More than 15,000 nurses in Duluth and the Twin Cities recently launched contract negotiations with area hospitals.
The Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA), who represents nurses with Aspirus St. Luke’s and Essentia Health, held a press conference in St. Paul Thursday morning to go over their concerns.
An MNA representative specifically said they had concerns that hospitals were operating with unsafe staffing, compromising on patient care, and driving experienced nurses out of the profession. Nurses are now pushing for a minimum nurse-to-patient ratio. MNA said that research shows that lower nurse-to-patient assignments reduce hospital infections, readmissions, and deaths, and lowers healthcare costs.
Cigna has announced plans to launch a new specialized GLP-1 pharmacy called ENGUIDE from next month, as the obesity drug class popularized by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly becomes a key component of managed care firms' financials. GLP-1 drugs, which include Novo Nordisk's and Eli Lilly's weight loss drugs Wegovy and Zepbound, are a leading cost driver for managed care firms in a market expected to hit more than $100 billion by 2030.
The Cigna Group swung to a first quarter profit of $1.3 billion as the health insurer begins to gain control of rising medical costs and its Evernorth business continues to perform well. Cigna, which includes Evernorth Health Services and one of the nation's largest pharmacy benefit management companies, said first quarter net income was $1.3 billion, or $4.85 per share, compared with a net loss of $277 million, or 97 cents per share, in Q1 2024.
CVS Health will not sell its Aetna health plans in the ACA's individual marketplaces in 2026, marking the second time in the past decade that Aetna has given up on ACA coverage.
North America's three biggest measles outbreaks continue to balloon, with more than 2,500 known cases; three people have died in the U.S. and one in Mexico. It started in the fall in Ontario, Canada; then took off in late January in Texas and New Mexico; and has rapidly spread in Chihuahua state, which is up to 786 cases since mid-February.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will ask the CDC to develop new guidance for treating measles with drugs and vitamins. The move comes as Kennedy has faced criticism during this year's record measles outbreaks for remarks misleading people into thinking that measles infections are easily curable and inflating myths about measles vaccines.