The FTC issued the stay in the case against CVS Caremark, OptumRx and Express Scripts in response to a motion "citing the fact that there are currently no sitting Commissioners able to participate in this matter."
Drug and medical device makers didn't oppose Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s confirmation as health secretary but are speaking up in opposition to the agency downsizing he ordered.
A coalition of 23 states sued the Trump administration on Tuesday over its decision to cut $11 billion in federal funds that go toward COVID-19 initiatives and various public health projects across the country. The lawsuit argues the cuts are illegal, and that the federal government did not provide "rational basis" or facts to support the cuts. The attorneys general say it will result in "serious harm to public health" and put states "at greater risk for future pandemics and the spread of otherwise preventable disease and cutting off vital public health services."
Employees across HHS began receiving notices of dismissal on Tuesday in an overhaul ultimately expected to lay off up to 10,000 people. The notices come just days after President Donald Trump moved to strip workers of their collective bargaining rights at HHS and other agencies throughout the government. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a plan last week to remake the department, which, through its agencies, is responsible for tracking health trends and disease outbreaks, conducting and funding medical research, and monitoring the safety of food and medicine, as well as for administering health insurance programs for nearly half of the country.
The Cigna Group stands poised to reap the rewards of utilization normalization in the back-half of the decade. Specifically, the company is taking steps to reduce exposure to government programs such as Medicare that have been stingy with rate increases in recent years and to address sources of member abrasion such as prescription costs and accessibility of care in an effort to drive commercial business growth in what is a highly competitive industry.