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Healthcare costs are projected to increase 6.5% in 2022 as sicker patients seek care after putting it off during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report. Annual cost growth hovered between 5.5% and 6% from 2017 to 2020, following a steady decline from 2007's 11.9% mark, according to PricewaterhouseCooper's Health Research Institute. Deferred or forgone care, growing mental health issues, preparations for the next pandemic and investments in digital tools are expected to increase costs in 2022, researchers said. (Kacik, 6/9)

Numerous healthcare providers and policymakers are publicly speaking out against UnitedHealthcare's new policy of retroactively denying patients' emergency care claims that are considered non-emergent. In a letter to UnitedHealthcare on Wednesday, the American Hospital Association said it is "deeply concerned" about the policy's potential effect on patients' access to care and health outcomes. "Patients are not medical experts and should not be expected to self-diagnose during what they believe is a medical emergency," the letter said. "Threatening patients with a financial penalty for making the wrong decision could have a chilling effect on seeking emergency care." (Devereaux, 6/9)

Amazon has attracted multiple companies that are interested in using its telehealth service, known as Amazon Care, company executive Babak Parviz said Wednesday. “We’ve had quite a bit of interest from other companies in using this service,” Parviz, a vice president working on Amazon Care, said at The Wall Street Journal’s Tech Health virtual event. Parviz added that Amazon plans to announce which companies have signed on to use the service later this summer. (Palmer, 6/9)

The CVS pharmacy chain, which began offering in-person mental health counseling at a handful of Tampa-area stores this year, is now offering those services via telehealth throughout Florida. Cathy Bedy, a licensed clinical social worker who works out of the Bardmoor CVS in Seminole, said the option makes it easier for people seeking a provider without the wait associated with securing a therapist appointment. (Wantuck, 6/9)

KKR & Co. is starting a mental health services company that will offer in-person and virtual care as part of the private equity firm’s strategy of investing in growth-stage, health-care companies. Geode Health plans to own and operate clinics across the U.S. with a goal of making it easier and cheaper to access mental-health services for conditions including anxiety and depression, according to a statement Wednesday that confirmed a Bloomberg News report. It’s led by Chief Executive Officer Gaurav Bhattacharyya, previously the CEO of Elite Dental Partners. (Davis, 6/9)

The electronic health record has ushered in a golden era of precision medicine. It’s also created a gold rush into a burgeoning third-party data market. On Wednesday, real-world health data company Datavant and electronic health record IT firm Ciox Health announced they would merge under the Datavant name, forming a firm valued at $7 billion. The enlarged Datavant will create a network of more than 2,000 hospitals and 15,000 clinics. (Palmer, 6/9)

Scientific journals are easy targets of automated software that post links to social media, often with misinformation, according to a study published by JAMA Internal Medicine. Automated disinformation campaigns that harness legitimate scientific research could further erode the public's understanding and trust in science, particularly around COVID-19. (Reed, 6/9)

Immertec, located inside Tampa's Armature Works, is changing the game for surgical training — making operating rooms more accessible than ever via virtual reality. The U.S. is on track to experience a massive shortage of surgeons in the next decade, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. The coronavirus pandemic added an even bigger challenge, making training surgeons and medical students in person even harder. (San Felice, 6/10)

KHN: Change To Gilead Assistance Program Threatens PrEP Access, HIV Advocates Say 

Dr. John Carlo is concerned that patients at Prism Health North Texas who rely on the health care safety net will soon be struggling even more to stay on PrEP, a medication that prevents HIV transmission. Carlo, chief executive officer of the clinic, which runs three locations in Dallas, offers free PrEP to roughly 250 patients, he said, thanks to an assistance program run by Gilead Sciences. The drugmaker currently manufactures two PrEP medications. (Heredia Rodriguez, 6/10)