• Delaware: State Sen. Sarah McBride (D) will be Delaware's next U.S. representative in Congress, making her the first transgender individual to be elected to federal office in the history of the United States. "Tonight is a testament to Delawareans: That here in our state of neighbors, we judge candidates based on their ideas and not their identities," McBride said in her victory address. According to McBride, her goals in Congress are to ensure housing and healthcare are available to all, protect reproductive freedom, and guarantee paid leave. McBride will assume the congressional seat vacated by U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), who is replacing retiring U.S. Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE). (Wilson, Delaware News Journal, 11/6)
• New Jersey: According to a new study published in the American Journal of Managed Care, semaglutide, which is also branded as Ozempic and Wegovy, significantly reduced healthcare costs for overweight and obese patients who had either heart failure or atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. For the study, researchers from Novo Nordisk analyzed a nationally representative database of insurance claims and conducted two studies on the healthcare costs of individuals who started semaglutide 2.4 mg treatment after June 15, 2021. The researchers analyzed healthcare costs for 12 months before and after semaglutide treatment started. For one study, 806 overweight or obese patients with heart failure saw their healthcare costs drop by $7,502 after starting semaglutide, going from an average annual total of $29,654 to $22,152. In another study, 1,282 overweight or obese patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease saw their healthcare costs decrease by $9,276, going from a mean of $25,233 before treatment to $15,957 after treatment. According to the researchers, healthcare costs decreased in both studies even with the additional cost of semaglutide. (Gregerson, Becker's Hospital Review, 11/7)
• Rhode Island: CVS Health last week announced Steve Nelson as the new president of its Aetna insurance unit. Previously, Nelson was a CEO of UnitedHealth Group's* insurance division. In a statement, CVS CEO David Joyner said that the company needs to "work across our enterprise and address macro challenges" in the insurance business. According to Bloomberg/Modern Healthcare, Aetna has struggled since its Medicare Advantage business received lower quality ratings from the government, which reduced its reimbursement levels amid growing medical costs. Aetna also spent a larger percentage of healthcare premiums on medical expenses in the third quarter compared to last year, reaching a medical benefit ratio of 95.2%. Meanwhile, Joyner did not offer investors any guidance for the company's expected financial performance for 2024 or 2025 in last week's earnings report, which was the first of his tenure. (Swetlitz, Bloomberg/Modern Healthcare, 11/6)

*Advisory Board is a subsidiary of Optum, a division of UnitedHealth Group. All Advisory Board research, expert perspectives, and recommendations remain independent.  

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