets also means "intercompany eliminations" — how much business UHG does with itself — are declining. www.statnews.com/2026/02/02/u...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/m...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

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

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

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...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

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...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

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

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

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...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

lol the math here makes absolutely no sense. Are you saying the Medicare Part B premium was expected to be $548/month? That would have been a scandal. Either way, the Part B premium is going up 10%, well above the cost of living. Seniors are getting hammered, again.

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 17/09/2025

No words www.statnews.com/2025/09/17/m...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

www.statnews.com/2025/08/14/e...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

Big price hike for the blockbuster cystic fibrosis drug Trikafta

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

Hospitals, pharma, doctors, medical devices, health insurers, PBMs — the entire health care industry has crushed working households through higher prices and out-of-pocket spending, to the point that health care is a bigger expense than a mortgage. bsky.app/profile/lydi...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

Yes, the series of errors is known as "the entire U.S. health care system." A truly outrageous story from @kffhealthnews.org kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

Semler is one of the oddest companies I’ve ever reported on. A company built around a questionable artery screening device pivoting into a bitcoin speculator. Read more from @caseyross.bsky.social, @lizzylawrence.bsky.social, @tarabannow.bsky.social, and me: www.statnews.com/2025/06/24/s...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

Republicans are trying to buy the silence of physician lobbying groups. The offer: Don't make a peep about Medicaid cuts and millions of people losing health coverage, and we'll bump up your Medicare pay. Good story by @danielpayne.bsky.social: www.statnews.com/2025/06/05/t...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

www.statnews.com/2025/05/27/h...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

How could it be in 2025, the year of our new Chicago pope, that some Medicare plans ONLY cover Humira and none of its biosimilars. And nearly all plans *didn't prefer* the biosimilar over Humira. AbbVie and PBMs have soaked everyone here. www.statnews.com/pharmalot/20...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

Turns out hospital parking is a helluva business. www.statnews.com/2025/05/05/a...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

www.statnews.com/2025/05/01/a...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

Medicare Advantage has become the cash cow for companies like UnitedHealth Group precisely because of the way the program's "risk adjustment" system is designed. Overpayments in 2024 based on coding alone = $50 billion, more than DOJ’s entire budget. www.statnews.com/2024/07/25/u...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

Medicare Advantage insurers: WE ARE WITHERING ON THE VINE. Also MA insurers: www.statnews.com/2025/04/28/t...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

The current state of Semler Scientific, the medical device company that makes a questionable artery disease test called QuantaFlo. @lizzylawrence.bsky.social with the latest: www.statnews.com/2025/04/16/s...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

Christi Grimm, the HHS inspector general who Trump fired in January, did not hold back on her thoughts about how regulators are not doing enough to curb abuse in Medicare Advantage. www.statnews.com/2025/04/11/f...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Trump administration starts gutting HHS. Biggest hits come within FDA, CDC, and NIH. And then there's this within CMS. www.statnews.com/2025/04/01/h...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

lol @lizzylawrence.bsky.social with the goods on how the return-to-office mandate at FDA is going www.statnews.com/2025/03/17/f...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 01/03/2025

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is a linchpin of the health care system. As the agency absorbs hundreds of job cuts from Trump and Musk, and potentially more, compare how lean it already is to other major insurers and conglomerates. www.statnews.com/2025/03/01/f...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 01/03/2025

Wow: Jeff Grant, a top career official at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, retired today. On his way out, Grant sent this letter excoriating Jeffery Anoka, who carried out the DOGE firings, and said Anoka is "ethically and legally bound to restore" the jobs of the fired employees.

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

Guess who is the newest disciple of the "Make America Healthy Again" movement? UnitedHealth Group www.statnews.com/2025/02/25/u...

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Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

Here’s a taste of what UnitedHealth has done since Thompson’s murder: It has a “risk intelligence team” combing the internet for threats. Security near its headquarters has felt like the Pentagon. And it’s also doing this to its own employees:

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