Trump order set to halt supply of HIV, malaria drugs to poor countries, sources say

Jan 28, 2025 — LONDON, Jan 28 (Reuters) - The Trump administration has moved to stop the supply of lifesaving drugs for HIV, malaria and tuberculosis, as well as medical supplies for newborn babies, in countries supported by USAID around the globe, a memo reviewed by Reuters showed.

On Tuesday, contractors and partners who work with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) began receiving such memos to stop work immediately, sources said. The move is part of a wider freeze on U.S. aid and funding put in place since Trump took office on Jan. 20, while programmes are reviewed.

Medicaid portals 'down in all 50 states' thanks to Trump: Dem senators

Jan 28, 2025 — President Donald Trump's sweeping executive order freezing federal loans and grants has put a number of key government programs in jeopardy, and none may be bigger than Medicaid, which provides health insurance to more than 70 million Americans.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), writing on BlueSky, revealed that "my staff has confirmed reports that Medicaid portals are down in all 50 states following last night's federal funding freeze."

UnitedHealth confirms 190 million Americans affected by Change Healthcare data breach

Jan 24, 2025 — UnitedHealth has confirmed the ransomware attack on its Change Healthcare unit last February affected around 190 million people in America — nearly double previous estimates.

The U.S. health insurance giant confirmed the latest number to TechCrunch on Friday after the markets closed.

Wisconsin family sues over son's fatal asthma attack, blames rising cost of inhaler

Jan 21, 2025 — A Wisconsin family, whose son died after an asthma attack last year, just filed a federal lawsuit in the Eastern District of Wisconsin regarding the cost of their son's medicine, which they said contributed to his death.

The suit comes exactly one year after 22-year-old Cole Schmidtknecht died from cardiac arrest after suffering a severe asthma attack. He didn't have his inhaler at the time. The family said he had to forgo his inhaler because of the dramatically increased price of his prescription.

Breaking: Republicans aim to increase insulin costs

Shareholders urge UnitedHealth to analyze impact of healthcare denials

Jan 9, 2025 — UnitedHealth Group, opens new tab shareholders on Wednesday said they requested the company prepare a report on the costs and public health impact related to its "practices that limit or delay access to healthcare."

If the proposal makes it to a vote at the company's annual meeting it would raise a charged topic after a senior executive was gunned down in Manhattan last month.

Annual 'winners' for most egregious US healthcare profiteering announced

Jan 7, 2025 — The 2024 "winners" of the annual Shkreli awards, given each year to perpetrators of the most egregious examples of profiteering and dysfunction within the healthcare industry, have been released from the Lown Institute, an independent healthcare thinktank.

The recipients are chosen by a panel made up of health policy experts, clinicians, journalists and advocates. The awards are named after Martin Shkreli, the infamous "pharma bro" who rose to international notoriety after increasing the price of lifesaving anti-parasitic drug Daraprim 50-fold.

UnitedHealth units ordered to collectively pay $165 million for misleading Massachusetts consumers

Jan 6, 2025 — Three UnitedHealth-owned (UNH.N), opens new tab insurance companies collectively must pay over $165 million for engaging in widespread deceptive conduct that misled thousands of consumers in Massachusetts into unknowingly buying supplemental health insurance, a state court judge has ruled.

United Healthcare Accused of Denying Claim of Woman in Coma in Deleted Post

Jan 1, 2025 — A post from Dr. Zachary Levy that said UnitedHealthcare denied the claims of one of his patients, who is in a coma, went viral on X, formerly Twitter. The post has since been removed and Levy appears to have deleted his account.

Newsweek has reached out to UnitedHealthcare via email and Levy via social media for comment. UnitedHealthcare had previously criticized what it described as highly inaccurate and grossly misleading information about its treatment of insurance claims.

Her Mental Health Treatment Was Helping. That's Why Insurance Cut Off Her Coverage.

Dec 31, 2024 — Geneva Moore's therapist pulled out her spiral notebook. At the top of the page, she jotted down the date, Jan. 30, 2024, Moore's initials and the name of the doctor from the insurance company to whom she'd be making her case.

Insurers Continue to Rely on Doctors Whose Judgments Have Been Criticized by Courts

Dec 30, 2024 — In a New Orleans courtroom one afternoon this April, three federal appeals court judges questioned a lawyer for the country's largest health insurance company.

They wanted to know why United Healthcare had denied coverage for a 15-year-old girl named Emily Dwyer, whose anorexia had taken such a toll on her body that she had arrived at a residential treatment facility wearing her 8-year-old sister's jeans.

Patients say more claims for cancer screenings and treatments rejected by insurance companies

Dec 26, 2024 — Insurance companies are increasingly rejecting cancer treatments and screenings for some patients. NBC News' Stephanie Gosk profiles two patients' cases and reports on reactions from the insurance companies involved.

Insurance company denies covering medication for condition that 'could kill' med student, she says

Dec 20, 2024 — Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City denied coverage of a medicine that a Missouri woman says could save her life, leaving her with a monthly bill of over $8,000.

"I was at risk for spontaneous internal bleeding that could kill me," Kaitlyn Sy said. Sy, a University of Kansas medical student, said she's fighting back just weeks after a near-death experience. She's been forced to pause her medical studies while waiting for this medicine to be approved, compromising her already weak immune system.

Health insurance exec quits over industry practices

Dec 18, 2024 — Former health insurance company executive Wendell Potter speaks to CNN's Jake Tapper about what he witnessed as a health insurance executive that made him quit.

UnitedHealth Is Strategically Limiting Access to Critical Treatment for Kids With Autism

Dec 13, 2024 — There was a time when Sharelle Menard thought her son would never be able to speak. She couldn't soothe Benji when he cried, couldn't read him books he could follow, couldn't take him out in public. "The screaming, and screaming, and screaming," she said. "He would get so frustrated because he couldn't communicate."

Health Insurers Gave $120 Billion To Shareholders While Denying Your Claim

Dec 11, 2024 — As rising health care costs and inadequate insurance coverage leave one in three Americans saddled with medical debt, the nation’s top health insurers have dumped billions into enriching their executives and top shareholders through lucrative stock buybacks.

Senator Warren Blasts United Health CEO for Monopolistic Practices that Harm Patients

May 1, 2024 — Senator Warren's exchange with UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty at a May 1, 2024 hearing of the Senate Finance Committee entitled: "Hacking America's Health Care: Assessing the Change Healthcare Cyber Attack and What's Next."