• Kentucky: Humana has agreed to divest its interest in end-of-life provider Gentiva, which is valued at roughly $900 million. Humana originally gained ownership interest in Gentiva after it acquired Kindred at Home, one of the largest home health providers in the country, in 2021. In 2022, Humana sold a majority interest in Kindred's hospice, palliative, and personal care divisions to the private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice. These divisions were then restructured into a standalone business and rebranded as Gentiva, with Humana having a 40% stake. In an announcement about the divestment, Humana did not disclose the buyers or any specific financial terms but reported that the deal was expected to close in the third quarter and shouldn't have any material impact on the company's earnings. Currently, Humana is focused on boosting its profits and said it intends to use the proceeds from the sale for "general corporate purposes." (Parduhn, Healthcare Dive, 6/11)
• Maryland: Earlier this month, FDA held its first public hearing about its new Commissioner's National Priority Voucher program, which is designed to speed up the drug review process. Under the program, which was launched last year, drug manufacturers who are "aligned with U.S. national priorities" can received a limited number of vouchers for priority reviews, shortening the review process for new drug applications from 10 to 12 months to just one or two. At the meeting, many groups asked FDA to pause the program and return to its normal review processes that include public feedback. Critics of the program expressed concerns about transparency, political influence, and its confusing review processes. "The ambiguity of the criteria in this context and lack of transparency has given life to rumors about political influences determining winners and losers," said Janet Krommes, chair of the FDA Task Force of Doctors For America. "This is extremely corrosive to patient care." However, drugmakers who have received approval through the program gave positive feedback, saying that it allowed for earlier engagement with FDA reviewers and accelerated reviews of high-priority treatments. (Lawrence, STAT+ [subscription required], 6/4; Jeffries, Becker's Hospital Review, 6/5)
• Nebraska: On Sunday, 18 Americans who were exposed to a deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship ended their quarantine after 42 days. The hantavirus outbreak was first reported in May on a cruise ship called the MV Hondius, which carried around 150 passengers that left Ushuaia in Argentina in April for the Canary Islands, making several stops along the way. In total, 13 cases have been linked to the outbreak, three of which were fatal. After leaving the ship, 16 American passengers began quarantining at a federal facility in Nebraska. Two other passengers began their quarantine in Atlanta before moving to the facility in Nebraska. The passengers were required to quarantine for 42 days, which is the virus' incubation period. At the end of May, 12 of the passengers were released from the federal facility to home confinement for the rest of their quarantine. The remaining passengers stayed at the facility before being released on June 21. At least seven other American passengers who left the cruise ship earlier were also monitored by state and local health departments for potential hantavirus risk. According to CDC, no cases of hantavirus associated with the cruise ship outbreak have been detected so far. (Spoto, New York Times, 6/21)

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