• California: On Jan. 1, California ended coverage of GLP-1 drugs for obesity, though the state will still cover the medication for other health issues, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and chronic kidney disease. According to the California Department of Health Care Services, the cost of covering GLP-1s for weight loss would have more than quadrupled to almost $800 million annually over four years if the state didn't end Medi-Cal coverage for it. California joins several states, including New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina, in ending GLP-1 coverage for obesity due to high costs. Other states, such as Michigan, Rhode, and Wisconsin, are also planning or considering similar restrictions. Diana Thiara, medical director of the University of California, San Francisco Weight Management Program, said the change in coverage "will be quite negative for our patients" since data shows that people typically regain the weight they lost after stopping GLP-1 drugs. (Thompson, KFF Health News, 1/9)
• Florida: OpenEvidence recently closed its series D funding round, raising $250 million at a $12 billion valuation — making it the most valuable healthcare AI company. OpenEvidence, which has been called "ChatGPT for doctors," is trained exclusively on medical journals and medical data and is ad-supported and free for physicians. Some of the company's partners include the New England Journal of Medicine, the American Medical Association, the American College of Cardiology, and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. According to OpenEvidence, over 100 million Americans were treated by a physician who used the platform in 2025, and it helped support around 18 million clinical consultations in the United States in December alone. The company was founded in 2022 and has already surpassed $100 million in annual revenue. (Bruce, Becker's Health IT, 1/21)
• Maryland: According to CMS, improper payments for Medicare fee-for-service reached an estimated $28.83 billion in fiscal 2025. Compared to 2024, the overall improper payment rate decreased slightly in 2025 from 7.66% to 6.55%. However, the rate of improper payments increased slightly for Medicare Parts C and D. Over 77% of improper payments in Medicaid and 56% of improper payments in the Children's Health Insurance Program were due to insufficient documentation, which CMS said could reflect changes from unwinding COVID-era flexibilities. While CMS' improper payment reporting programs are designed to protect the integrity of CMS programs, "improper payment measurement is not a measure of fraud, and not all improper payments are attributable to fraud or abuse," the agency said. Rather, it is important to understand that improper payments are payments that do not meet CMS program payment requirements. They can be overpayments, underpayments, or payments where insufficient information was provided to determine whether a payment was proper. (Casolo, Becker's Hospital Review, 1/20)

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