TTA’s Summer “Break”: On Hiatus

June 26, 2025 | by

 

27 June 2025

TTA will be on hiatus due to a ‘break’. Literal, and not a vacation! Articles and Alerts will resume at a date TBD in July.

No, this shouldn’t happen to you–an unwanted hiatus for Editor Donna (an oops and a ‘break’ that could have been worse)

Congratulations to James Batchelor MBE (Well Deserved!)

From our last Alert: Warmer temps, warmer news, a little earlier this week. We lead with Hims & Hers buying with their free cash UK/Europe’s similar Zava. Omada rumored to go public on Friday or shortly thereafter, while Anne Wojcicki takes a last-ditch run at buying her bankrupt company with an unnamed backer. UnitedHealth’s miseries remain very much in the news, with other opinions at variance, but all agree it’s a deep hole they’ve dug. Nonetheless, UHG shareholders seem to have some confidence in their new CEO, but aren’t yet giving him combat pay. And a lawsuit against Centene in AZ uncovers inaccurate provider ‘ghost networks’.

This just in: Hims acquires Zava, adds 1.3 million European/UK telemed customers (A way to grow and defy the bears?)

Need to knows: Omada’s $158M IPO at flat valuation, AZ lawsuit on Centene plan’s ‘ghost network’ fatality, UHG shareholders OK reduced package for CEO Hemsley, new ASTP/HIT-ONC leader, NJ’s Cooper Health patient data breach, Net Health buys Limber Health (Omada listing up on Friday, possibly)

Anne Wojcicki asks 23andMe bankruptcy court to reopen bidding on 12 June with fresh offer (Why, Anne, why??)

Two other views on UnitedHealth Group’s annus horribilis, for your consideration (Going inside the black box)

Weekend reading/viewing (for me too): Rural telehealth blackouts and value-based care’s ‘utopia’ (Set aside the time)

Should free-falling UnitedHealth Group be broken up? Or break itself up to survive, before it becomes another GE? (updated) (Not a rant, more a ‘get going’ to avoid disaster!)

* * *
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Support not only a publication but also a well-informed international community.

Contact Editor Donna for more information.

Help Spread the News

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Donna Cusano, Editor In Chief
donna.cusano@telecareaware.com

Telehealth & Telecare Aware – covering news on latest developments in telecare, telehealth and eHealth, worldwide.

No, this shouldn’t happen to you–an unwanted hiatus for Editor Donna

June 26, 2025 | by

A short note to our Readers:

It’s been quiet in TTA-Land because at the top of June, your Editor fell and broke the upper part of her left arm (humerus, not funny) fairly substantially on what was up to then a very enjoyable trip to Reading, Pennsylvania. It was quite the ‘trip’ and I wouldn’t ‘sling’ it around! Only now is she getting sufficient range of left arm motion while still slung up, enough for her left hand to briefly use a keyboard without screaming (or displacement) and write this overdue note to you. 

Our Editor Emeritus Steve Hards was kind enough to step in and inform you of James Batchelor’s MBE. But our normal cadence of articles will be on pause until at earliest late July, along with our thrice-weekly email Alerts. Much depends on what the orthopedic doctor says next week. For the time being, my brother, also a doctor (psychiatry) is assisting (quite capably) with my ADLs.

Yes, I am now intimately familiar with something called pain management and I hope rehabilitation, soon.

Thank you for your understanding and patience!

Congratulations to James Batchelor MBE

June 15, 2025 | by

MBE medal Our editors send their hearty congratulations to James Batchelor, the founder of Alertacall, who has been appointed an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for ‘Services to Technology For Older People’ in King Charles III’s Birthday Honours List 2025.

This prestigious honour, akin to the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, acknowledges an individual’s outstanding achievements and significant, long-term service to the community. He was nominated by people who had observed the considerable social benefit of his work and his extensive support for charities benefiting older people.

His innovative contributions began over 20 years ago when he invented the ‘I am okay’ button, now known as OKEachDay®. It had been inspired by his grandmother Eveline, who refused to use traditional pendant alarms. The technology enables users to press a button on a touchscreen device daily to confirm their well-being. If the button is not pressed, Alertacall’s specially trained team makes contact to check in, helping to bring aid and reduce the number of undiscovered tenant deaths. (The latter is an issue in the UK where many isolated people receive their pension or benefits income and pay their utility bills, etc, through bank automation and so it goes unnoticed that they have not been seen alive.)

The system now incorporates machine learning and AI to detect trend changes that could indicate an imminent issue. Significantly, it has evolved into a range of technologies that improve regular contact with older and vulnerable people, some of whom receive access to these services free of charge.

Alertacall, the company James founded in 2004, has over 110 team members and offices in the Lake District and Cheshire. In collaboration with approximately 60 housing associations provides crucial daily contact services to tens of thousands of people living in public, Section 8, and assisted living housing across the UK. In 2023 Alertacall also received The Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation, a highly esteemed British business award.

Beyond his company, James Batchelor (or James Batchelor MBE, as we should now call him!) tirelessly campaigns to alleviate loneliness and isolation among older people, mentors socially focused entrepreneurs, and supports various charities, including The Silver Line and initiatives that have planted over 25,000 trees in the British Lake District.

James’s work has been of close interest to Telehealth and Telecare Aware since our beginning in 2005 and our first post about Alertacall was in 2006: Alertacall extends safety confirmation service hours.

TTA’s Summer #1: Hims buys Zava for EU/UK, Omada’s IPO, Wojcicki tries harder to buy 23andMe, UnitedHealth’s miseries explored, Centene sued on AZ network, more!

June 5, 2025 | by

5 June 2025

Warmer temps, warmer news, a little earlier this week. We lead with Hims & Hers buying with their free cash UK/Europe’s similar Zava. Omada rumored to go public on Friday or shortly thereafter, while Anne Wojcicki takes a last-ditch run at buying her bankrupt company with an unnamed backer. UnitedHealth’s miseries remain very much in the news, with other opinions at variance, but all agree it’s a deep hole they’ve dug. Nonetheless, UHG shareholders seem to have some confidence in their new CEO, but aren’t yet giving him combat pay. And a lawsuit against Centene in AZ uncovers inaccurate provider ‘ghost networks’.

This just in: Hims acquires Zava, adds 1.3 million European/UK telemed customers (A way to grow and defy the bears?)

Need to knows: Omada’s $158M IPO at flat valuation, AZ lawsuit on Centene plan’s ‘ghost network’ fatality, UHG shareholders OK reduced package for CEO Hemsley, new ASTP/HIT-ONC leader, NJ’s Cooper Health patient data breach, Net Health buys Limber Health (Omada listing up on Friday, possibly)

Anne Wojcicki asks 23andMe bankruptcy court to reopen bidding on 12 June with fresh offer (Why, Anne, why??)

Two other views on UnitedHealth Group’s annus horribilis, for your consideration (Going inside the black box)

From last week: Our big article this week is your Editor’s think-piece on breaking up UnitedHealth Group in order to save it–and healthcare. We also look at post-GLP-1 weight gain–and what it means for providers, in-person and telehealth, ‘soft’ robotics out of Scotland, NZ’s telehealth war with GPs, and what’s doing at companies like Midi Health, AssistIQ, Ambience, Auxira, and Yosi Health. And plenty of weekend reading and viewing!

Weekend reading/viewing (for me too): Rural telehealth blackouts and value-based care’s ‘utopia’ (Set aside the time)

Short takes: Midi Health’s longevity care for women covered by (some) insurance, NZ government 24/7 telehealth scored by GPs, Auxira tele-cardiology follow-up launches (Two disappointments that look like advances)

News roundup: GLP-1 weight regain real, soft robots walk off 3D printer, Ambience’s AI coding beats doctors by 27%, Get a Second Opinion debuts, $11.5M for AssistIQ (Reality bites GLP-1s and a soft robot wee bairn)

Job Posting: Yosi Health seeks Demand Generation Manager and Manager, Data Analytics & Reporting

Should free-falling UnitedHealth Group be broken up? Or break itself up to survive, before it becomes another GE? (updated) (Not a rant, more a ‘get going’ to avoid disaster!)

* * *
Advertise on Telehealth and Telecare Aware
Support not only a publication but also a well-informed international community.

Contact Editor Donna for more information.

Help Spread the News

Please tell your colleagues about this free news service and, if you have relevant information to share with the rest of the world, please let me know!

Donna Cusano, Editor In Chief
donna.cusano@telecareaware.com

Telehealth & Telecare Aware – covering news on latest developments in telecare, telehealth and eHealth, worldwide.

This just in: Hims acquires Zava, adds 1.3 million European/UK telemed customers

June 4, 2025 | by

Hims & Hers expands to Ireland, France, and Germany, and adds to UK. Announced yesterday, the ambitious strategic acquisition of Zava, a similar online direct to consumer provider of telemedicine remedies for weight loss, ED, asthma, STI testing, and birth control (varying by country), will add over 50%, or 1.3 million customers, to Hims’ US base of 2.4 million. Acquisition costs or staff transitions were not disclosed. It is an all-cash deal financed off their existing balance sheet. It is expected to close, subject to the usual approvals, in the second half of 2025. 

Hims stock peaked on the news yesterday to above $62/share and since has settled down to its previous $52-53 range. They remain the only unqualified SPAC success in healthcare.

Zava has operated in Europe since 2011, preceding Hims by six years. It is a private company, corporately Health Bridge Limited, registered with Companies House in London, and the UK company was formerly known as DrEd. One of their partners is Asda supermarkets in the UK. Their CEO and co-founder David Meinertz lives in Hamburg.

Hims already has a UK presence due to its acquisition of Honest Health in 2021. From the release, apparently the Zava name will transition to Hims & Hers at some point and be accretive to earnings in 2026. This expansion will include access to British, German, and French healthcare providers in local languages. Another positive factor is that pharmaceuticals are generally less expensive in Europe than in the US.

This Editor wonders if an English-language brand name will transition easily to France and Germany, versus the ‘neutral’ Zava. Hims also states that they aren’t through with their international expansion, so their name will continue to be a concern. Developing  CNBC, Fast Company

Some cautions are apparently coming from Wall Street. Reportedly, investor analysts have been consistently shorting the stock on NYSE for months. Both Bank of America and Citi are bearish, with BoA tagging it as an ‘underperform’ with a $28/share target and Citi with $30. (Disclaimer–this is not investment advice). InvestorsObserver

Need to knows: Omada’s $158M IPO at flat valuation, AZ lawsuit on Centene plan’s ‘ghost network’ fatality, UHG shareholders OK reduced package for CEO Hemsley, new ASTP/HIT-ONC leader, NJ’s Cooper Health patient data breach, Net Health buys Limber Health

June 4, 2025 | by

Omada Health nears a dip in the chilly IPO waters. Chronic care manager Omada Health started last week to road-show its long-anticipated public offering to interested investors. It’s been a long time in the making, with their first IPO S-1 filing back in October 2024.   Their 9 May SEC Form S-1 registration and preliminary prospectus, updated 29 May in their S-1/A, now reveals the extent of the offering–7.9 million shares. With an initial offering price of $18-$20/share, that is a raise of $142.2 to $158 million for OMDA (Nasdaq Global Market). The IPO may take place later this week, according to CNBC, with other sources saying Friday 6 June.

Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs & Co., and JP Morgan are acting as lead book-running managers for the proposed offering–a high-level crew for what was in the past a relatively small offering, but times have certainly changed with a dearth of IPOs continuing. 

Omada has raised $528.5 million through 11 rounds since the Ur-Health days of 2011, with a $192 million Series E in 2022 and the last round in 2023 an $80 million debt financing (Crunchbase). Investments came from major VCs such as Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity, Norwest Venture Partners, Wellington Management, Intermountain, New Enterprise Associates, and Founder Collective. Their repositioning into ‘between-visit care model’ expanding from diabetes into obesity, hypertension, and MSK patients has met with success. With 2,000+ customers and over 679,000 total members enrolled in one or more programs, their 2024 revenue grew 38% from $122.8 million in 2023 to $169.8 million in 2025 , with Q1 2025 by 57% to $55.0 million from Q1 2024’s $35.1 million. Their prospectus revealed that they are closely tied to investor Cigna, with one health plan or PBM accounting for 31% of revenue, then a second health plan or PBM accounted for 29% of its revenue. according to FierceHealthcare. 

Unlike much-larger Hinge Health, Omada isn’t taking a valuation haircut, just a small trim when adjusted for inflation. The market capitalization versus valuation at its last letter raise is essentially flat: $1.1 billion versus $1.02 billion. Omada release, Mobihealthnews, Axios

Centene’s Health Net/Ambetter hit with ‘ghost network’ lawsuit on member fatality. Finding out that your provider isn’t in network is usually an annoyance, though it can be an expensive one. In this case, the consequences were fatal. 36-year-old Ravi Coutinho purchased an Affordable Care Act plan through Ambetter in 2023 and was being treated for mental health and addiction treatment in Phoenix. Both Coutinho and his mother, Barbara Webber, tried to find therapists who contracted with Arizona Ambetter who met Coutinho’s needs. Ambetter failed repeatedly, Coutinho’s condition deteriorated without care, and he was found dead in his apartment in 2023.

Ms. Webber filed a lawsuit last month in Maricopa County. Centene is accused of violating state and federal laws requiring network accuracy and adequacy, as well as negligence and fraud. Keeping provider networks current, especially in ACA plans, has been a known problem for years and under Congressional investigation. Studies from 2023 have indicated that 80% of provider listings contain inaccuracies, with only one-third of provider listings contacted by Senate subcommittee staffers were accurate. This is especially acute in mental health, with a shocking 3 in 4 insured adults who receive mental healthcare experience insurance problems, according to a 2023 survey (KFF). Health plans receive no incentives to keep their network listings current and accurate, though the ACA, state and other Federal laws such as the ‘No Surprises Act’ require plans to keep accurate lists of network providers. This also is not the first roundup on this issue for Centene’s plans. Healthcare Dive, FierceHealthPayer

UHG’s Stephen Hemsley will be seeing a pay cut, compared to his predecessor. UnitedHealth Group’s shareholders on Monday approved a compensation package for their new CEO. Mr. Hemsley will receive a base salary of $1 million per year. For stock options, he will receive only a one-time, $60 million equity award in nonqualified stock options with cliff vesting in three years. There will be no further awards for three years. It’s expected that Mr. Hemsley, 73, who was board chairman, will not remain CEO for the long term in this second round in the top spot. Another task he has is to find a leader who enjoys investor confidence–and who is capable of leading the company through what this Editor considers to be an inevitable change of model, likely a downsizing.

Shareholders are cutting the comp, not quite the 50% that the shares have fallen. This is considerably less than Sir Andrew Witty’s $26.3 million package for 2024, which was top of the pack from 2022 on. That year’s compensation started with a $1.5 million base salary, plus $17.25 million in stock options and $5.75 million in option awards. He also received $1.5 million in non-equity compensation plus ‘other’ of $339,000. Whether he will enjoy all of this based on 2024’s disappointing performance is not disclosed, as he resigned effective 13 May 2025 after Q1 results and a suspended forecast for 2025 were disclosed. Runner-up was Karen Lynch, who departed CVS Health last year but with a comp package of $23.4 million. FierceHealthcare 2 June, 12 May

Short takes:

The Trump Administration has named Thomas Keane, a software engineer and interventional radiologist, as Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy, formerly the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC). According to his ASTP bio, Dr. Keane previously served in ASTP and also as a Senior Advisor to the Deputy Secretary of HHS. Among other duties, he was an administrator of the COVID-19 Provider Relief Fund and lead the development of the AHRQ National Nursing Home COVID Action Network. ASTP oversees Federal technology, data and artificial intelligence policy. More changes may be coming as Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be reorganizing most areas of HHS. FedScoop, Healthcare Dive

Moving north to Camden, NJ, last March the Cooper Health system detected a data breach dating back to 2024. Personal health information (PHI) was apparently “accessed and acquired” without permission by an unknown actor around 14 May 2024. Abnormal network activity was noticed at the time and their systems were secured. However, the incident review which wrapped in March 2025 confirmed the PHI acquisition and Cooper has since notified the suspected individuals. Information accessed on individuals may include names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, health insurance information, treatment information, medical record numbers. and medical history information. Mobihealthnews

Net Health acquires Limber Health. Net Health, a provider of specialized EHR software plus diagnostic and predictive analytics, including wound care and rehabilitation, is adding Limber Health’s MSK remote therapeutic monitoring and analytics to its platform. Acquisition cost was not disclosed but from the release at least some of the team will be transferring over to Net Health’s Pittsburgh team. Net Health is a 35-year-old portfolio company of The Carlyle Group, Level Equity, and Silversmith Capital Partners. Limber’s last raise was a $16 million Series A in October 2022 from Glenview Capital Management, Ironwood Ventures, and The Blue Venture Fund. (Crunchbase).  Release

Anne Wojcicki asks 23andMe bankruptcy court to reopen bidding on 12 June with fresh offer (updated with $305M bid)

June 3, 2025 | by

Anne Wojcicki still wants her 23andMe. This time, she is requesting that the auction be reopened for more bids–hers, along with a new backer. The unnamed “Fortune 500 company with a current market capitalization of more than $400bn and $17bn in cash” is interested in participating only with her TTAM Research Institute, described as a “California non-profit public benefit corporation” (PBC).  The 12 June date would allow TTAM plus the unknown backer to offer additional bids, as well as Regeneron, as requested in the filing.

The filing with the US Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri was made this past Saturday, 31 May. No date was revealed for the approval, which would have to be fast.

Regeneron, a $66 billion company, won the three-day auction on 16 May with an all-cash bid of $256 million. It included the Personal Genome Service (PGS) and Total Health and Research Services business lines–but not Lemonaid, which will be shut down. As is usual, it requires final approval by the court, approval under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act, and customary closing conditions. The bankruptcy court was scheduled to hold the approval hearing on 17 June, which would be after any reopened bidding. TTA 21 May

During the 14-16 May auction, TTAM’s formal bid was $150 million. Legal and financial advisers to 23andMe had reservations about the financial resources of TTAM and both the value and liquidity of its portfolio assets. The Wojcicki filing states that the 23andMe advisers had improperly and unfairly capped TTAM’s highest bid to $250 million. TTAM claimed that their bid would have exceeded $280 million.

According to the Financial Times, if the court permits a reopening of bids for 23andMe, Ms. Wojcicki’s bid would compete with any  Regeneron offer, but offer a “last look” to them to top any offer from TTAM along with a $10 million termination fee. FierceBiotech

One wonders where the egos shake out. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has sound reasons for acquiring 23andMe’s genomic data to add to its developing genomics research. The price, based on our own estimate of over 10.85 million users left providing consent, was generous on a per-user basis. But you really do have to wonder why Anne Wojcicki cannot let go and say ‘enough’. 

This Editor, while not a mindreader nor an attorney, believes that the Missouri court may look upon Ms. Wojcicki’s new filing with a severely jaundiced eye.

  • There was plenty of time for Anne Wojcicki to line up a fully backed bid for 23andMe to best any rival. Buyers were in the pipeline in early April, though not a single bidder rumored in the April ‘early line’ made it anywhere near the finals.
  • 23andMe advisers, who would have access to 23andMe’s board and debtors, would also have access to information about Ms. Wojcicki’s resources. She made multiple lowball bids for 23andMe prior to the bankruptcy, including a bid with New Mountain Capital that disappeared in a week before even being presented to the board. 
  • The court, which could have stopped the bidding process, evidently agreed with the advisers.
  • The court’s purpose is to work through the bankruptcy and make the best out of what is available to satisfy the company’s debtors and a potential buyer.  
  • Finally, there is Anne Wojcicki. She was the CEO from the founding to the bankruptcy, including an astronomical public offering via a SPAC. She was not a CEO in name only, with tight control over management and the board, backed by effective full control over the public company via her special class of shares. Moreover, she has not taken any responsibility for mistakes, including the 2023 coverup of their database hacking that the company blamed upon users reusing passwords. Au contraire.

Considering the above, it’s hard to believe that at this point that Anne Wojcicki and her bid, backed by an undisclosed company, would have any credibility with the court. But let’s see what the court says. We won’t have long to wait.

Updated 5 June: Wojcicki has presented a $305 million bid to the court. Yahoo Finance

Two other views on UnitedHealth Group’s annus horribilis, for your consideration

June 2, 2025 | by

After this Editor’s call for breaking up UnitedHealth Group–two more views, for your consideration (as Rod Serling used to say before we entered ‘The Twilight Zone’).

MedCityNews examines The No Good, Very Bad Year for UnitedHealth. It’s a more, shall we say, measured view, than mine, though we plow many of the same furrows in UHG’s fertile ground. 

Additional points are made by the astute Ari Gottlieb (A2 Strategy, who had the best takes on both Cano and NeueHealth), the critical Robert Pearl, MD (formerly CEO of the Permanente Medical Group and presently a professor at Stanford University School of Medicine and Stanford Graduate School of Business), and Dr. Adam Brown (emergency physician and founder of healthcare advisory firm ABIG Health).

  • Mr. Gottleib focuses on UHG attributing its challenges to Medicare Advantage issues such as increased utilization. Yet other major insurers are stating they anticipated this and it’s trending about how they expected. He believes that UHG will manage their way out of this, much as (smaller, less complex) CVS Health apparently has, which was looking at a breakup in October 2024. But it will take time.
  • Dr. Pearl hits upon a point that I had not thought of, which is that UHG’s strategy was out of an old playbook that doesn’t work today:    “(to) become successful is you increase the medical loss ratio (MLR), by which I mean you lower the value, meaning that you invest less in actual care delivery. He (Witty) does that by a lot of prior authorization {denial}, a tremendous amount of claims denial.” In his view, UHG hasn’t moved beyond that nor is anticipating the future. In this Editor’s view, CFO John Rex’s 13 May statement of UHG’s challenges reinforces this ostrich-head-in-sand approach.
  • Finally, Dr. Brown’s fine point is taken (Editor’s emphasis): “I do believe it’s a bit of a reckoning where United, over the past several years, has been building an empire on Medicare Advantage and on vertical integration. And remember, Medicare Advantage is taxpayer dollars. … I think regulators, politicians — we see it even in a bipartisan manner — and of course patients are asking similar questions: Have we gone too far in vertical integration, and have we handed over too much of healthcare to one single entity?” He also sees them at risk due to scrutiny from the DOJ, FTC, HHS, and Congress, as well as public perception.

Takeaways: other insurers are challenged but UHG, for 40 years the best managed of the lot, is stumbling and falling into a hole of its own shoveling; it hasn’t moved beyond ‘squeezing the rock’ of MLR and reducing care delivery; vertical integration has gone too far; and it’s too much for one company.

A Substacker provides more quantification of the deep hole UHG has dug for itself in its endgame. And it’s damning. Published on 28 April before the Sir Andrew Witty resignation, and not read by this Editor before today, healthcare analyst Jeff Goldsmith on Substack analyzed the sudden end of, as he put it, UHG’s 40-year growth saga, from a primarily financial perspective. The bloom is not only off the rose, but it’s wilting. Some highlights from this Must-Read:

  • “The company is a $400 billion black box. The main United businesses-health insurance, care delivery, pharmacy benefits management and business intelligence/services–are so intertwined with one another that only United CFO John Rex and a few other senior managers actually know from whence United’s earnings actually flow.”
  • Two decades of growth were fueled by United buying other companies out of its astonishing cash flow ($3 billion per month!) 
  • They have literally run out of profitable or near-profitable companies, “accretive transactions”, to buy and add to Optum. They cannot buy other health plans without running into the antitrust buzzsaw. They can’t buy up many more physician groups as over one-third are owned by hospitals–and they are money losers (e.g. they wisely passed on Steward Health’s practices).
  • They sit on a swelling mountain of cash, which is starting to attract the Wrong Kind of Attention.
  • OptumHealth’s margin is shrinking. At seven years ago, a quarter of its present size, its margins were 10%. They are now 25% less. It also bought high-quality practice groups like Kelsey Seybold that had profitable contracts with competitors like state Blues’ Medicare Advantage or their own plans (Kelsey)–which aren’t so profitable anymore.
  • OptumInsight was decimated by hasty acquisitions–Equian, Change Healthcare, and naviHealth. It went from a 28% margin business to 16.5%. (Change Healthcare alone was responsible for a $2.9 billion loss.)
  • Then Change’s ransomwaring and hacking proved that UHG was negligent in running that type of business. As stated before in writing about Change, UHG did not do its due diligence on the only partly digested meal-via-acquisition that Change really was, nor spent the two years before the cyberattack reviewing and hardening Change’s systems. His conclusion–United can’t run that type of business competently. (Too true of ‘black boxes’)

He also returns to the brutality of UHG’s ‘denial machine’ of AI-driven claims and prior authorizations, killing them not only politically but also in a research metric commonly used to rate plans. United has a minus 12 ‘net promoter’ score, which is as bad as it sounds.

It confirms that no one except perhaps (!) at the C-level really had their arms around all of UHG’s businesses. The facts are far more than inconvenient, more like damning. While the tide was lifting all the boats, it was keen and peachy. But when the end hits the fan…will one of the strategy’s architects, Stephen Hemsley, try to save it whole or dismantle it?  Hat tip to Matthew Holt via LinkedIn.