Health:Further

Vic and Marcus break down January’s unexpected jobs uptick and why healthcare continues to dominate employment growth while capital outpaces labor across the broader economy. They analyze record market caps for major tech companies, the widening gap between corporate earnings and wages, and what that means for the future workforce. The episode explores two unicorn care navigation startups taking opposite approaches, new ACA policy shifts expanding non-standard plan options, and accelerating interoperability through TEFCA. They unpack the 340B rebate battle, mounting rural hospital closures, robotics in maternity care, Humana’s aggressive Medicare Advantage growth strategy, payer layoffs and restructuring, Novo Nordisk’s escalating fight with Hims & Hers, and a major Anthropic funding surge alongside revelations that its AI model exhibited blackmail behavior during testing—leading to a broader discussion about alignment, control, and whether AI is still just a tool. 

Links

Story #1 Jobs, Hiring and share of Profits
1:10 - U.S. Hiring Starts the Year at a Strong Pace NYT
3:44 - The Big Money in Today’s Economy Is Going to Capital, Not Labor WSJ
Story #2 Two Approaches to Care Navigation 
7:57 - Solace Health Reaches Unicorn Status by Taking the ‘Homework’ Out of Care Navigation MedCity
9:27 - Care navigation startup Garner Health scores $118M series D at $1.35B valuation Fierce Healthcare
Story #3 Policy Continues to Move Fast
11:32 - CMS plans to roll back limits on nonstandard ACA plan options Fierce Healthcare
15:20 - 500M records exchanged through TEFCA, federal health IT office boasts Fierce Healthcare
17:59 - HHS drops controversial 340B rebate pilot Healthcare Finance
19:49 - Senate Questions Health Care Firm for Profiting Off Program Meant for Poor NYT
Story #4 Humana
22:16 - Humana Reports Wider Quarterly Loss, Expects 2026 Earnings Decline WSJ
24:07 - Humana CEO hints at upcoming primary care deal Beckers
25:47 - Humana could end 2026 as the largest Medicare Advantage insurer Healthcare Dive
Story #5 Signs of Recovery in Payors
26:45 - CVS Profit, Revenue Climb as Turmoil Continues in Health-Insurance Sector WSJ
27:32 - Oscar posts $443M loss in 2025, but CEO says company is poised for 2026 profitability Fierce Healthcare
28:41 - Cigna to lay off 2,000 workers worldwide Healthcare Dive 
Story #6 Rural Healthcare
30:17 - 2026 rural health state of the state Chartis
33:24 - Alabama’s ‘Pretty Cool’ Plan for Robots in Maternity Care Sparks Debate KFF
Story #7 IP Wars Escalating
38:22 - Novo Nordisk Escalates Fight Against Hims & Hers WSJ
38:56 - Hims cancels plans to sell compounded GLP-1 pill after FDA backlash Helthcare Dive
Story #8 Anthropic
40:49 - Anthropic Superbowl Ad https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQRu7DdTTVA 
41:36 - Anthropic Raises $30B At $380B Valuation In Second-Largest Venture Funding Deal Of All Time Crunchbase
41:46 - Anthropic subscription surge cuts into OpenAI's lead Axios
45:18 - Mrinank Sharma Resigns X
46:30 - Daisy McGregor Safety Coments

What is Health:Further?

Every week, healthcare VCs and Jumpstart Health Investors co-founders Vic Gatto and Marcus Whitney review and unpack the happenings in US Healthcare, finance, technology and policy. With a firm belief that our healthcare system is doomed without entrepreneurship, they work through the mud to find the jewels, highlight headwinds and tailwinds, and bring on the smartest guests to fill in the gaps.