SmartBrief readers’ most-clicked health news stories for the month of January covered a variety of subjects, from the latest on weight-loss drugs and medication price hikes to changes in Affordable Care Act plan enrollment and continuing friction between insurers and hospitals. Read on for more details.
In tablet form
What happened: Novo Nordisk announced in early January that its prescription weight-loss drug, Wegovy, would be available in daily pill form, after FDA approval in December. It’s the first oral glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist drug to come to market, and patients can get it through pharmacies and some telehealth providers. The drug, semaglutide, had previously been offered only in injectable form. Patients with insurance likely will be charged a $25 copay per month for the pill, and those without insurance will pay between $149 and $299 a month.
What’s next: Eli Lilly & Co. is expected to begin offering its own GLP-1 tablet, orforglipron, once the company secures FDA approval. A recent FirstWord Pharma report said that Lilly has spent $1.5 billion to bulk up its supply of the drug in advance of an anticipated spring approval. Both Lilly and Novo Nordisk have said they plan to expand production internationally.
Drug price predicament
What happened: Despite Trump administration pledges to lower drug costs in recent months, 2026 likely will see pharmaceutical manufacturers raise prices on at least 350 branded drugs for the US market, a 3 Axis Advisors report found. Increases are expected from major makers such as Novartis, Pfizer and Sanofi, while others, such as Eli Lilly & Co. and Boehringer Ingelheim, actually plan to do some price cutting. Reuters reported that drugs going up in price include ones for respiratory syncytial virus, shingles, cancer and SARS-CoV-2. A year ago, prices were raised on about 250 drugs.
What’s next: AARP prescription drug policy expert Leigh Purvis said in a USA Today analysis that the current median annual price increase of 4% is actually lower than a decade ago, when hikes typically topped 10%. However, Purvis said, drug makers are launching new products at higher prices than before, so “while the percentage might look a little bit smaller, it actually can lead to a pretty big price increase.”
Best-laid plans
What happened: Reuters reported in January that more than 1 million fewer Americans had signed up for ACA marketplace health plans for the current year, with enrollment standing at about 23 million. The decrease came as monthly premiums spiked for many people due to the expiration of enhanced premium subsidies from the COVID-19 pandemic era. KFF research indicated that total premium costs for subsidized enrollees would jump from an average of $888 in 2025 to an average of $1,904 this year, and about a quarter of enrollees said they would have to do without insurance if premium costs doubled as anticipated.
What’s next: Final ACA enrollment figures may be somewhat different due to incomplete data from some states, as well as potential cancellations resulting from automatic re-enrollments. A CBS News/KFF report indicated that many health care consumers are switching to lower-cost, high-deductible “bronze” plans, which could lead to missed care and financial pressure on hospitals. Some states, such as New Mexico, California and Colorado, have deployed their own funds to help enrollees stay covered.
Payers, providers at odds
What happened: A Chief Healthcare Executive analysis examined ongoing dissension between hospitals and insurance companies as the number of uninsured patients is expected to rise, the population ages, the need for behavioral health services grows, and federal policies and funding change. Higher labor and supply costs are among hospitals’ main concerns, while insurance industry worries include greater care utilization and rising costs per visit. And both have an eye on potential fallout from the expiration of those enhanced premium tax credits. Kevin Holloran and Brad Ellis of Fitch Ratings said the friction is likely to be most pronounced over Medicare Advantage plans.
What’s next: “Providers will continue to push for higher rates to keep up with their cost structure, while payers work to balance affordability and margin in the face of higher utilization and regulatory uncertainty,” Ellis noted. “I expect more intense negotiations, more threats of network termination and more strategic recalibration, especially as both sides prepare for a health care environment with increasing financial complexity.”