London-based Spex Capital, a leading early-stage investor focused on tackling global healthcare challenges through HealthTech innovation, announced today a first close of €30 million for its flagship €100 million "Venture HealthTech Fund".

The fund will invest globally in early-stage HealthTech startups from Seed to Series A/B with individual investments of up to €5 million.

Spex has formed partnerships with EIT Digital as well as Penn Medicine/LGH, a major U.S. multi-hospital system that treats more than seven million patients annually.

Claudio D'Angelo, founder and CEO of Spex Capital, said:"The healthcare sector is facing enormous global pressures as aging populations drive rising patient demand and systemic cost strain. Our real strength lies not just in the volume of companies we see, but in the unmatched power of our distribution network, which provides them with the commercial and clinical validation they need".

Several other funds have also entered or expanded in the European HealthTech investment space in 2025a sign of persistent investor appetite for early-stage digital health and medical technology.

London-based Meridian Health Ventures launched a €44.7 million transatlantic fund to support HealthTech startups scaling between the UK and the U.S. Belgium's Capricorn Partners announced a first close of €51 million for its Health-Tech Fund II, targeting diagnostics, digital health, and life-science companies. In France, M2care secured €26 million to accelerate activities within its healthcare innovation venture studio.

Against this backdrop, Spex Capital's €100 million Venture HealthTech Fund is among the largest current European initiatives focused on early-stage health technology, underscoring growing institutional confidence in the sector's potential.

Partnerships with EIT Digital, Penn Medicine, and long-standing ties to the NHS provide Spex with broad validation networks, a capability often cited as a bottleneck for scaling HealthTech solutions.

In a year when European HealthTech investment surpassed €4 billion, according to an EU-Startups industry report published in early 2025, Spex Capital's first close signals continued investor confidence in digital health and MedTech innovation.

"The supply of innovation is strong, but the validation we deliver through our network is what truly sets us apart. Digital HealthTech is essential for confronting these challenges. With this fund, our new partnerships, and a world-class advisory team, we are uniquely positioned to support visionary founders building transformative solutions worldwide", D'Angelo added.

Founded in 2021 by serial entrepreneur Claudio D'Angelo, Spex Capital focuses on commercializing and scaling digital health and medical technology solutions across major healthcare systems around the world.

The company also announced that Lord Markham, former UK Health Minister, has been appointed Chairman of the Board. He brings extensive experience across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors particularly in venture building, having co-founded Cignpost, the HealthTech company that grew from zero to €350 million in revenue in a single year.

Lord Markham, Chairman, said: "I am delighted to join Spex Capital at such a pivotal moment for HealthTech. This scale-up fund will back breakthrough startups. I look forward to working with Claudio and the team as we accelerate the development and adoption of technologies that improve patient outcomes and reshape healthcare worldwide".

EU-Startups previously reported on the company in February 2023, when Spex Capital first announced plans for its €100 million HealthTech fund.

Well-being may have a stronger influence on cognitive aging than many clinicians realize, explained Benjamin San Deville, MD, clinical neuropsychologist at CHU de Liège in Liège, Belgium. In his recent lecture at the Knowledge Forum, organized by the Friends of the University of Liège Network, he highlighted how personal fulfillment shapes stress management, memory performance, and overall health in later life.

"Does our memory get worse as we get older? Fake news!" Deville began, debunking common assumptions about cognitive aging. "This statement needs nuance: memory is made up of several systems. Working memory is sensitive to age and stress. Episodic memory also tends to weaken over time, but generally remains well preserved. Procedural memory, however, is very robust and can even withstand pathologies such as Alzheimer's disease. There is even one system that improves with age: semantic memory".

He emphasized that memory problems are not necessarily a sign of brain disease. "Neural networks can be impaired by stress, fatigue, or multitasking. Memory depends on many factors that aren't purely medical", he said. He added that stereotypes also play a role; how others perceive someone's memory performance can influence actual performance and the same is true for self-perception. Younger people tend to feel their memory works better. "Some studies suggest that this even influences life expectancy", he said.

He also clarified that everyday mental exercises such as crosswords or Sudoku do not improve overall memory. "You get better at that specific task, but that doesn't mean you'll remember a conversation better or find your keys more quickly", he said. What matters more is engaging in activities one truly enjoys mentally or physically. "Taking time for something you enjoy reduces stress and lowers cortisol production, a hormone that has negative effects on memory. It also helps you sleep better. Deep sleep is crucial for memory consolidation. And exercise improves the brain's supply of oxygen and nutrients, which positively affects neuronal function. Some studies have shown that physical activity increases brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein involved in the formation of new neurons".

"Studies show, unsurprisingly, that the higher the quality of life, the longer the life expectancy. However, results can differ depending on a country's culture and socioeconomic level: income considered 'comfortable' in Brazil may not be perceived the same way in the United States", he said.

To look beyond cultural differences and identify shared elements of good quality of life, Deville pointed to the Blue Zones: Okinawa (Japan), Ikaria (Greece), the Nicoya Peninsula (Costa Rica), the Ogliastra region (Italy), and Loma Linda (USA).

These regions have an unusually high number of people who live to very old ages while staying healthy. Their diets share key characteristics: little meat or dairy; plenty of vegetables, nuts, and tubers; and few processed foods. Meals are often light and locally sourced, and residents tend to walk long distances from an early age.

Massages can feel wonderful. But are they actually good for you?

In one study, researchers found that 8.5% of Americans in the 2022 National Health Interview Survey reported using massage for "general health". But definitions of health vary widely, explains the study's lead author, Jeff Levin, an epidemiologist and Distinguished Professor at Baylor University. Does the term refer to physical health, mental health, or both? That ambiguity makes research difficult but it may also explain why massage holds such broad appeal, Levin says.

Research typically tries to establish precise causal relationships. Yet the effects of massage appear to be holistic, integrating physical, emotional, and neurological influences, explains Niki Munk, a massage therapist, associate professor at Indiana University Indianapolis, and research director at the Massage Therapy Foundation. Massage is one of the techniques used by Rocco Caputo, a touch therapist at the Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Center, to support patients.

"When the patients come in, they always say, 'You're the massage guy, right?'" Caputo says. "Then you become everyone's favorite person".

Massage helps people reconnect with their bodies, Caputo explains. It shifts people into a parasympathetic nervous state, which triggers calm. A recent study partly conducted at MSK showed that massage can help patients with advanced cancer experience long-term relief from pain. One outcome of that research is the Imagine Project, which aims to integrate massage and acupuncture into cancer programs across the U.S. "A lot of pain is a symptom that needs to be managed not something that will necessarily go away entirely", Munk says. The study did not examine the mechanisms behind the improvements, but Munk suspects that factors such as muscle relaxation, overall relaxation, and better sleep may help explain the results.

In another study, Munk found that patients experienced clinically meaningful reductions in lower back pain after ten massage sessions. Participants age 50 and older had the most significant improvements.

Massage therapy likely addresses many types of pain, and early intervention may even prevent some cases from becoming chronic, Munk says. But some researchers - including the authors of a 2024 systematic review argue that more randomized controlled trials, considered by many the gold standard for evaluating effectiveness, are needed to assess how well massage treats pain.

The reasons behind massage's physical effects continue to be studied. Shane Phillips, a professor at the University of Illinois Chicago, co-authored a study showing that massage improves blood flow and reduces post-exercise muscle soreness. The study also found that even people who hadn't exercised showed improved vascular function the ability of blood vessels to regulate blood flow and blood pressure after receiving a massage.

The benefits of massage echo the broader power of touch, says Weisman. Massage is a simple yet effective intervention, but often overlooked, she explains.

Professional massage may be inaccessible for some because of cost. But "some form of therapeutic touch" is essential, says Kuon. Self-massage or even a foot rub can be helpful.

Caputo recommends incorporating massage techniques into daily self-care. He has created videos for people to follow at home to relieve issues like headaches or hand pain. (The videos are designed for children, but Caputo notes that anyone can use them).

Levin argues that massage should be viewed as a standard health intervention. "When massage is described as alternative medicine, there's intentionally or not something dismissive about that", he says.

Massage should be more integrated into the healthcare system and covered by health insurance, Munk says. That way, massage could be "accessible to as many people as possible", she adds.

The Albanese government has proposed an overhaul of the private hospital system, introducing a benchmark pricing model for procedures that would replace the existing funding system, which has led to disputes between health insurers and hospitals.

According to a discussion paper from the Department of Health, circulated to health fund and hospital group executives for comment ahead of an industry meeting next month, the Labor Party plans to introduce a Private National Efficient Price by July 2028. The shift would mark the biggest shake-up in decades for the private hospital system, which handles 70 percent of planned surgeries in Australia.

However, major hospital operators and insurers have expressed concerns about the idea, and consensus appears unlikely meaning it may never become government policy.

The benchmark price would be set through activity-based funding, the document says - a formula used in the public hospital system that is based on patient numbers and treatment costs. It would replace the current funding model, under which insurers negotiate individual funding agreements with hospitals.

These agreements were a major source of conflict last year, as hospitals struggled with rising costs and pressured insurers to pay them more. "Without a clear national price benchmark, contract negotiations are often confrontational, payers struggle to assess value, and smaller or regional hospitals face increasing financial pressure", the paper states.

"Broader pressures workforce shortages, inflation, outdated funding models and inconsistent data collection intensify these challenges and threaten the sector's long-term sustainability". The proposed overhaul comes as health funds have submitted premium-increase proposals to Health Minister Mark Butler.

Annual price rises for 15 million Australians take effect on April 1 and are expected to be approved early next year. Experts predict premium increases of around 4 percent next year - potentially exceeding health inflation for the first time in years due to rising hospital wage costs as new nursing enterprise agreements take effect. Last year, Butler approved an increase of 3.7 percent, about half of what some insurers had requested.

"If health inflation stays around 4 percent this calendar year, we expect insurers and the government will agree on premium increases in a similar range for 2026", said Chris Whitelaw, General Manager of health insurance comparison site Money.com.au.

"The private health sector is likely to recalibrate after several years of suppressed pricing". Health insurers fund the private hospital system, which has been financially strained since the pandemic.

Healthscope, the second-largest operator, has debts of $1.6 billion and is up for sale. ASX-listed Ramsay Health Care is the largest and one of the more profitable operators.

The paper argues that a benchmark price would reduce administrative burden for hospitals by replacing the current default-benefit system a government-mandated minimum level of coverage that insurers must provide. It would also address systemic cross-subsidisation among insurers, where cheaper procedures offset more expensive and complex surgeries.

The direct impact on patients is unclear but expected to be minimal, as insurers would still cover most procedure costs. However, the policy carries implications for publicly listed funds Medibank Private, NIB and Ramsay. People familiar with the discussion paper, who are not authorized to speak publicly, said there is significant skepticism among both insurers and hospitals.

The paper does not include cost modelling or mention a minimum price something the hospital lobby has been seeking.

Under the framework, the government would set an appropriate profit margin for the sector, though Ramsay and Healthscope could argue for a higher weighted average cost of capital to justify their investments. Catholic hospital operators are reportedly more open to the idea.

The paper says the proposed funding model would encourage more patients to undergo day-surgery rather than long, often unnecessary, hospital admissions.

Insurers, however, will argue that it does not address what they see as an oversupply of hospital beds and could push premiums even higher at a time when cost-of-living pressures are expected to drive people out of the system because they can no longer afford coverage.

The paper notes that the current funding model is imbalanced, with high-margin services like spinal fusions subsidizing significant losses in areas such as caesarean deliveries and dementia care contributing to the closure of psychiatric units and maternity wards. It suggests measures to protect small rural hospitals with higher costs, which would receive different funding.

The Grattan Institute proposed activity-based funding for private hospitals last year. It argued that such a system as in the public sector could reduce conflict within the industry and help lower costs.

It said that hospitals would have an incentive to avoid lengthy or unnecessary admissions, which could reduce insurance premiums.

On December 10, hospital and insurer executives will meet with the Department of Health as part of ongoing talks about the sustainability of private hospitals.

The Australian Private Hospitals Association (APHA) and Private Healthcare Australia, the main insurer lobby group, are currently reviewing the discussion paper with their members and will submit formal responses by the end of the year.

A groundbreaking network the first of its kind in North America - has begun sharing accessible research findings, recipes, and other resources on the health benefits of fermented foods.

The Canadian Fermented Foods Initiative (CFFI) will officially launch on November 17, bringing together research and industry experts from across Canada and Europe.

The collaboration aims to support consumers, researchers, healthcare professionals, and the food industry by facilitating the exchange of reliable, science-based knowledge and expertise about fermented foods.

The initiative is funded by the Weston Family Foundation and led by Jeremy Burton, PhD, head of one of Canada's largest microbiome research programs and interim Vice President of Research at St. Joseph's Health Care London and the Lawson Research Institute. He is joined by Raylene Reimer, PhD, Professor of Nutrition at the University of Calgary, and Ben Willing, PhD, Professor at the University of Alberta and former Canada Research Chair in Microbiology of Nutrigenomics.

Fermented foods such as sourdough bread, sauerkraut, kimchi, and kombucha offer much more than good taste and an affordable way to preserve food, says Burton. Large population-based studies show that people who regularly consume fermented foods tend to be healthier overall with fewer digestive problems and a lower risk of chronic disease.

St. Joseph's Health Care London is considered a leader in this field. A new paper from Burton's team, published this week in Advances in Nutrition, presents the most comprehensive review to date of research on fermented foods and human health.

Connor Flynn, a chef, certified food preservation specialist, and high school teacher from London, Ontario - whose recipe videos are featured on the CFFI website - adds:

"Fermenting food is an ancient practice that has never truly gone out of style, though it was forgotten by many North Americans for a time. Now it's making a strong comeback".

Insurers and pharmaceutical companies, both facing existential threats to their profits this year from President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans, were forced to make a choice: stand firm and fight, or back off and cut some deals.

Insurers chose to fight the threat; drug companies chose to make deals to limit the damage. The early outcomes tell an interesting story. This month, Trump attacked what he called "money-sucking insurance companies" on Truth Social and announced plans to redirect their Obamacare funding to patients. Two days earlier, however, he stood alongside pharmaceutical companies that had agreed to lower prices, called the CEOs "great, talented people" and friends, and said he didn't begrudge them their profits: "They're entitled to the money because the companies are very successful".

The insurers' chances of securing their top priority - an extension of the heavily expanded Obamacare subsidies introduced during the pandemic and now set to expire - look grim. Meanwhile, Trump's threatened 100 percent tariffs on the pharmaceutical industry remain on hold, contingent on further agreements.

Trump's contrasting posture toward two of Washington's most powerful rival sectors has become a case study for lobbyists trying to figure out how to deal with an unpredictable president and his populist governing style: currying favor helps, fighting back is risky.

"Is it smarter to play an inside game or an outside game? In Washington today, if you play the inside game of direct engagement, you're more likely to get positive outcomes with the administration", said Jonathan Burks, executive vice president for economic and health policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, who served as chief of staff to then-House Speaker Paul Ryan during Trump's first term.

Late Wednesday, Trump signed a bill ending the record-long government shutdown without any plan to extend the enhanced Obamacare subsidies, Democrats' top demand. AHIP, the leading insurance industry trade group, had lobbied intensely for an extension. It spent more than $4.2 million on lobbying from July through September its highest amount ever for that period and the twelfth-largest of any entity in Washington. The organization is also part of the Keep Americans Covered coalition, which has repeatedly argued that allowing the subsidies to lapse would be bad policy.

Chris Bond, senior vice president for communications at AHIP, said the group will not change course.

"We will continue to work with [Keep Americans Covered] to highlight the urgency of protecting 24 million Americans from a severe cost-of-living crisis next year and to ensure that policymakers have all relevant facts and data available to them", he said.

Insurers' precarious position stands in stark contrast to that of the pharmaceutical sector. Drugmakers have largely avoided public confrontation with the administration and instead sought agreements in light of Trump's tariff threats and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s criticism of their products. So far, five pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Eli Lilly - have struck deals with the White House to provide price concessions in exchange for tariff delays. According to analysts, the agreements will have only minimal effects on prices.

Players across the health sector have poured record sums into Washington this year as Republicans push to cut health programs to finance tax reductions, immigration-enforcement measures, and defense spending. AHIP spent more than $13 million in the first nine months of the year, surpassing its total expenditures for all of 2023 and the previous year. The lobbying expenditures of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, representing brand-name drugmakers, have reached nearly $30 million more than in almost any year of the past decade.

Individual companies have also ramped up activity. UnitedHealth has spent $9.2 million so far this year - more than in any other year in at least a decade and Elevance poured $2 million into lobbying in the third quarter, its highest for that period in four years. The July-September lobbying totals of Amgen, Gilead, Johnson & Johnson, and Regeneron were the highest ever recorded for that time frame.

Insurance lobbyists said they spent most of the year talking with Congress and the White House about the effects of nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts included in the Republican One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Signed in July, the law is projected to leave 10 million Americans uninsured as the cuts take effect over the coming years. AHIP hired three outside lobbying firms this year and expanded its lobbying roster by 11 percent, according to data from OpenSecrets, an organization that tracks the role of money in politics. Keep Americans Covered whose members include AHIP, the American Medical Association, and AARP launched a seven-figure advertising campaign urging Congress to extend the tax credits.

"[Insurers] are in a tough environment because Trump is trying to consolidate all the power. A lot of money is being taken out of the system, and they don't have as many reliable friends as they used to", said one lobbyist representing insurance companies, who requested anonymity to discuss strategy.

Over the weekend, Trump attacked insurers again and urged Republican senators to give the money directly to Americans so they can buy their own coverage - a move that could severely undercut Obamacare. "Take it away from the BIG, BAD insurance companies, give it to the people, and end, per dollar spent, the worst health care in the world, ObamaCare", he wrote on Truth Social.

As the nights grow longer and we prepare to turn the clocks back, we often comfort ourselves with the thought of that extra hour of sleep the chance to stay under the covers a little longer. After all, a whole extra hour in the evening sounds great you could get so much more done!

But studies show it might not be quite as positive as it seems. Some research suggests a link between the autumn clock change and an increased risk of depressive episodes. On the bright side, turning the clock back in the fall appears to be less harmful to health than the spring shift forward, which has been associated with a higher risk of heart attacks, strokes, and traffic accidents.

A quick look back: Daylight Saving Time (DST) was first introduced in the United Kingdom in 1916, during World War I - as a measure to save energy and make better use of daylight during working hours. Since then, the clocks have been moved forward one hour on the last Sunday in March and back one hour on the last Sunday in October.

And it's not just a British phenomenon: around 70 countries and more than a quarter of the world's population observe Daylight Saving Time. In the United States, it was officially adopted in 1966. Today, Americans set their clocks forward on the second Sunday in March and back on the first Sunday in November. Increasingly, research suggests that these clock changes can have a negative impact on people's health. The strongest evidence points to the springtime shift forward, which makes mornings darker and evenings lighter and robs people of an hour of sleep.

"When you apply even a small risk to 60 million people, it adds up to a considerable number of entirely preventable health problems", explains David Ray.

In 2014, researchers in the U.S. found that the number of people admitted to hospitals on the Monday after the clock change rose by 24 percent. Similar findings have been reported in studies from Sweden, Croatia, Germany, Brazil, Finland, and Mexico. A meta-analysis combining all available studies found that the average number of heart attacks increases by about 4 percent after the start of Daylight Saving Time in spring a small but significant rise.

But that's not all. Further studies showed that the number of strokes increases in the weeks following the spring clock change. And while one might assume that more evening light could be beneficial for mental health, even that has been called into question: a 2020 study found that switching to Daylight Saving Time can worsen mood disorders, depression, anxiety, and substance abuse.

Finally, there's the issue of traffic accidents. In the U.S., it has been shown that the number of fatal car crashes rises in the weeks after the springtime shift. One study estimated that moving the clock forward increases the risk of deadly road accidents by 6 percent apparently because many people struggle with the loss of that one hour of sleep.

As the U.S. healthcare system continues to struggle with staff shortages and gaps in care, Philips is redefining its role, expanding beyond its traditional medtech roots. The company no longer just sells monitoring devices it now actively supports health systems in delivering diagnostic services in regions with few specialists.

Essentially, Philips now operates both as a medical technology manufacturer and a service provider, explained Nick Wilson, the company's Vice President of Product, in an interview last week at the Reuters MedTech USA Conference in Boston.

This model helps address workforce shortages, he emphasized. In many regions, for example, there is a scarcity of cardiologists. Philips collaborates with providers like Optum to enable primary care physicians to order cardiac monitoring. Philips handles the technical diagnostics, while cardiologists intervene only during clinical review - a process Wilson says reduces diagnostic delays. Philips' monitoring solutions are designed to support patients across the entire care journey from home to hospital and back again.

For example, patients presenting to the emergency room with dizziness, a common symptom of heart rhythm disorders, can now be sent home with a connected monitoring device instead of staying in the hospital for a two-day observation.

If a patient is admitted, Philips technology allows continuous monitoring throughout the hospital stay, even in specialized areas like the catheterization lab, without changing devices.

Philips also helps hospitals discharge patients earlier by ensuring safe monitoring at home. The company works with health systems and other providers to reduce operational barriers and high capital costs. Its "Monitoring as a Service" model allows hospitals to use the same monitoring network across multiple departments.

According to Wilson, this approach typically reduces equipment costs and staff workload while improving interoperability. One client reportedly saved around 13,000 staff hours in a single year.

"They were able to use the same device with the same subscription across the patient's entire care pathway. We believe policies, reimbursement, and workflows need to work together to unlock the full potential of the data we generate in healthcare", Wilson said.

As Philips continues to expand its connected care system, product development increasingly focuses on user-friendliness and uninterrupted monitoring. Devices should be easy to self-apply and wear continuously, Wilson explained. About 30% of Philips' diagnostic patients receive their devices by mail, without medical staff assistance. The kits include clear instructions and tools to ensure sensors are correctly positioned, making data reliable and accurate. Philips also proactively contacts patients to ensure devices are activated and signals remain stable.

Even in hospitals, avoiding gaps in data is crucial. Philips has developed waterproof telemetry devices that do not need to be removed, reducing the risk of missing cardiac events.

"Most telemetry devices require patients to remove them when showering. And we know that events often occur exactly at those times, creating 'blackouts' in continuous monitoring", Wilson explained.

With the continued expansion of its monitoring portfolio, Philips aims to improve patient safety, close gaps in care, and ensure that no critical cardiac data is lost.

Wealth alone does not make a country healthy, according to new joint research from the University of Surrey and its international partners, which evaluated 38 OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries on their progress toward global health goals.

The study, published in Annals of Operations Research, shows that some of the world's wealthiest nations-including the United States and Canada are falling behind smaller economies when it comes to achieving the UN's Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG 3): ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all. Meanwhile, countries like Iceland, Japan, and Norway lead the field, supported by strong healthcare systems and equitable access to care.

Using a new model developed collaboratively by researchers in Surrey, the study examined how efficiently each country converts health investments into outcomes such as life expectancy, disease prevention, and access to healthcare. The findings reveal that nations with well-integrated public health systems and strong preventive care achieve better results per pound spent than those that rely heavily on private healthcare.

Professor Ali Emrouznejad, co-author of the study and Professor and Chair in Business Analytics at the University of Surrey, said:"Money isn't everything when it comes to a country's health. What matters is how effectively nations use their resources. Countries that prioritize prevention, universal access, and social equity tend to perform better than richer economies that focus more on spending than on strategy".

The team used a Joint Variable Selection Directional Distance Function model-an advanced, data-driven method that measures how efficiently countries convert economic and health resources into well-being outcomes. This approach also accounted for the impact of climate-related risks and showed that countries with strong environmental health strategies consistently achieve higher overall health scores.

The results highlight the importance of building efficient, equitable healthcare systems that integrate climate resilience into planning and service delivery. Professor Emrouznejad added:"Policymakers should prioritize prevention, sustainability, and equitable access rather than simply increasing healthcare budgets. Our model identifies which countries make the most of their resources and which could learn from their approaches. It offers a practical roadmap for governments aiming to build sustainable, high-performing health systems without wasting resources".

Trump Suggests Direct Health-Care Payments to Americans, $2,000 Tariff Dividends, but Officials Say No Formal Proposal Exists President Donald Trump over the weekend suggested reimbursing Americans directly for their healthcare costs and issuing $2,000 dividends from tariff revenues. Administration officials later clarified that these were not formal proposals submitted to the Senate.

In a Truth Social post on Saturday, the president wrote: "I am recommending to Republican senators that the hundreds of billions of dollars currently going to money-sucking insurance companies to prop up the bad ObamaCare system should be PAID DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE, SO THEY CAN BUY THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, INSURANCE".

The following day, he posted again, urging Republicans to deposit money directly into Americans' health accounts, allowing people to save pre-tax dollars for certain medical expenses.

Regarding his tariff agenda, Trump wrote: "We are taking in trillions of dollars and will soon begin reducing our ENORMOUS $37 trillion debt. Record investments in the U.S., factories and works are appearing everywhere. A dividend of at least $2,000 per person (excluding high-income individuals!) will be paid out to everyone".

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that the president's health-care proposal to Republican senators was not yet fully developed. "We have no formal proposal", Bessent told ABC's This Week, adding, "We're not proposing anything to the Senate right now".

He explained that any such proposal depended on ending the government shutdown, which would enter its 41st day on Monday. On Sunday evening, senators reached an agreement with the potential to end the shutdown. "The president posts about it, but we need to reopen the government first before we do that. We won't negotiate with the Democrats until they reopen the government. Plain and simple", Bessent said.

Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, also downplayed the idea on Sunday morning on CBS News' Face the Nation: "He's just thinking out loud and trying to help the Senate find a deal to reopen the government".

"Everyone agrees that people should have access to healthcare. So why not just send a check to those paying higher premiums and let them decide?" Hassett added. He emphasized that the idea had hardly been discussed in the Senate or within the Trump administration.

California will begin selling low-cost insulin in January, becoming the first U.S. state to bypass the pharmaceutical industry by offering its own supply of the expensive diabetes medication. The move marks a notable milestone in Governor Gavin Newsom's effort to lower health care costs through state-branded drugs.

The insulin pens will be provided through the CalRx program, an initiative Newsom launched to allow the state to contract with manufacturers to produce generic medicines. The pens, used by people with diabetes to regulate their insulin levels, will be identical to other long-acting insulin products on the market. They will be offered at a recommended price of no more than $55 for a five-pack a substantial discount compared with current prices.

"California didn't wait for the pharmaceutical industry to do the right thing we took matters into our own hands", Newsom said in a statement announcing the new medication. "No Californian should ever have to ration insulin or go into debt to stay alive - and I won't stop until health care costs come down for everyone".

The announcement places California at the forefront of states seeking new ways to keep health care affordable in a system dominated by for-profit companies. It also highlights the state's ability to leverage the size of its massive economy and purchasing power. And securing an insulin supply marks a key victory for Newsom, who made CalRx an early centerpiece of his administration but had little to show for it until now.

By sidestepping major drugmakers, the state is reinforcing its independent approach - an ethos perhaps best captured by former Governor Jerry Brown, who declared in 2018 that California would launch its "own damn satellite" to monitor climate-warming emissions. Newsom has since made Brown's moonshot a reality.

Insulin prices have fallen since the issue became a political flashpoint in 2017, when leading manufacturers - Eli Lilly, Sanofi, and Novo Nordisk - were accused in a class-action lawsuit of dramatically raising prices each year. A prescription that once cost patients $25 had climbed to $300, the lawsuit said. Politicians seized on the issue to criticize what they said was an out-of-control pharmaceutical industry. In 2024, the federal government filed a lawsuit against pharmacy benefit managers, accusing them of also contributing to surging insulin costs.

The century-old drug has long been a symbol of what critics call pharmaceutical price gouging. Both President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden have touted efforts to cap insulin costs for Medicare plans at $35.

Under the CalRx agreement, pharmacies in California can purchase a five-pack of insulin pens for $45 and sell them to patients at a recommended price of $55. Comparable brand-name products cost pharmacies anywhere from $89 to $411, according to state data.

The announcement that the state-produced insulin will be available at the start of the year comes as a surprise, after state officials said in February that CalRx might still be years away from delivering insulin to patients because it was awaiting formal approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

After Newsom established CalRx in 2020, the program received its first funding in 2022. The following year, the state signed a $50-million contract with the nonprofit Civica Rx to manufacture insulin.

Civica Rx built a production facility in Petersburg, Virginia, and later signed a deal with another manufacturer, Biocon Biologics, to bring long-acting insulin to market for CalRx. The long-term plan is to produce the three most widely used types of insulin: glargine, aspart, and lispro. Glargine, a generic version of Sanofi's Lantus, will be the first available starting in January.

Through CalRx, the state has also secured contracts to provide a lower-cost version of naloxone, a drug that can reverse an opioid overdose. And earlier this year, Newsom announced plans to pursue bulk purchasing of asthma medications. He has also floated the possibility of using CalRx to produce or stock abortion medications.

Last week, a debate took place between the three leading candidates for Mayor of New York City, a city of more than 8 million residents. What was meant to be a discussion about urban safety unexpectedly turned into a conversation about mental health.

The trio on stage was particularly colorful, each carrying his own scandals and controversies. Zohran Mamdani, the 33-year-old Democratic Socialist who surprisingly won the Democratic primary, has been accused by many of failing to condemn calls for intifada and of supporting the far left. Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor who lost to Mamdani in the primary, resigned in 2021 after being accused of sexual harassment by 13 women. The third candidate, Curtis Sliwa, the Republican contender, has been arrested 77 times during protests and anti-immigration rallies and has been accused of assaulting migrants.

Despite the scandals, the debate's most surprising moment came when the discussion shifted from traditional issues of policing and public safety to mental health policy. When Mamdani was asked whether he would support the current NYPD Commissioner, Jessica Tisch, known for her tough-on-crime approach, he said yes but with one key condition: the creation of a "Department of Community Safety" with a $1 billion budget.

Mamdani's central argument was that the reason New Yorkers don't feel safe on the subway isn't violent crime, but rather the mental health crisis and the growing number of homeless individuals in the system. According to data he presented, NYPD officers respond to about 200,000 mental-health-related calls every year. Because police spend so much time on these calls, he argued, they don't have enough capacity to address other types of crime.

The New York debate highlighted a global dilemma: who should respond to mental health crises, armed police officers or trained mental health professionals?

The proposal sparked heated disagreement among the other candidates. Sliwa sharply criticized the plan, saying it would not work because in other cities where welfare-response models were tried instead of police, those were smaller towns. New York, he said, is a massive metropolis with thousands of emergency calls, and sending social workers instead of police would put them in danger since they cannot achieve the same results that professional police officers can.

Cuomo's opposition was less intense. He said he supports sending mental health crisis teams alongside police officers to reduce risks to the health workers and ensure quick intervention if a situation turns violent. His main criticism of Mamdani's plan was that it sends non-police teams alone, which he believes would endanger those workers. He added that he had personally seen people with mental illness appear completely calm and then suddenly explode in anger, noting that such reactions can sometimes be symptoms of the illness.

Mamdani's proposal, however, is far from outlandish despite its price tag. It has the backing of many mental health organizations around the world, and in places where similar models have been tested, they have actually saved taxpayer money. Mamdani based his plan on CAHOOTS, a program in Eugene, Oregon, that has been operating since 1989. The program dispatches two-person teams, a crisis worker and a paramedic, to respond to calls involving mental health crises, homelessness, and addiction.

The results are remarkable. CAHOOTS operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and fewer than one percent of its calls require police backup. In its 35 years of operation, there have been no serious injuries or deaths. Mamdani explained in an interview with CBS that the key difference is in the initial instinct: to respond to people with care rather than through law enforcement.

Now officially declared the winner as of November 9, Mayor-elect Mamdani expanded on his vision for the Department of Community Safety. He said his goal is to station mental health teams at 100 subway stations where crises are most frequent. He believes New York can replicate CAHOOTS's success, where 90 percent of calls involving people in mental distress are resolved without police involvement. Mamdani concluded that his goal is to make New York not only safer, but more humane, by sending help instead of handcuffs.

You don't need to lace up for a marathon to protect your brain, sometimes, a simple daily walk can make all the difference. A new study published in Nature Medicine has found that taking just a few thousand steps a day may help slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease, even among people who already show early biological signs of it.

The findings are both hopeful and surprisingly attainable. According to the researchers, individuals who walked between 3,000 and 5,000 steps a day delayed memory and cognitive decline by an average of three years. Those who took between 5,000 and 7,500 steps a day gained an even greater benefit, slowing decline by about seven years on average.

Dr. Wei-Ying Wendy Yao, a neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, explained that regular physical activity appears to slow the buildup of tau, a protein directly linked to memory loss and the progression of Alzheimer's. "By keeping the brain active through movement", she noted, "we may be able to buy valuable time for memory and thinking".

Still, experts caution that walking alone isn't a cure-all. Dr. Richard Isaacson, a neurologist and specialist in neurodegenerative diseases, told CNN that there's no "magic number" of steps that works for everyone. People dealing with high blood pressure, prediabetes, or excess weight, he said, need a more holistic approach that combines personalized exercise routines with proper nutrition, sleep, and stress management.

Even so, the broader message is deeply encouraging: moving your body, even just an hour a day, can do wonders for both heart and mind. Walking boosts blood circulation, stabilizes blood sugar levels, and promotes the kind of brain health that medication alone can't always achieve.

The long-term study followed 296 participants aged 50 to 90 over a remarkable 14-year span. Researchers tracked their daily steps, conducted annual memory tests, and used PET scans to monitor the buildup of tau in the brain. The results were clear: in consistent walkers, tau accumulated far more slowly, while those who led sedentary lifestyles experienced faster memory loss and declines in everyday functioning.

Dr. Isaacson emphasized that the findings align with earlier animal research showing that exercise can reduce the buildup of Alzheimer's-related proteins by up to 50 percent. "There's no doubt that every bit of movement matters", he said. "Even small steps, quite literally, can add up to a big difference over time".

A venomous snakebite is considered one of the greatest health threats across Africa, Asia, and South America. Each year, more than 300,000 people are bitten in sub-Saharan Africa alone over 7,000 die, and another 10,000 lose limbs as a result of severe infection.

Now, however, a scientific breakthrough published in the prestigious journal Nature could change the picture entirely. A research team led by Dr. Andreas Laustsen from the Technical University of Denmark has developed a groundbreaking new antibody, a broad-spectrum antivenom, capable of neutralizing the venom of numerous snake species, including one of the most dangerous in the world: the black mamba.

Until now, each type of antivenom had to be tailored to the venom of a single snake species. In practical terms, this meant that to save a victim's life, doctors had to know exactly which snake delivered the bite,  something almost impossible to determine in the field, especially in remote African or Asian villages far from hospitals and diagnostic tools. The new treatment, created through an innovative fusion of biotechnology and molecular science, changes that reality. It works against the venom of dozens of snake species, even in cases where the identity of the snake is unknown.

Instead of using horses, the traditional source of antivenom for more than a century, the researchers turned to alpacas and llamas. These animals, members of the camel family, possess immune systems that produce unique antibodies known as nanobodies. The alpacas and llamas were injected with small, controlled doses of venom from 18 different snake species, including the black mamba, Nubian cobra, and spitting cobra. Over the course of 60 weeks, their bodies developed nanobodies capable of neutralizing a wide range of toxins.

The advantage of nanobodies lies in their tiny size and exceptional stability. They can withstand freeze-drying, do not require refrigeration, and can penetrate deep into tissues and the nervous system.

The current version of the therapy targets snakes from the elapid family (such as cobras and mambas), but the team is already working on a second formulation aimed at the viper family, which includes puff adders, rattlesnakes, and South America's deadly fer-de-lance. If the next stage of research succeeds, scientists believe it will be possible to combine the two types of antibodies into a single universal antivenom, a treatment that could save tens of thousands of lives every year around the world.

The choice of camelid animals is no coincidence. Unlike the large, heat-sensitive antibodies derived from horses, alpaca antibodies are lighter, more stable, and far more resilient in extreme climates. They can be dried, transported easily, and stored without refrigeration, ideal for tropical regions where snakebites are most deadly and access to modern medical infrastructure is limited.

As Dr. Laustsen explained, "Our goal is to develop a treatment that can reach even the smallest village in Africa. If we succeed, we can turn a snakebite from a death sentence into a treatable condition".

If upcoming clinical trials in humans are successful, this new antivenom could become one of the most significant advancements in tropical medicine in decades. The implications are profound: no more desperate race against time to identify the snake, just one, universal treatment capable of saving lives regardless of where or how the bite occurred. It marks a major step toward transforming modern science into a global immune shield against one of nature's oldest and deadliest threats.

Foreigners applying for a visa to live in the United States could be denied entry if they have certain medical conditions including diabetes or obesity under a new policy from the Trump administration released on Thursday.

The directive, sent in a cable from the U.S. State Department to embassies and consulates and obtained by KFF Health News, instructs visa officers to deem applicants ineligible for several new reasons including age or the likelihood that they may rely on public benefits. According to the guidance, such individuals could become a "public charge", meaning a potential burden on U.S. resources due to their health conditions or age.

While health assessments have always been part of the visa application process including tests for communicable diseases like tuberculosis and verification of vaccination records -experts say the new rules significantly expand the list of medical conditions to be considered and give visa officers broader discretion to deny applications based on health. The directive explicitly requires officials to place greater emphasis on applicants' health status.

The order applies to nearly all visa applications but is expected to most directly affect those seeking permanent residence in the U.S., explained Charles Wheeler, senior attorney at the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, a nonprofit legal services organization.

"You must consider the applicant's health status", the cable states. "Certain medical conditions including, but not limited to, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disorders, cancer, diabetes, metabolic disorders, neurological diseases, and mental health issues may require medical care costing hundreds of thousands of dollars".

Roughly 10% of the world's population has diabetes. Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide.

The cable also instructs visa officers to consider other conditions such as obesity, which, according to the document, can lead to asthma, sleep apnea, and hypertension. These conditions may also require expensive, long-term treatment.

Spokespersons for the U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Additionally, visa officers are directed to determine whether applicants have sufficient financial resources to cover their medical expenses without government assistance.

"Does the applicant have sufficient financial resources to pay for such care throughout their expected lifetime without relying on public financial support or long-term institutional care at government expense?" the cable asks.

The language of the cable appears to contradict the Foreign Affairs Manual, the State Department's own internal guide which states that visa officers may not deny applications based on hypothetical "what-if" scenarios, Wheeler noted.

"The directive asks officers to make their own judgments about what could lead to a medical emergency or future medical costs", he said. "That's problematic because they have no medical training, no experience in the field, and shouldn't be making decisions based on personal assumptions or biases".

The directive also instructs visa officers to take into account the health status of family members, including children or elderly parents.

"Do the dependents have disabilities, chronic illnesses, or other special needs requiring care that could prevent the applicant from maintaining employment?" the cable asks.

Immigrants are already required to undergo a medical examination by a physician authorized by the U.S. State Department. This includes screening for infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and completing a form about past drug or alcohol use, mental illness, or violent behavior. Applicants must also show proof of vaccinations against diseases such as measles, polio, and hepatitis B.

However, the new directive goes much further by emphasizing the consideration of chronic conditions, said Sophia Genovese, an immigration attorney at Georgetown University. She noted that the language of the guidance encourages visa officers and examining physicians to speculate about the potential cost of treatment and the applicant's ability to work in the U.S. given their medical history.

"The inclusion of diabetes or cardiovascular history is extremely broad", Genovese said. "There has always been some level of medical evaluation, but not to this extent speculating, for example, 'What if someone suffers a diabetic shock?' If these changes take effect immediately, they will clearly create numerous problems during consular interviews".

The policy is part of the Trump administration's controversial and aggressive immigration agenda, which seeks to remove undocumented individuals from the U.S. and discourage others from immigrating. The White House's approach includes daily mass arrests, refugee bans for certain countries, and plans to drastically reduce the total number of admitted immigrants.

Hundreds of federal employees working in mental health services, pandemic response, and disaster preparedness were among those affected by the mass layoffs carried out by the Trump administration over the past few weeks, according to reports from both remaining and dismissed workers.

The move took place amid a government shutdown that has already lasted two weeks, as the administration seeks to pressure Democratic members of Congress to drop their demands and end the shutdown.

The wave of layoffs began Friday and rocked the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, just six months after a previous round of cuts. The situation became even more chaotic when more than half of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) employees who received dismissal notices later discovered they had been sent by mistake and that they were, in fact, still employed by the agency, CNN reported.

Dr. Nirav Shah, who resigned earlier this year as deputy director of the CDC, said: "This is pure managerial incompetence. I used to think the chaos was a byproduct of that incompetence. Now I'm starting to wonder if chaos is the goal".

According to sources who spoke with Axios, about 600 CDC employees working in offices related to medical statistics, violence prevention (132 employees), congressional relations, and human resources stopped working as a result of the mass layoffs. Among those dismissed were staff from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which supports the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) initiative spearheaded by Kennedy. Employees from the ethics office, which reviews conflicts of interest, were also let go.

Dakota Jablon, a former public health analyst at SAMHSA, said that the loss of additional agency staff "will have devastating ripple effects across the behavioral health field. Even if grants continue, the loss of experienced personnel means those remaining will be stretched to their limits, often beyond their areas of expertise".

Dr. Eric Rafla-Yuan, a psychiatrist and chair of the Committee on Public Mental Health Protection, said that staff cuts at SAMHSA could jeopardize state safety nets for individuals with mental illnesses, as the agency provides critical funding and support for state-level programs.

Among those mistakenly dismissed and then reinstated were members of the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS), the CDC's "disease detectives" deployed to respond to public health threats, and the staff of the respected Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), a key source of health data and public health recommendations. Also fired and reinstated were Atelia Christie, head of the CDC's measles response team (the U.S. has recorded 1,563 measles cases this year-the highest since the disease was declared eliminated a quarter-century ago), and Maureen Bertie, a senior infectious disease specialist.