Explore how Medicare, AI, GLP-1s, dementia policy, and precision medicine are reshaping aging, care delivery, and healthcare investment.

Analysis of Trump-era mental health parity enforcement, DOL's narrowed MHPAEA focus, pending litigation, and bipartisan congressional action.

On October 5, 2026, the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and the Treasury (collectively, the Departments) announced changes to the Transparency in Coverage (TIC) final rules, overhauling the 2020 regulatory framework for group health plans and health insurance issuers.  The changes aim to standardize the TIC machine-readable files (MRFs) for greater accuracy and accessibility.  The rules take effect December 7, 2026, with requirements phased in through July 2028.

HRSA’s 340B rebate pilot starts Jan. 1, 2027. Learn the approved plans, litigation risks, and readiness steps for health systems.

Most of the 340B debate centers on rural hospitals and community health centers. The biggest dollars, however, sit with academic medical centers (AMCs) and large health systems, and that is where Washington’s next three moves converge.

For decades women's health has too often been treated as a narrow policy category, despite affecting roughly half the population. That is changing. There is now an emerging category of medicine built around regulated software, biomarker-based decision-making, and new regulatory and reimbursement pathways. FemTech now spans menstrual health, fertility, pregnancy and postpartum care, pelvic and sexual health, menopause, contraception, and conditions that affect women differently or disproportionately. 

On July 14, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced its settlement with Caremark Rx, LLC and Zinc Health Services, LLC (Caremark) to resolve claims from the FTC’s 2024 Complaint alleging Caremark, OptumRx, Inc. (OptumRx), and Express Scripts, Inc (ESI) used anticompetitive rebate schemes to artificially inflate insulin prices.

There have been two major recent developments in the ongoing national struggle over the state regulation of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). On June 29, 2026, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Flowers v. Caremark PCS Health, No. 25-3068, that a key element of an Arkansas statute designed to regulate PBMs is preempted by federal law. Three lawsuits have been filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee challenging Tennessee’s recently enacted Fair RX Act, a statute aimed squarely at curbing PBM ownership and control of pharmacies. The Fair RX Act, passed in May, prohibits PBMs from owning pharmacies

On June 25, 2026, Senate HELP Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-LA) released a sweeping legislative discussion draft titled the 340B Drug Pricing Integrity and Affordability for Patients Act. This proposal represents the most significant proposed overhaul of the 340B Drug Pricing Program in more than 15 years—and if enacted, it would have profound implications for every hospital, health system, and safety-net provider currently participating in the program.