Medical and Insurance News

Vic Crain

May 31

As always, there's a lot going on, but not too much for consumers to get excited about -- at least in terms of immediate application.

There are three items clearly worthy of attention:

Medicare changes: There will be a cap on what consumers have to pay for medications in 2025. This plus other changes in what the Federal government pays to Medicare Advantage plan sponsors (insurers) is prompting a strong response from the insurance community. The CFO for CVS, the parent company for Aetna and Silverscripts, stated at an investor conference that they will be focusing on profit margins and are willing to absorb a loss of 10% of their policy holders if that's what it takes to keep profits on target. Consumers should expect prices to increase and benefits to decrease in the plans for 2025. Whether this will impact the ACA market in the US (under-65 health insurance) isn't clear.
Brain mapping: A critical step in trying to address brain health and diseases such as Alzheimer's is the mapping of the brain. That's been done at a relatively high level, but new work by researchers at Harvard and Google paints a much more granular picture. It's an extraordinary task.(1)
- Scientists took a 1 cubic millimeter section of brain tissue and cut it into 5,000 slices.
- Each slice was found to contain 57,000 cells, mostly neurons and glia (support cells).
- The article shows a picture of a single neuron with 5,600 nerve fibers connected to it.
- Most neurons are connected with a single synapse between them, although for select cells, there can be more than 50 synapses.
- One of the next steps is to understand why this variety exists, that is, what purpose it serves.
- We also need to find ways to image cells at that level in situ -- within the living person.
Mapping ovaries: Scientists have implanted prosthetic ovaries in mice, enabling them to have pups. Now, courtesy of researchers at the University of Michigan, we have a map of a human ovary, a key step in the development of prosthetic ovaries for humans. This may allow those who are infertile to reproduce. For some frustrated families, that ability when it comes will be a game-changer in terms of quality of life. If, of course, then can afford children financially.

The future holds a lot of promise, if humans can survive to see it.

Sources: