Health:Further

Marcus Whitney & Vic Gatto

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.

  1. 3D AGO

    179 - Anthropic vs The Pentagon | The AI Showdown That Could Reshape Government Technology

    Vic and Marcus unpack a chaotic week across AI, markets, healthcare, and crypto. They begin with a viral Substack post outlining a “2028 Global Intelligence Crisis” that triggered market volatility and reignited debate over mass white-collar job displacement. They examine Block’s decision to cut more than 40% of its workforce amid AI-driven efficiency gains and debate whether entrepreneurship will replace traditional employment. The conversation moves through new AI startups transforming medtech sales and credentialing, automation in healthcare front offices and pathology, and escalating Medicaid and ACA policy shifts that could impact deductibles and medical debt. They discuss ongoing GLP-1 coverage battles, pharma competition between Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, and enforcement actions against payer ghost networks. The episode also covers stablecoin growth, Coinbase’s expansion into U.S. stock trading, and the rise of agent-to-agent AI payments. They close with a high-stakes clash between the Trump administration and Anthropic over military AI use, exploring brand integrity, national security, and the future relationship between AI companies and the federal government. Links Story #1 AI Fears Shake Market 1:25 - THE 2028 GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE CRISIS Substack 7:32 - Jack’s announcement X Story #2 VC Deals 13:57 - MedScout Raises $10M and Launches AI Agents for MedTech Commercial Teams Healthcare Dive  15:24 - Altman-backed startup Verifiable rolls out AI agent to automate credentialing Fierce Healthca 17:24 - Third Way Health raises $15M for front-office AI Axios 18:12 - Coral Care Raises $13M to Scale In-Home Pediatric Therapy MedCity Story #3 Feds Pause $ for MN 18:49 - Vance Announces Pause of Nearly $260 Million in Minnesota Medicaid Funding WSJ 22:54 - CMS unveils new initiatives aimed at cracking down on healthcare fraud Fierce Healthcare  Story #4 Health costs Rise & State Law Changes 24:27 - New A.C.A. Plans Could Increase Family Deductibles to $31,000 NYT 25:26 - State lawmakers seek restraints on wage garnishment for medical debt Fierce Healthcare Story #5 Payer Legal Fights 28:00 - Worker did not plausibly argue obesity was a disability, 1st Circuit finds Healthcare Dive 30:44 - New York secures more than $2.5 million from EmblemHealth over ghost networks Healthcare Finance Story #6 Novo Turn aournd or not? 31:29 - Novo Nordisk Shares Plunge After Obesity Drug Fails to Beat Zepbound WSJ 32:32 - Eli Lilly’s Zepbound Gets FDA OK for Multi-Dose Pen WSJ Story #7  Web3 Wakes up 33:51 -   Circle Internet’s Quarterly Profit Surges on Stablecoin Demand WSJ 36:50 -   Coinbase Pursues ‘Everything Exchange’ Concept With US Stock Trading Debut PYMNTS Story #8  Health AI expansions 40:20 - OpenEvidence releases AI-integrated dialer feature to expand its reach with clinicians, Fierce Healthcare 41:21 - Labcorp expands PathAI pact to roll out digital pathology platform in US Healthcare Dive Story #9  Anthroopic 42:20 - Hegseth gives Anthropic until Friday to back down on AI safeguards, Axios 44:19 - Statement from Dario Amodei on our discussions with the Department of War Website

    52 min

  2. FEB 21

    178 - No Humans Required | The Race Toward Fully Autonomous Clinical AI

    In this episode of Health Further, hosts Vic and Marcus discuss the latest healthcare VC activity including Daffodil Health’s $16.3M raise for AI claims automation and Anterior’s $40M round accelerating AI adoption in health plans, followed by a deep dive into leadership shakeups at HHS, the resignation of a top FDA scientist amid concerns about political influence, and RFK Jr.’s continued restructuring at the CDC. They examine the rollout of the CMMI Access Model and what it signals about AI-first and tech-enabled care in rural America, review financial turnarounds at Community Health Systems, CommonSpirit, and Ascension, unpack conflicting diagnostic standards in Alzheimer’s disease and emerging drug repurposing research, and close with a discussion on NYU Langone’s prediction of fully autonomous clinical AI within five years and OpenAI’s acquisition of OpenClaw, exploring both the productivity upside and significant security risks of autonomous AI agents.  Story #1   2 AI for Payors VC Deals 1:25 - Daffodil Health raises $16.3M for AI claims automation  MobiHealth 2:18 - Anterior Closes $40 Million to Accelerate Health Plan AI Adoption, Bringing Total Funding to $64 Million Healthcare IT Story #2   HHS Leadership Changes 4:12 -   Top FDA Scientist Explains Why He Quit After Getting a Promotion From RFK Jr. WSJ 9:33 - RFK Jr. Continues Leadership Shake-Up, Placing Top Lieutenant in Charge of CDC WSJ Story #3   ACCESS gains Payor Commits 13:25 - Payers sign pledge to join CMMI ACCESS Model Fierce Healthcare Story #4   Health System Results 17:17 - Community Health Systems wraps 2025 with narrow gains, flagging same-store volumes Fierce Healthcare 19:46 - CommonSpirit's volume gains, efficiency initiatives fuel 'noticeable' quarterly performance  bump Fierce Healthcare 21:02 - Ascension posts net profit as it looks to outpatient growth Healthcare Dive Story #5   Alzheimer’s 22:15 - Why Doctors Can’t Agree on How to Diagnose Alzheimer’s WSJ 26:02 - Viagra and shingles vaccine show surprising promise against Alzheimer’s  Science Daily Story #6   No HITL? 28:03 - NYU Langone Health: We’re Close to Clinical AI with No Human in the Loop MedCity Story #7   OpenClaw Acquhire 31:32 - This Viral AI Project Went From Side Hustle to Coveted Prize in Three Months WSJ

    43 min

  3. FEB 14

    177 - When AI Fights Back: Anthropic, Alignment, and the Future of Human Control

    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

    56 min

  4. FEB 7

    176 - How AI Is Quietly Rewriting the Healthcare Economy

    In this episode, Vic and Marcus break down a sharp tech stock selloff driven by AI disruption, examine how AI is reshaping software, venture capital, and healthcare operations, and discuss major funding rounds in cardiology and women’s health. They analyze sweeping healthcare policy moves from the Trump administration, including drug pricing, PBM reform, telehealth expansion, and changes to addiction recovery funding. The conversation also covers payer performance with a focus on Cigna, winners and losers in pharma earnings, ongoing nursing workforce strain, Epic and Optum’s expanding AI tools, and the risks and realities of autonomous AI agents as new platforms rapidly emerge.  Links 3:42 - Intensifying Tech Slide Sends Nasdaq to Worst Two-Day Drop Since April WSJ 5:38 - AI Won’t Kill the Software Business, Just Its Growth Story WSJ 11:44 - Chamber gets a $60M jolt to power value-based care for cardiology practices Firece Healthcare 13:46 - Women's health clinic Midi Health closes $100M series D as it aims to scale a national healthcare company Firece Healthcare  16:29 - TrumpRx Is Set to Go Live on Thursday NYT 17:06 - Trump signs $1.2T spending package that funds HHS, enacts PBM reforms, telehealth and hospital-at-home measures Firece Healthcare 18:01 - One-quarter of Medicaid doctors don’t actually treat Medicaid patients Healthcare Dive 18:22 - HHS plans to invest $100M to support addiction recovery and address homelessness Firece Healthcare 25:32 -  Cigna reports better-than-expected Q4 financial results Healthcare Finance 27:25 - FTC reaches 'landmark settlement' with Cigna's Express Scripts Healthcare Finance 28:31 - Eli Lilly Profit Rises as Weight-Loss Drug Demand Surges WSJ 28:39 - AbbVie Revenue Rises on Immunology Growth WSJ 28:53 - GSK’s Specialty Medicines Drive Solid Results WSJ 29:43 - Wegovy Maker Novo Nordisk Forecasts Steep Sales Drop in 2026 WSJ 30:22 - Merck Expects Slower Earnings Growth As It Spends on Acquisitions WSJ 30:53 - Pfizer Sales Fall on Continued Lower Covid-19 Drug Demand WSJ 34:05 - Nurses Get Bitten, Spat on, Thrown. That’s Why We’re on Strike. NYT-op 35:18 - Tethered to Tech, Nurses Suffer Digital Compassion Fatigue Medscape 36:05 - The evidence based ROI of wellness starts with building a culture that heals the healers Wolters Kluwer website 41:25 - Epic rolls out AI charting tool as scribe market heats up Healthcare Dive 43:52 - Optum unveils 2 new AI-powered tools for digital prior authorization Firece Healthcare 45:38 - Moltbook: Maybe this isn't a good idea YouTube 53:44 - The Moltbook Experiment Failed YouTube

    1h 4m

  5. JAN 31

    175 - Why Health Insurance Is Becoming Unaffordable for the Middle Class

    Vic and Marcus break down the ripple effects of a major winter storm in Nashville before covering a wide range of healthcare and tech developments, including rising ACA premiums as subsidies expire, corporate layoffs and their impact on insurance markets, venture funding for virtual autism therapy, Medicare Advantage rate pressure, insurer earnings declines, strong performance from major health systems, the growth of direct-to-consumer healthcare brands, Amazon and One Medical’s expansion into at-home diagnostics, consolidation in employer-sponsored primary care, the long-term realities of GLP-1 weight loss drugs, new FDA-approved treatments for presbyopia, Tether’s aggressive gold accumulation strategy, rapid advances in AI agents, open-source frontier models, and the economic and societal implications of accelerating artificial intelligence. Links00:00 - Intro 4:23 - Health Insurance Is Now More Expensive Than the Mortgage for These Americans WSJ 9:09 - Amazon to Lay Off Around 16,000 Corporate Employees WSJ 10:50 - AnswersNow Raises $40M to Expand Access to Autism Therapy MedCity 16:50 - Trump Administration Proposes Keeping Steady the Rates Medicare Pays Insurers WSJ 18:02 - Investors Assumed Medicare Advantage Was Safe Under the GOP. They Were Wrong. WSJ 22:39 - UnitedHealth revenue climbs in 2025, though profit continues to fall Healthcare Dive 23:33 - Elevance Health sets 'prudent' 2026 guidance as it navigates ongoing cost, utilization pressures Fierce Healthcare 25:06 - HCA Healthcare unveils bullish 2026 guidance despite $600M-$900M ACA exchanges hit Fierce Healthcare 26:16 - Cleveland Clinic CEO: Budget overperformance in 2025 paves way for growth Fierce Healthcare 28:02 - Hims & Hers uses another Super Bowl ad to tackle healthcare affordability Fierce Healthcare 33:13 -At-home testing company Reperio teams up with Amazon One Medical on preventive care Fierce Healthcare 34:34 - Employer-focused primary care companies Premise Health, Crossover Health announce merger plans Fierce Healthcare 37:10 - Here’s What Happens when you stop taking Ozempic and Wegovy (Wall Street) 39:28 - Presbyopia Eye Drop From Startup Tenpoint Gets FDA Approval (Medcity News) 41:29 - Tether is buying up to $1 billion of gold per month and storing it in a 'James Bond' bunker CoinDesk 45:26 - The Adolescence of Technology Dario Amodei  51:51 - Clawdbot sheds skin to become Moltbot, can't slough off security issues Register 56:00 - Moonshot AI releases open-source Kimi K2.5 model with 1T parameters Silicon Angle

    1h 1m

  6. JAN 24

    174 - Why Executives Are Winning With AI While Workers See Nothing

    Vic hosts a solo episode covering volatility in the stock market tied to geopolitical tensions, a detailed breakdown of 2025 inflation data and how price increases vary by consumer category, congressional movement on healthcare funding and PBM reform, proposed multi-year extensions for telehealth and hospital-at-home programs, ARPA-H’s call for AI-driven cardiovascular care solutions, UnitedHealthcare’s plan to rebate ACA profits to members, the New York Stock Exchange’s move toward tokenized 24/7 trading, Amazon’s launch of an AI health assistant for One Medical members, and new survey data revealing a widening gap between how executives and workers experience productivity gains from AI. Links00:58 - Stocks Rally After Trump Announces Framework for Greenland Deal WSJ 1:51 - The 2025 Inflation Numbers Are Finally In. Here’s the Good and Bad News. WSJ 3:48 - The Trump administration is creating clinical AI agents with a 3-year FDA approval timeline Fierce Healthcare 4:40 - Telehealth, hospital-at-home set to receive multiyear extensions in recent funding proposal Feirce Healthcare 6:44 - UnitedHealth CEO Hemsley says insurer will rebate ACA profits to consumers Fierce Healthcare 8:15 - NYSE to Launch 24/7 Trading Platform for Blockchain-Based Securities WSJ 10:11 - Amazon launches health AI chatbot for One Medical members Healthcare Dive 11:50 - CEOs Say AI Is Making Work More Efficient. Employees Tell a Different Story. WSJ

    17 min

  7. JAN 17

    173 - The $5 Trillion Healthcare Problem and Why AI Is Stepping In

    Vic is joined by guest host Paul Kappelman to break down the latest signals shaping healthcare and the economy, including inflation trends, slowing job growth, housing market movement, healthcare spending exceeding $5 trillion, Medicare Advantage investigations, payer scrutiny, hospital labor strikes, and major pharma M&A. The episode also covers at-home cancer care, digital health’s growing divide, new federal healthcare proposals, shifting nutrition guidelines, flu treatment advances, data interoperability battles, and how AI agents from OpenAI and Anthropic are beginning to reshape clinical workflows, consumer health access, and everyday work. 4:12 - Pace of Inflation Held Steady in December; Consumer Prices Up 2.7% on Year WSJ 5:19 - America’s Job Market Has Entered the Slow Lane WSJ 7:54 - Home Sales in December Jump 5.1%, Biggest Gain in Nearly 2 Years WSJ 10:26 - This Startup Wants to Bring Cancer Patients' Care at Home WSJ 15:44 - 2025 year-end digital health funding overview: A tale of two markets Rock Health 13:51 - US healthcare spending climbed 7.2% in 2024: 8 things to know Beckers 17:55 - White House: The Great Healthcare Plan White House website 20:58 - RFK Jr.-Backed Dietary Guidelines Say to Avoid Processed Foods, Double Protein WSJ 22:19 - UnitedHealth Used Aggressive Tactics to Boost Medicare Payments, Senate Report Finds WSJ 23:56 - Kaiser Permanente to pay $556M to settle Medicare Advantage fraud claims Fierce Healthcare 25:24 - UnitedHealthcare unveils pilot to accelerate payments to rural hospitals Fierce Healthcare 26:15 - Nearly 15,000 Nurses Go on Strike at Major New York City Hospitals NYT N/A - Walmart Launches Digital Healthcare Platform to Cut Prices on Some Health Items WSJ 27:48 - Epic sues health information network over alleged medical record misuse Healthcare Dive 31:58 - Boston Scientific to snap up thrombectomy specialist Penumbra in deal valued at $14.5B Fierce Healthcare 33:09 - The Flu Is Surging. How Antivirals Can Help. WSJ 35:22 - Polymarket, Dow Jones Partner to Display Prediction-Markets Data in Dow Jones Content WSJ 37:33Advancing Claude in healthcare and the life sciences Anthropic website 38:32 - Example Claude for MRI Interpretation X 40:10 - OpenAI acquires healthcare startup Torch to build out ChatGPT Health Fierce Healthcare N/A - OpenEvidence makes the case for AI-powered 'medical super-intelligence' Fierce Healthcare 42:17 - Google Gemini Partnership With Apple Will Go Beyond Siri Revamp  MacRumors 44:00 - Anthropic’s new Cowork tool offers Claude Code without the code Tech Crunch 44:49 - Claude Cowork X

    56 min

  8. JAN 10

    172 - AI Is Quietly Taking Over Healthcare and Most People Have No Idea

    Vic and Marcus open the year by unpacking how shifting political power, market dynamics, and AI acceleration are reshaping healthcare and the broader economy. They discuss Wall Street’s continued dominance, job market signals, venture capital strategies, and how AI is redefining everything from drug discovery to prescription renewals. The episode covers policy changes around vaccines, women’s health screening, federal funding freezes, hospital consolidation, payer pressure on providers, and the growing role of consumer wearables. They also examine OpenAI’s deepening move into healthcare, the risks and limits of clinical AI, Nvidia’s expanding dominance, and what these forces mean for entrepreneurs, healthcare operators, and patients navigating a rapidly fragmenting system. Links6:54 - Dow Extends Rally, Closing Above 49000 for First Time WSJ 11:22 - The number of available jobs in the US just hit its lowest level in more than a year CNN 16:18 - Venture Firm Antler Made Over 400 Investments Last Year—and Just Reloaded With $160 Million WSJ  20:29 - HRSA endorses at-home screening recommendations for cervical cancer Fierce Healthcare 24:15 - CDC Pares List of Recommended Childhood Vaccines WSJ Doctronic receives approval to use AI to renew medical prescriptions with no doctor involved. X 28:39 - Utah has become the first state to allow AI to renew medical prescriptions with no doctor involved 34:09 - (Wrong Link) Health Dept. to Freeze $10 Billion in Funding to 5 Democratic States 40:31 - FDA paves way for more consumer wearables, AI-enabled devices to hit the market Fierce Healthcare 43:44 - 340B rebate pilot put on hold in temporary win for hospitals Healthcare Dive 45:52 - UnitedHealthcare raises bar for doctors to get paid for radiology services Healthcare Dive 51:32 - 21,000 New York nurses to launch strike Jan. 12 Fierce Healthcare 52:27 -New Jersey healthcare giant poised to acquire another hospital Healthcare Dive 53:29 - Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy Pill Now Broadly Available Across U.S. WSJ 54:21 - AbbVie Near Deal for Revolution Medicines WSJ 55:28 - Eli Lilly Nears Deal for Biotech Ventyx WSJ 56:19 - Eli Lilly, AI Drug-Discovery Company Nimbus Partner on Oral Obesity Treatment WSJ 57:22 - Introducing ChatGPT Health OpenAI 59:34 - 40M users turn to ChatGPT daily for health questions: OpenAI Fierce Healthcare 1:04:38 - Hospitals Are a Proving Ground for What AI Can Do, and What It Can’t WSJ 1:11:06 - Nvidia Unveils Faster AI Chips Sooner Than Expected WSJ 1:14:29 - Lego Smart Play hands-on: Using Smart Brick technology to get kids to play together

    1h 21m
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4.5
out of 5
41 Ratings

About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    Marcus Whitney & Vic Gatto
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2026
  • Episodes
    179
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Health:Further
  • Show Website
    Health:Further

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