Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was confirmed this morning as US Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary. The Senate vote was fairly standard for President Trump’s appointees, along party lines (with one exception) in a 52-48 vote. Secretary Kennedy survived bare-knuckle committee hearings (and a family ‘diss’ from cousins) to put into place measures to Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) as promised during the 2024 presidential campaign. Today’s presidential Executive Order also makes Secretary Kennedy the leader of the MAHA Committee, which, according to a White House statement will be “tasked with investigating and addressing the root causes of America’s escalating health crisis, with an initial focus on childhood chronic diseases.” such as autism and fatty liver disease, plus adult asthma and the causes of the low US life expectancy.  The EO’s four policy directives focus on reversing chronic disease through:

1. transparency on health data to “avoid conflicts of interest in all federally funded health research
2. prioritizing “gold-standard research on why Americans are getting sick” in all federally-funded health research
3. working with farmers to ensure food is healthy as well as affordable
4. expanding health coverage and treatment options “for beneficial lifestyle changes and disease prevention.”

The timeframe is short: 100 days to produce an initial assessment, and 180 days to produce a strategy to improve child health. All this and learn HHS too. Next up in hearings: Mehmet Oz, MD as CMS Administrator, expected to face far less flak.  FoxNewsDigital

Amwell straining to get weller, financially. Still in the red but improving by about 68%, Amwell’s full year 2024 net loss was $212.6 million on $254 million in revenue versus 2023’s net loss of $679.2 million, which included a non-cash goodwill impairment charges of $436.5 million. Taking away the one-time charge though, the loss improvement was $31 million.

Q4 had a strong 36% improvement in subscription revenue versus prior year, driven by the implementation of a 22-month joint contract with technology firm Leidos to digitize the Military Health System (MHS). However, this contract expires in July and given cost-cutting in Washington, is not assured of renewal. Leidos is already in negotiation with the Department of Defense for a three-year extension. In cost reduction, Amwell reduced R&D expenses by 29% and looks at further cuts for 2025 of 10%.

For 2025, Amwell forecasts revenue in the range of $250 to $260 million, including the previously announced divestiture of Amwell
Psychiatric Care, about $30 million) with adjusted EBITDA loss between $55 to $45 million. Positive cash flow is not forecast until 2026. But Amwell’s share price, in such a hole that the NYSE threatened delisting a year ago, has bounced from below $8 in January to closing at $11.73 today (13 February).  Amwell 2024 financial report, Healthcare Dive

HEALWELL AI one step closer to closing its purchase of Orion Health. HEALWELL needed consent from New Zealand’s Overseas Investment Office of New Zealand (OIO) to proceed with the purchase announced in December [TTA 19 Dec 2024]. HEALWELL is an artificial intelligence company focused on preventative care through the early identification and detection of disease while Orion’s products–Orchestral, Amadeus, and Virtuoso–are data exchange, patient record, and analytics platforms that benefit clinicians and patients. The complex buy totaled NZ$200 million/CA$165 million (US$115 million) for 100% of Orion’s private shares. CA$86 million will be paid in cash and the balance will be paid in HEALWELL stock plus CA$20.5 million in a 3-year performance-based arrangement. The companies are now on track to complete the sale by 1 April. Newsfile release

Summer Health buys Caraway. Summer is a text service that connects parents with pediatricians for urgent care through texting and converts doctor’s and clinical notes into lay language via generative AI. Caraway served a different market–Generation Z women between 18-29 for mental and reproductive health. What they did share was one investor: the powerful 7Wire Ventures. Was this another Shotgun Merger? While Caraway enjoyed an initial funding of over $10 million plus $16 million during the 2023 slump, apparently it had ceased business in December and took its website offline. How Summer positions it is that it now can serve children, teens, and young adults. In addition to its 50-state DTC direct pay service, it will pick up Caraway’s insurance contracts. There are no references to purchase price or workforce transitions. Other than the release, there’s no reference to Caraway services on the Summer website. Summer had a Series A raise of $11 million last April.    Summer release, Behavioral Health Business  Hat tip to Mario Aguilar of STAT Health Tech’s newsletter.

Following up on Ireland’s Spectrum.Life.  They ended their 2024 serving 1.5 million users and project 3 million in 2025 in Ireland and the UK. Spectrum.Life now has 300 employees in Dublin and Manchester delivering digital health, mental health, and wellbeing for employers and employees in the workplace, insurers, and educators. Last year it was listed as #41st in Deloitte Ireland’s 2024 Technology Fast 50 Awards. Release.

And a bit closer to the Editor’s home is the latest New York Digital Health 100. Named by Digital Health New York (DHNY) and in its sixth year (oh, the changes!), the list has 48 new startups (which is illustrative of the churn in the NY digital health scene) these 100 companies raised about $4 billion, with over half going to biotech (26%), care delivery (24%), and mental health (13%) companies. A download of the full report and lists is available at the above link.