Get the health information and medications you need every weekday with STAT’s free newsletter Morning Rounds. Sign up here.
Good morning from shriveled Independence Day leftovers. On this day in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read publicly for the first time in Philadelphia’s Independence Square. The article was subsequently published in newspapers throughout the colony, but it did not always make it to the front page (!).
you Get CGM, you Get CGM
For the first time in the United States, children ages 2 and older can receive continuous blood sugar monitoring without a doctor’s prescription. That’s a good thing, according to the Food and Drug Administration. The Food and Drug Administration last month cleared Dexcom’s marketing of Stelo.
STAT Fellow Lauren Chan said giving patients more access to their health data at a lower cost (Stelo costs $99 a month) could help prevent diabetes in children. Already, about one in three American adolescents has prediabetes or type 2 diabetes.
But some doctors aren’t sure if providing more information to families would be helpful. A “normal” blood sugar level for children has not been established. Others worry that CGM may encourage restrictive eating patterns. “I’m worried that my kids will say, ‘Last time I ate a cupcake, my blood sugar rose too high, so I’m not allowed to eat a cupcake again,'” the clinical dietitian said. read more.
Further significant insurance premium increases are on the horizon.
Insurers in the Affordable Care Act market are proposing a median 14% increase in premiums next year, according to a new analysis of insurance premium filings from Peterson and KFF. If these preliminary figures are maintained, it will be the second consecutive year of double-digit premium increases.
So what does that give? More enrollees will experience higher premiums as the enhanced premium tax credit expires in January of this year. At the same time, the exodus of healthier marketplace enrollees is leaving behind smaller, sicker populations with higher premiums. These increases come on top of already ballooning premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance, which have increased by more than twice the rate of inflation in 2025. Family insurance premiums have jumped more than 25% since 2020.
Health care affordability ranks as one of voters’ top concerns in 2026, according to several large-scale polls.
Speaking of exorbitant medical costs…
Bob Herman, STAT’s healthcare guru, returned from maternity leave last fall and was immediately faced with the misery of open recruiting. “I thought, ‘LOL, of course this horrible experience is the first thing I have to do,'” Bob told me. This process inspired “Out of Pocket, Out of Reach,” a multi-part series about how the costs of employer-based health insurance are destroying businesses and workers.
Premium increases in 2026 will be the largest since the ACA went into effect. “the really bad “Things only get worse outside,” Bob said. Those in charge largely ignore the nation’s throbbing headaches, and workers are paying the price. Health insurance companies profit from huge fees, while employers accept bad contracts. “Even though the boat is already battered and stranded, lawmakers are unwilling to rock the boat,” Bob said.
Please enjoy your time with this series. To learn more, join Bob’s “Office Hours.”
Are House Republicans saying DEI is back?
The Trump administration spent much of 2025 systematically purging the government of any hint of diversity, equity, and inclusion. The Republican-controlled House now wants the FDA to put some DEI back into business, my colleague John Wilkerson reports from D.C.
The recent FDA funding bill includes a report that sets expectations for how the funds will be used. The report encourages the agency to require research sponsors to “submit diversity action plans for Phase 3 trials of new drugs.” Under the Biden administration, the FDA has pushed to include more women and people of color in clinical trials and released draft guidance on the issue. Trump officials immediately halted the entire effort. Will the FDA intervene at all? And what does “DEI” mean to Republicans now? Read more from John.
The FDA reprimanded a number of online retailers of ketamine this week. The agency sent 14 letters to companies with names such as “Legal Ketamine Suppliers” and “Ket Plug,” asking them to stop selling unapproved ketamine products. Injectable ketamine products carry significant risks that are not disclosed to consumers, the FDA said. Ketamine is especially dangerous if provided without medical supervision.
The FDA approved ketamine for use as a surgical anesthetic in the 1970s. In 2019, the agency approved Johnson & Johnson’s esketamine nasal spray, Spravat, for treatment-resistant depression in adults (later approved as a stand-alone depression treatment). Many in the behavioral health field are cautiously optimistic about ketamine, even though it has taken on a life of its own in IV clinics advertising it to people with severe mental health conditions. — Lizzie Lawrence
What role can AI chatbots play in dementia care?
Chatbots powered by artificial intelligence evoke mixed emotions for many people. They can be useful helpers for a wide range of tasks, or low-maintenance collaborators. However, in rare cases, chatbots can also cause mental illness or worse in vulnerable people. For people with dementia and their families, judicious use of AI chatbots could offer respite, medical ethicist Jason Kalawish writes in a first opinion.
For people with diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, easy-to-use technology can compensate for the obstacles that complicate daily life (think meal planning, paperwork, bills, etc.). AI agents can also remind users of important tasks and automate tasks typically performed by human caregivers. But chatbots can also offer much more than that: endless personal conversations.
“Feeling dignity in the face of dementia is the north star by which many of these promising technologies should be evaluated,” Kalawish wrote.
what we are reading
- FDA approves Vera Therapeutics’ kidney disease treatment STAT+
- Clusters of severe stomach illnesses reported across the US, New York Times
- How does content creation affect mental health?Status
- After spending nearly $1 billion, the U.S. still can’t make medical gloves, Bloomberg
- 5 Takeaways from the STAT Series on Rising Health Insurance Premiums, STAT
- How a Boston doctor built a following as a ‘loud and fearless’ voice in the Trump era, The Boston Globe
