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Hi Healthy Returns readers,
Angelica LaVito has an exclusive, inside look this week at the personal struggle of Walgreens' retirees after the pharmacy chain cut their health benefits. The opioid dominos are starting to fall. Insys filed for bankruptcy this week, marking the first drugmaker taken down by legal fees related to the opioid crisis. Patients at high risk of contracting HIV are about to get better access to prevention meds. And e-cigarette maker Juul faces another probe into teen vaping.
(Are there any stories we should be chasing? Email tips, ideas, suggestions to CNBC Health Editor Dawn Kopecki at dawn.kopecki@nbcuni.com.)
| | Walgreens cuts long-time retiree health benefit | Walgreens employees are putting retirement plans on hold and raiding their savings after the company cut benefits for early retirees. The company told employees last fall that it would no longer subsidize health insurance premiums for retirees under age 65. That's no small chunk of change for former pharmacist Maria Alessio; about $10,800 a year.
- Angelica LaVito | | | | Insys marks first opioid bankruptcy | It may be the first opioid bankruptcy, but it's not the only company caught in the crosshairs over the drug industry's role in the opioid epidemic. Johnson & Johnson is fighting an ongoing trial in Oklahoma. Teva shares took a hit again this week after a judge delayed approving its $85 million settlement in the J&J case. Endo Pharma and Mallinckrodt, as well as private company Purdue Pharma, are also feeling the heat.
- Meg Tirrell | | | | CVS Health deal's last legal hurdle | CVS closed its acquisition of Aetna last November, agreeing to divest Aetna's Medicare Part D plans to WellCare, but the deal is still facing one legal roadblock. Federal judge Richard Leon in Washington, D.C. questions whether that divestiture goes far enough to ensure competition. He's the same judge who reversed the Trump administration's denial of the AT&T Time Warner deal. The verdict is out on whether Leon could now reverse the DOJ's approval and undo the CVS Aetna deal.
-Bertha Coombs | | | | Juul faces another probe into teen vaping epidemic | E-cigarette leader Juul is under investigation again as Democrats blame the company for causing epidemic levels of teen vaping. A House panel sent a letter to Juul CEO Kevin Burns demanding a slew of internal documents examining the company's advertising methods as part of a broad probe of the industry. Juul has denied targeting teens.
-Ashley Turner | | | | Free HIV prevention pills coming to insured | Patients at high risk of HIV with private health insurance will soon be able to get prevention medication, also called PrEP, at no cost. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force this week gave PrEP a grade "A" recommendation, meaning insurers will now be obligated to cover the medication with no cost sharing. Under the Affordable Care Act — section 2713 — private health plans are obligated to cover preventative services that the task force grants an "A" or "B" rating.
-Berkeley Lovelace Jr. | | | | GE yard sale | GE is trying to shore up its balance sheet by selling off some of its prime (yet non-core) assets. Its venture capital unit, GE Ventures, is the latest one looking for a buyer. Some of the health care highlights in its portfolio of more than 100 start-ups include Evidation Health, which focuses on developing real world evidence for pharma companies, and Verana Health, a clinical database start-up. Sources tell CNBC that the firm has been looking for a home for several months but has not yet found one.
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