As the second-largest federal prescription drug program behind Medicare Part D, 340B has been at the center of numerous challenges over the past few years, from federal lawsuits to a Supreme Court ruling.

In the latest challenge to the program, Senator Bill Cassidy—a Republican from Louisiana who serves as the ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee—independently opened an investigation into the 340B program, which requires Medicaid-participating drug companies to sell certain drugs at discounted prices to qualifying hospitals.

“At the foundation of the debate […] is whether Congress intended it to directly benefit low-income and uninsured patients or whether it was meant to help finance those hospitals, which could use the money as they see fit to add services,” Stat reported.

Keep reading here.—MA

Do you work in healthcare or have information about the industry that we should know? Email Maia at [email protected]. For confidential conversations, ask Maia for her number on Signal.

You don’t need tea leaves or a crystal ball: Get a glimpse into the future of healthcare on social with Hootsuite instead.

For the first time ever, Hootsuite has made a special edition of their annual Social Media Trends report just for marketers in healthcare. The report is jam-packed with insights, industry inspo, and tips on how to be a social media innovator in 2024.

Want a preview of the findings? Hootsuite found that healthcare orgs are planning to increase AI use for patient service by 422% (not a typo) in 2024.

Hootsuite’s trends are based on surveys of marketers and consumers, analysis of news articles and social media posts, and in-depth research. Learn what healthcare’s strongest and shakiest social platforms are and how entertainment can boost the bottom line.

Download Hootsuite’s Social Media Trends report.

’Tis the season for healthcare phone scams.

According to new data released by Hiya, a company that tracks phone fraud and spam, calls offering phony health plans and fraudulent Medicare support skyrocketed between October and November this year, coinciding with the start of the marketplace open-enrollment period that runs from November 1 through January 16, 2024.

Whether the automated message purports to be from Dale at Elite Medicare Options or Ashley from the Health Enrollment Center (both real examples that Hiya has documented), the fraud-protection platform found that most scammers will try to get their target to interact with a button- or voice-activated menu.

The menu might be disguised as a survey of Medicare coverage or an option to opt out of receiving future calls, according to Hiya, but either way, the person who responds to the automated call could be in trouble.

Keep reading at Tech Brew.—KG

Artificial intelligence (AI) was a hot topic in 2023, and there’s no sign of it slowing down in the next year.

Healthcare Brew spoke to leaders at health tech companies to see what’s coming down the pike for AI in 2024. Don’t worry, the technology isn’t likely to replace physicians anytime soon.

Kalie Dove-Maguire, clinical specialist senior director at Carbon Health

This year, San Francisco-based Carbon Health integrated an AI-enabled notes assistant into its electronic health records. The AI can generate a visit summary based on the patient-provider conversation, Healthcare Brew previously reported.

Keep reading here.—KW

Today’s top healthcare reads.

Stat: Earlier this month, 28 healthcare companies voluntarily joined a White House pledge to manage AI risks. (US News & World Report)

Quote: “When you know a little, but not enough, you imagine you have everything and constantly worry.”—Marc Siegel, clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, on patients developing “cyberchondria,” or increased health anxiety due to online symptom searches (Fox News)

Read: Mining workers have long enjoyed “robust” healthcare thanks to employer-sponsored health plans, but without insurance, even basic care is hard to come by. (Politico)

New meds in town: With obesity levels on the rise, weight management drugs are top of mind. We partnered with CVS Caremark to understand how GLP-1s are changing the game—and how plan sponsors can keep pharmacy costs down and improve outcomes. Here’s what we learned.*

^{*A message from our sponsor.}