Summary Cards
Health insurance M&A gains steam as regional companies seek edge
Health insurance mergers and acquisitions saw increased activity in Q3, driven by the need for scale and to address regulatory and cost pressures.
Trump, GOP head into Thanksgiving without ACA subsidies fix
President Trump expressed reluctance to extend expiring Obamacare subsidies, despite a White House proposal, creating uncertainty for millions facing premium increases.
Healthcare earnings top S&P 500 behind drug, hospital demand
American public healthcare companies, including pharmaceutical firms, hospitals, and medical device manufacturers, reported strong Q3 earnings, outperforming other S&P 500 industries.
Medicare Advantage network oversight is rare, CMS records show
Federal oversight of Medicare Advantage (MA) network adequacy is lax, with CMS rarely enforcing rules despite widespread provider-insurer separations impacting 35 million members.
Baxter recall of Life2000 Ventilators is most serious type: FDA
The FDA issued a Class I recall for Baxter's Life2000 Ventilation System due to a cybersecurity vulnerability.
FW: The Daily Brief, presented by BRG: 11/24/25
Healthcare technology M&A remains robust with GE HealthCare acquiring cloud software provider Intelerad for approximately $2.3 billion and Abry Partners targeting a $1 billion continuation fund for software provider Centauri Health. Private equity is actively focusing on behavioral health, home-based care, and HCIT, as evidenced by MDI NetworX's acquisition of Cobalt MedPlans to enhance tech-enabled payer services and EverTrue's expansion into home care.
McKinsey VBC Report
The US healthcare sector is undergoing a significant shift towards lower-cost, outcome-focussed models, driven by CMS policies encouraging care transitions to settings like home health. This trend, alongside the integration of healthcare technology and analytics, is unlocking substantial cost savings, including 3-5% in behavioural health, despite some value-based care firms experiencing recent financial challenges.
FW: Healthcare Industry Insights: Value-Based Care (VBC) Industry Update
A McKinsey report highlights Value-Based Care (VBC) models with significant cost-saving potential, particularly shifting surgical care to home health settings (8-10% savings) and leveraging healthcare technology for payer-led data analytics (2-3% savings). These trends support investment in home health and healthcare SaaS platforms.
William Blair Healthcare AI RCM Report
The healthcare AI Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) market is experiencing significant M&A and funding activity, with major deals including R1 RCM's $8.9B acquisition by TowerBrook and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, and Waystar's $1.25B acquisition of Iodine Software. This dynamic reflects a broader shift towards AI-powered software solutions, projected to grow the RCM software Total Addressable Market from $25B in 2024 to $42B by 2030, driven by providers bringing RCM functions in-house. New CMS regulations mandating prior authorisation APIs by 2027 further accelerate AI adoption, promising substantial efficiency gains and cost savings.
FW: GCG Q3 2025 Healthcare Industry Update
The Q3 2025 Healthcare Industry Update reveals strong sector resilience with 883 transactions, driven by strategic buyers and improved financing conditions. Notably, AI-driven healthcare platforms are gaining significant momentum, reflecting investor focus on efficiency and scalability within the high-priority healthcare technology sector.
Harris Williams RCM Report
The high-priority Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) sector is seeing robust M&A, including Waystar's $1.3B acquisition of Iodine Software and New Mountain Capital's formation of Smarter Technologies, an AI-enabled RCM suite. This activity is fuelled by strong demand from behavioral and home health markets, alongside evolving regulatory landscapes.
FW: Healthcare Industry Insights: Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) Industry Update
Payer denials and audits are significantly increasing across healthcare settings, posing major revenue cycle management challenges for providers. Coding-related denials are up 26% year-to-date, while Medicare Advantage denied claims now average $1,000, leading to longer payment lag times.