HEALTH

NPR - Health care companies are ending the year in the hot seat. This month’s killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO Brian Thompson thrust the company and his industry into the spotlight, sparking widespread consumer reckoning. But even before this, the health care business was having a rocky year. Costs were up, profits were down, top executives lost their jobs and investors sold off their shares. As the industry continues to grow, industry executives say this helps to offer a wider array of low-cost services, while critics say the size and scale of these companies make them expensive and lead to worse outcomes for patients.

CNN - The US Food and Drug Administration approved the first prescription medicine for obstructive sleep apnea: the weight-loss drug Zepbound. The medicine was cleared to treat moderate to severe forms of the sleep condition in people with obesity.

NBC News

• U.S. life expectancy jumped to 78.4 years last year, the highest it has been since 2019, before the pandemic.
• A decline in Covid deaths was a primary factor in the upward trend. Covid fell from the fourth-leading cause of death in 2022 to the 10th in 2023.
• Drug overdose deaths also decreased last year.

NPR -  Health care companies are ending the year in the hot seat. This month’s killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO Brian Thompson thrust the company and his industry into the spotlight, sparking widespread consumer reckoning. But even before this, the health care business was having a rocky year. Costs were up, profits were down, top executives lost their jobs and investors sold off their shares. As the industry continues to grow, industry executives say this helps to offer a wider array of low-cost services, while critics say the size and scale of these companies make them expensive and lead to worse outcomes for patients.