Bob Herman
@bobjherman.bsky.social
Health care business reporter for @statnews.com and its Health Care Inc. newsletter. Contact: bob.herman@statnews.com or bobjherman.09 on Signal. Sign up: https://www.statnews.com/signup/health-care-inc/
No words www.statnews.com/2025/09/17/m...
September 17, 2025 at 8:21 PM
No words www.statnews.com/2025/09/17/m...
August 14, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Big price hike for the blockbuster cystic fibrosis drug Trikafta
July 11, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Big price hike for the blockbuster cystic fibrosis drug Trikafta
Hospitals, pharma, doctors, medical devices, health insurers, PBMs — the entire health care industry has crushed working households through higher prices and out-of-pocket spending, to the point that health care is a bigger expense than a mortgage. bsky.app/profile/lydi...
July 3, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Hospitals, pharma, doctors, medical devices, health insurers, PBMs — the entire health care industry has crushed working households through higher prices and out-of-pocket spending, to the point that health care is a bigger expense than a mortgage. bsky.app/profile/lydi...
Yes, the series of errors is known as "the entire U.S. health care system." A truly outrageous story from @kffhealthnews.org kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
June 30, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Yes, the series of errors is known as "the entire U.S. health care system." A truly outrageous story from @kffhealthnews.org kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
Semler is one of the oddest companies I’ve ever reported on. A company built around a questionable artery screening device pivoting into a bitcoin speculator. Read more from @caseyross.bsky.social, @lizzylawrence.bsky.social, @tarabannow.bsky.social, and me: www.statnews.com/2025/06/24/s...
June 24, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Semler is one of the oddest companies I’ve ever reported on. A company built around a questionable artery screening device pivoting into a bitcoin speculator. Read more from @caseyross.bsky.social, @lizzylawrence.bsky.social, @tarabannow.bsky.social, and me: www.statnews.com/2025/06/24/s...
Republicans are trying to buy the silence of physician lobbying groups. The offer: Don't make a peep about Medicaid cuts and millions of people losing health coverage, and we'll bump up your Medicare pay. Good story by @danielpayne.bsky.social: www.statnews.com/2025/06/05/t...
June 5, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Republicans are trying to buy the silence of physician lobbying groups. The offer: Don't make a peep about Medicaid cuts and millions of people losing health coverage, and we'll bump up your Medicare pay. Good story by @danielpayne.bsky.social: www.statnews.com/2025/06/05/t...
May 28, 2025 at 3:19 PM
How could it be in 2025, the year of our new Chicago pope, that some Medicare plans ONLY cover Humira and none of its biosimilars. And nearly all plans *didn't prefer* the biosimilar over Humira. AbbVie and PBMs have soaked everyone here. www.statnews.com/pharmalot/20...
May 8, 2025 at 8:44 PM
How could it be in 2025, the year of our new Chicago pope, that some Medicare plans ONLY cover Humira and none of its biosimilars. And nearly all plans *didn't prefer* the biosimilar over Humira. AbbVie and PBMs have soaked everyone here. www.statnews.com/pharmalot/20...
Turns out hospital parking is a helluva business. www.statnews.com/2025/05/05/a...
May 6, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Turns out hospital parking is a helluva business. www.statnews.com/2025/05/05/a...
May 1, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Medicare Advantage has become the cash cow for companies like UnitedHealth Group precisely because of the way the program's "risk adjustment" system is designed. Overpayments in 2024 based on coding alone = $50 billion, more than DOJ’s entire budget. www.statnews.com/2024/07/25/u...
April 30, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Medicare Advantage has become the cash cow for companies like UnitedHealth Group precisely because of the way the program's "risk adjustment" system is designed. Overpayments in 2024 based on coding alone = $50 billion, more than DOJ’s entire budget. www.statnews.com/2024/07/25/u...
Medicare Advantage insurers: WE ARE WITHERING ON THE VINE.
Also MA insurers:
www.statnews.com/2025/04/28/t...
Also MA insurers:
www.statnews.com/2025/04/28/t...
April 28, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Medicare Advantage insurers: WE ARE WITHERING ON THE VINE.
Also MA insurers:
www.statnews.com/2025/04/28/t...
Also MA insurers:
www.statnews.com/2025/04/28/t...
The current state of Semler Scientific, the medical device company that makes a questionable artery disease test called QuantaFlo. @lizzylawrence.bsky.social with the latest: www.statnews.com/2025/04/16/s...
April 16, 2025 at 4:38 PM
The current state of Semler Scientific, the medical device company that makes a questionable artery disease test called QuantaFlo. @lizzylawrence.bsky.social with the latest: www.statnews.com/2025/04/16/s...
Christi Grimm, the HHS inspector general who Trump fired in January, did not hold back on her thoughts about how regulators are not doing enough to curb abuse in Medicare Advantage. www.statnews.com/2025/04/11/f...
April 14, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Christi Grimm, the HHS inspector general who Trump fired in January, did not hold back on her thoughts about how regulators are not doing enough to curb abuse in Medicare Advantage. www.statnews.com/2025/04/11/f...
Trump administration starts gutting HHS. Biggest hits come within FDA, CDC, and NIH. And then there's this within CMS. www.statnews.com/2025/04/01/h...
April 1, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Trump administration starts gutting HHS. Biggest hits come within FDA, CDC, and NIH. And then there's this within CMS. www.statnews.com/2025/04/01/h...
lol @lizzylawrence.bsky.social with the goods on how the return-to-office mandate at FDA is going www.statnews.com/2025/03/17/f...
March 17, 2025 at 9:18 PM
lol @lizzylawrence.bsky.social with the goods on how the return-to-office mandate at FDA is going www.statnews.com/2025/03/17/f...
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is a linchpin of the health care system. As the agency absorbs hundreds of job cuts from Trump and Musk, and potentially more, compare how lean it already is to other major insurers and conglomerates. www.statnews.com/2025/03/01/f...
March 1, 2025 at 6:37 PM
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is a linchpin of the health care system. As the agency absorbs hundreds of job cuts from Trump and Musk, and potentially more, compare how lean it already is to other major insurers and conglomerates. www.statnews.com/2025/03/01/f...
Wow: Jeff Grant, a top career official at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, retired today. On his way out, Grant sent this letter excoriating Jeffery Anoka, who carried out the DOGE firings, and said Anoka is "ethically and legally bound to restore" the jobs of the fired employees.
March 1, 2025 at 3:57 AM
Wow: Jeff Grant, a top career official at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, retired today. On his way out, Grant sent this letter excoriating Jeffery Anoka, who carried out the DOGE firings, and said Anoka is "ethically and legally bound to restore" the jobs of the fired employees.
Guess who is the newest disciple of the "Make America Healthy Again" movement? UnitedHealth Group www.statnews.com/2025/02/25/u...
February 25, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Guess who is the newest disciple of the "Make America Healthy Again" movement? UnitedHealth Group www.statnews.com/2025/02/25/u...
Here’s a taste of what UnitedHealth has done since Thompson’s murder: It has a “risk intelligence team” combing the internet for threats. Security near its headquarters has felt like the Pentagon. And it’s also doing this to its own employees:
February 25, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Here’s a taste of what UnitedHealth has done since Thompson’s murder: It has a “risk intelligence team” combing the internet for threats. Security near its headquarters has felt like the Pentagon. And it’s also doing this to its own employees:
February 24, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Just in: HHS Inspector General Christi Grimm, who was fired along with 7 other IGs by Trump last month, said she found out she was fired while driving. She's been aggressively auditing Medicare Advantage. More than 2,000 investigations now in purgatory. www.documentcloud.org/documents/25...
February 14, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Just in: HHS Inspector General Christi Grimm, who was fired along with 7 other IGs by Trump last month, said she found out she was fired while driving. She's been aggressively auditing Medicare Advantage. More than 2,000 investigations now in purgatory. www.documentcloud.org/documents/25...