Amazon is dropping prescriptions from the sky—literally.

The tech giant announced on October 18 that it has started a prescription drug drone delivery service in College Station, Texas, and patients can get medications delivered within an hour of placing an order—at no additional delivery cost.

Customers in College Station only need to select “free drone delivery in less than 60 minutes” on Amazon Pharmacy’s website when checking out. The service is available for more than 500 medications, including flu, asthma, and pneumonia treatments, according to Amazon.

“We’re taught from the first days of medical school that there is a golden window that matters in clinical medicine,” Vin Gupta, Amazon Pharmacy’s chief medical officer, said in a statement. “That’s the time between when a patient feels unwell and when they’re able to get treatment. We’re working hard at Amazon to dramatically narrow the golden window from diagnosis to treatment, and drone delivery marks a significant step forward.”

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.

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Elevance Health is “disappointed” with its performance on the 2024 Medicare Advantage star ratings, the insurer’s EVP and CFO John Gallina told investors during an earnings call this month.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) uses quality metrics to rank Medicare Advantage contracts from one (lowest) to five (highest) stars. The best performers—i.e., those earning four or five stars—may receive bonus payments, so insurance companies benefit from the ratings system, Healthcare Brew previously reported.

About 34% of Elevance members are enrolled in contracts rated four stars or higher for 2024, down from close to 64% in 2023, according to the insurer’s regulatory filings. In 2024, Elevance’s three largest Medicare Advantage contracts, representing approximately 36% of the insurer’s Medicare Advantage members, will drop from four or 4.5 stars down to 3.5 stars, according to the filings.

Keep reading here.—KW, AE

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

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

Hospital and health system deal activity is finally starting to rebound following a pandemic-era plunge, according to consulting firm Kaufman Hall, but hospitals are increasingly citing “financial distress” as the reason behind the deals.

In more than a third of the 18 hospitals and health systems deals made in Q3 2023—including mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and partnerships—at least one party cited financial distress as the impetus for the transaction. That figure is “well above historical benchmarks,” according to the firm.

“Hospitals and health systems have been under extreme financial pressure since 2022, when median operating margins remained in negative territory for the full year,” Kaufmann Hall analysts wrote in an October 12 report. “These challenges are reflected in the 39% percent of announced transactions in Q3 in which a party has cited, or publicly available information has enabled Kaufman Hall to infer, an element of financial distress as a transaction driver.”

Keep reading here.—MA

Today’s top healthcare reads.

Stat: Healthcare premiums for families jumped by 7% this year and cost about $24,000 annually. (Bloomberg)

Quote: “Ordinary citizens are being punished for a government failure.”—US Rep. Greg Steube, a Florida Republican, on the Social Security Administration’s benefits “clawbacks” (KFF Health News)

Read: More than 100 women are suing a former rheumatologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital for sexual assault. He allegedly “gave pelvic, breast, and rectal exams for his own sexual gratification under the guise of providing medical care to patients.” (NBC News)