Posts by Jennifer Aaker

If you’ve ever waited anxiously while your doctor’s recommended test or treatment sat in limbo, stuck in an insurer’s review process, you’re not alone. The prior authorization process — where…

In 1995, Sue Sheridan’s infant son, Cal, suffered permanent brain damage from untreated jaundice. In 2000, Helen Haskell lost her 15-year-old son, Lewis, after routine surgery when weekend hospital staff…

At the University of Pennsylvania Health System, doctors rely on more than their training to guide difficult conversations with cancer patients — they also lean on artificial intelligence. An algorithm…

At the University of Pennsylvania Health System, an AI-powered algorithm once served as a subtle yet powerful prompt. It helped oncologists initiate difficult conversations with cancer patients — not just…

In the quiet town of Sigourney, Iowa, the Keokuk County Hospital and Clinics facility is more than just a small-town hospital—it’s a lifeline. But with just 14 beds and no…

Some of the nation’s largest health insurance companies, including UnitedHealthcare, Kaiser Permanente, Humana, Aetna, and a long list of Blue Cross Blue Shield affiliates, are promising to overhaul the red…

A newly published perspective in New Microbes and New Infections warns that without swift public health action, the U.S. could lose its two-decade status as a country free of endemic…

WASHINGTON, D.C. — June 2025 — A sweeping Senate proposal is drawing fierce backlash from health care advocates, policy analysts, and state officials, who say it risks gutting vital medical…

WASHINGTON, D.C. – June 2025 — Leading U.S. medical journals have found themselves at the center of a controversy that’s raising alarms in both the scientific and legal communities. In…

In a landmark step for global HIV prevention efforts, the World Health Organization (WHO) has applauded the recent approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of lenacapavir—a powerful…