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Hello, diligent HCI readers! I hope everyone enjoyed their Memorial Day weekends. We’ve got a lot of numbers in today’s edition. Get out your abacus. And tell me if you want more or less math in here: bob.herman@statnews.com.

$775 billion

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Republicans’ recent tax law targets supplemental Medicaid funds that have increasingly propped up hospitals. The cuts are expected to be even bigger than originally forecast, which almost assuredly will provoke an opposition campaign from hospitals.

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Hi! Hope you had a nice extended weekend.

Today: Eli Lilly’s gene-editing data seems promising for high cholesterol, an AI drug discovery CEO dispelled some AI drug discovery hype, and the new interim FDA chief is so far well received.

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Hospitals and other providers are bracing for an end to the extra money they’ve gotten for treating Medicaid patients, one of the many cuts contained in Republicans’ sweeping 2025 tax law.

But the Trump administration disclosed this week that it plans to take the cuts to state directed payments even further, setting up what’s likely to be a showdown with provider groups. 

Since 2024, some hospitals, doctors, nursing homes, and other types of providers have been reimbursed for Medicaid services at much higher commercial rates, thanks to a Biden-era change. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passed in July, directs the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to gradually trim those payments beginning in 2028 until they’re close to or on par with Medicare rates. 

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Merck’s bet on an antibody-drug conjugate developed in China has paid off in a major Phase 3 lung cancer study, where sacituzumab tirumotecan paired with Keytruda sharply outperformed Keytruda alone in a subset of lung cancer patients.

Also, the NIH is down another leader, and Sam Altman-backed longevity startup Retro Biosciences raises more funds.

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