The former CEO of health insurer Aetna, which was acquired by CVS Health for $69 billion at the end of 2018, says he is being pushed off the board of the combined company.

Medicaid block grants, which have been framed as an “opportunity” for states to better control their Medicaid spending and gain flexibility, have been harshly criticized by healthcare groups.

President Trump is scheduled to deliver his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Feb. 4, at a time when most Americans have been focused on impeachment, the 2020 election and the coronavirus outbreak.

The Trump administration has released its Medicaid block grant program under a new name that allows states to designate funding and put a cap on Medicaid spending. The program, dubbed Healthy Adults Opportunity, is an optional intervention initiative that fundamentally changes the way part of Medicaid is funded.

CVS Health recently launched an insulin program for employers and health plan sponsors to offer diabetes medications with zero out-of-pocket costs for members. The program could help alleviate the rising costs of insulin for people managing diabetes.

CMS will now cover Next Generation Sequencing through FDA-approved or cleared lab diagnostic tests for patients with inherited ovarian or breast cancer.

The pharmaceutical industry upped its lobbying efforts in 2019, with a record-high of $29 million spent lobbying Congress.

Civica Rx and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and 18 of its health plans have teamed up to create a new subsidiary that will target low-cost generic drugs.