• Minnesota: On Tuesday, UHG CEO Andrew Witty stepped down from his position, citing personal reasons. Board chair Stephen Hemsley has been named the company's new CEO, effective immediately. Hemsley joined UHG in 1997 as its COO and served as CEO from 2006 to 2017. "We are grateful for Andrew's stewardship of UnitedHealth Group, especially during some of the most challenging times any company has ever faced," Hemsley said in a statement. "The Board and I have greatly valued his leadership and compassion as chief executive and as a director and wish him and his family the best." At the same time, the company suspended its 2025 outlook. UHG expects to return to growth in 2026, with Hemsley saying that he aims to bring the company back to its "long-term growth objective of 13 to 16%." (Banjo, Bloomberg/Modern Healthcare, 5/13; Bomey, Axios, 5/13)
• Missouri: Last month, Ascension reported that its patients may have been exposed to a data breach due to a former third-party vendor gaining access to private information. The breach, which occurred in January, involved patients' personal information and some healthcare-related information. "Our investigation determined on January 21, 2025 that Ascension inadvertently disclosed information to a former business partner, and some of this information was likely stolen from them due to a vulnerability in third-party software used by the former business partner," the health system said. "We have since reviewed our processes and are working to implement enhanced measures to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future." Patients in Alabama, Indiana, Michigan, Tennessee, and Texas were potentially impacted by the breach. Currently, Ascension is offering affected patients two years of complimentary credit monitoring and identify theft protection services. (DeSilva, Modern Healthcare, 4/28)
• Virginia: According to a new study led by Virginia Commonwealth University, the GLP-1 drug semaglutide, which is also known as Ozempic and Wegovy, could stop or even reverse a severe liver disease called metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). MASH is associated with inflammation and scarring due to fat buildup in the liver. It affects around 20% of U.S. adults. In the study, researchers administered weekly injections of either semaglutide or a placebo to 800 patients in 37 countries between 2021 and 2023. Of the patients, 75% were obese, and over 50% had type 2 diabetes. After almost 17 months, researchers found that 62.9% of patients who received semaglutide had less inflammation and fat accumulation in their livers compared to 34% of patients who received the placebo. In addition, 37% of semaglutide patients saw reduced liver scarring compared to 23% of placebo patients. According to the study's lead author Arun Sanyal, the findings could offer a "promising new approach for millions of patients" and "[i]f approved, this could offer an additional therapeutic option for patients with MASH and fibrosis." Currently, the researchers plan to expand the study to include 1,200 patients from 37 countries and follow them for up to five years. (Kutz, The Hill, 5/6)

*Advisory Board is a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of UnitedHealthcare. All Advisory Board research, expert perspectives, and recommendations remain independent.  

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