Amazon expands PillPack pre-sorted med service to Medicare recipients

 Amazon will deliver pre-sorted medications to Medicare Part D beneficiaries and is also making it easier for caregivers to manage loved ones’ prescriptions.

The online giant’s Amazon Pharmacy healthcare services division is introducing two new enhancementa designed to streamline medication management for consumers. Following is an overview of Amazon’s expansion of the availability of its PillPack service and its new caregiver medication management program.

PillPack

Amazon acquired PillPack, an online pharmacy that offers pre-sorted doses of medications and home delivery, in 2018 as part of an initial expansion into the healthcare and pharmaceutical business.

Offered as a service of Amazon Pharmacy, PillPack provides monthly shipments of personalized, pre-sorted medication packets to customers with two or more recurring prescriptions. Each packet is labeled with date and time, eliminating the need to manage multiple pill bottles and making it easier for customers to follow their prescribed routines. 

With today’s new expansion, more than 50 million Medicare Part D beneficiaries who manage multiple daily medications are now eligible to use their insurance for PillPack from Amazon Pharmacy.

“Caregiving comes with enormous responsibilities, and managing multiple medications is one of the most challenging aspects,” said Tess Carey, senior pharmacist at Amazon Pharmacy, said in a corporate blog post. “Amazon Pharmacy’s new caregiver feature provides a secure, streamlined way for trusted individuals to help manage prescriptions and place orders 24/7, when and where convenient for them—all through their own Amazon accounts. This ensures medications arrive on time, giving both caregivers and patients greater peace of mind.”

To enroll in PillPack from Amazon Pharmacy, customers can log into their Amazon Pharmacy account and click “Sign up for PillPack.” After selecting eligible medications, reviewing insurance and delivery details, customers can complete their sign-up and start receiving their medications in packets. 

Amazon Pharmacy will coordinate the refill schedules so multiple medications can all be delivered at the same time each month. The PillPack service is free for Amazon Pharmacy customers and includes monthly delivery of pre-sorted medication rolls and 24/7 access to a pharmacist.

Amazon Pharmacy opened RxPass, an offering allowing U.S. Prime Members in most states to order as many prescriptions as they need from a list of 50 generic drugs for a flat monthly add-on fee of $5 to Prime membership, with no other mark-ups., to Medicare recipients in June 2024.

Caregiver medication management

Customers can use Amazon Pharmacy’s new feature for caregivers to help manage medications for family members or loved ones who need assistance. The feature allows customers to securely invite trusted individuals who, once verified, can manage medications on behalf of their loved ones through their own Amazon Pharmacy accounts.

To set up caregiver support, customers can log into their Amazon Pharmacy account and send an invitation to their caregiver using their mobile phone number. The caregiver will receive a secure link over SMS and after confirming a few details like the customer’s date of birth can start managing medications through their own Amazon account.

"These updates deliver what our customers have been asking for—simpler medication management for themselves and their loved ones," said John Love, VP of Amazon Pharmacy. "Whether you’re a caregiver juggling multiple prescriptions for an aging parent, or a customer who could benefit from the convenience of pre-sorted packets delivered reliably each month, we’re removing barriers and making pharmacy work better for you.”

 Amazon Pharmacy is a full-service, digital-forward pharmacy offering a solution that serves both one-off and ongoing medication needs. The service will provide ongoing delivery updates via text or email. Prime members in a dozen cities, such as Los Angeles, New York City, and Seattle, are also eligible for free same-day delivery of their medications.

Amazon Pharmacy accepts most insurance plans, including Medicare Part D nationwide and Medicaid in select states. 

https://chainstoreage.com/amazon-expands-pillpack-pre-sorted-med-service-medicare-recipients

Cardinal Health, Cencora upgraded at Wells Fargo

 Cardinal Health (CAH) stock and Cencora (COR) stock were upgraded to Overweight at Wells Fargo on strong industry outlook

https://seekingalpha.com/news/4455065-cardinal-health-stock-cencora-stock-upgraded-wells-fargo

Incyte promising trial data for essential thrombocythemia treatment

 Incyte (NASDAQ:INCY) announced that its novel monoclonal antibody, INCA033989, has shown safety and efficacy in treating essential thrombocythemia (ET), according to new data presented at the European Hematology Association (EHA) congress in Milan. The late-breaking oral presentation, held on June 15, detailed the impact of INCA033989’s mechanism of action on mutCALR-driven ET, a myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN).

The company believes this first-in-class, mutCALR-directed therapy has the potential to modify the disease and transform treatment for patients with MPNs like ET. Incyte’s President and Head of Research and Development, Pablo J. Cagnoni, M.D., expressed optimism about the data’s demonstration of INCA033989’s transformative potential.

Incyte’s hematology/oncology portfolio featured prominently at the EHA congress, with several abstracts accepted for presentation. These included findings on INCA035784, a T cell redirecting antibody for patients with MPNs carrying different types of calreticulin mutations, and clinical outcomes associated with the use of ruxolitinib and anemia supporting medications in myelofibrosis treatment.

The company also highlighted data on tafasitamab in combination with lenalidomide and rituximab for relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma, and various studies on axatilimab for chronic graft-versus-host disease. Other presentations covered the BET protein inhibitor INCB057643’s role in myeloproliferative neoplasms and the impact of ponatinib treatment on pregnancy outcomes. 

https://in.investing.com/news/company-news/incyte-reveals-promising-trial-data-for-essential-thrombocythemia-treatment-93CH-4860684

Camurus, Lilly collaboration and license agreement for long-acting FluidCrystal® incretins

Camurus (CAMX) and Eli Lilly have formed a strategic collaboration and license agreement for developing long-acting incretin therapies using Camurus' FluidCrystal technology. The partnership grants Lilly exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize up to four proprietary drug compounds for cardiometabolic health. Under the agreement terms, Camurus is eligible to receive up to $870 million in total payments, comprising $290 million in upfront, development, and regulatory milestones, plus $580 million in sales-based milestones. Additionally, Camurus will receive tiered mid-single digit royalties on global net product sales. The collaboration focuses on dual GIP and GLP-1 receptor agonists, triple GIP, glucagon and GLP-1 receptor agonists, with an option to include amylin receptor agonists.

https://www.stocktitan.net/news/CAMX/camurus-and-lilly-enter-collaboration-and-license-agreement-for-long-2saf79vso2qx.html

'CVS lays out $20B plan to modernize US consumer healthcare experience'

 CVS Health (CVS) is spending $20 billion in the next 10 years to upgrade to a more tech-enabled consumer health experience, a move the company says will help address the friction in America’s troubled healthcare system.

The investment, Yahoo Finance has learned, will not just impact CVS and its vertically integrated businesses, including the pharmacy, health providers, and insurer Aetna. It will also allow competitors and other players in the sector to plug into the CVS system.

CVS's plan builds on an idea that has been a focus of change in the sector for years: interoperability. That's the idea that all different parts of the system talk to each other, ideally through a single patient record, regardless of company brand.

Various administrations have attempted to encourage the industry to do this over the years, and a number of startups have attempted to develop platforms to host such an environment. But all have been unsuccessful for one key reason, said Tilak Mandadi, CVS Health’s chief experience and technology officer: Companies have been unwilling to shake things up.

"The players that can truly change healthcare are the [incumbents]. The people that have the scope, size, reach, and a customer platform, and trust — that are willing to disrupt themselves," he said.

Mandadi is charged with leading this change at CVS, one of the larger players in the vertically integrated healthcare space, with a market cap of $80 billion and annual revenue of $373 billion in 2024.

Mandadi, who spoke with Yahoo Finance today, likened the current healthcare system to an orchestra, with each musician playing their own tune and the audience members attempting to conduct.

“It doesn’t work. The No. 1 complaint from customers is the healthcare experience is not integrated," he said.

The CVS project has been ongoing. But with more emphasis on the topic in recent months as a confluence of factors, such as public frustration and a federal government targeting healthcare costs, have combined to create pressure for change. That includes the public backlash in the aftermath of the shooting of an insurance executive in December and Trump's executive order on price transparency.

Mandadi said the company envisions a more proactive approach to healthcare, rather than patients having to do all the research and make all the calls.

"Typically, the healthcare experience is the customer engages first ... and the healthcare industry reluctantly responds. We should flip that on its head," Mandadi said. "The experience needs to be a proactive one. And if we think issues are brewing, we should be in touch with the consumer, up front."

Mandadi said that if, for example, a claim is being processed, and a potential problem is flagged with the claim, the patient would also know, rather than waiting to find out after it is denied.

That would look like texts, calls, or app notifications, however the consumer chooses to engage.

The goal to modernize also includes a dashboard on a given patient to give doctors' offices or CVS pharmacies a full picture of what is going on, rather than just the single reason for an interaction, like a visit or picking up a prescription.

Mandadi said this opens up greater opportunity for patients to know more about their own healthcare journey.

Another key area the investment in technology is aimed at is insurance claims and cost estimates. Currently, many insurers, including Aetna, have ways to estimate costs on their website or apps, but, once again, it requires the patient to do the homework and fact-finding.

In order to achieve the goal of creating a more proactive system, the company will have to lean on technology expansion. But that doesn't mean total automation of the system, Mandadi said.

"We made a few very explicit decisions [about AI]. No. 1, we will never use AI for a clinical diagnosis. No. 2, we will never use AI in denials of any kind. No. 3, we will never use AI to prevent human touch in the experience," he said.

One way CVS is already using artificial intelligence is for calls to the pharmacy. If a patient needs an answer but is unable to connect to a pharmacist and leaves a voicemail, the voicemail is analyzed and can create an actionable solution. For example, if the patient wants to switch to a delivery, the system can process that from the voicemail.

Consumers drive change

When asked about privacy concerns and lack of legislation to support the system CVS envisions, Mandadi said that he believes that patients will help drive the change.

"Consumers are willing to share and give permission to trusted brands if that makes their experience a lot better. That's pretty well established. So I don't think consumers [are] the problem," he said.

But the regulatory environment needed to support the system will need legacy healthcare players, federal and state governments, and venture and private equity players to come to the table and create the framework and funding to stand up such a huge project for all major companies, Mandadi said.

How CVS plans to exactly wrangle all components to reach its ultimate goal is still in the works, but Mandadi says the plan could result in significant changes in the consumer healthcare experience in as little as five years.

“I think healthcare needed an external perspective on what the experience should be," he said.

He predicted with the changes CVS is planning, and with other legacy player buy-in, the US healthcare system can be overhauled.

“Five years from now, healthcare would be very materially different in the US. 10 years from now, it would be unrecognizable, because of AI and tech,” he said.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-cvs-lays-out-20b-plan-to-modernize-us-consumer-healthcare-experience-154127371.html

Homan ‘convinced’ US will see major terror attack because of Biden’s lax border policies

 Border czar Tom Homan warned Monday that he’s “convinced” the US will suffer a major terrorist attack as a direct result of former President Joe Biden’s immigration and border policies. 

“It’s coming,” Homan said of the possibility of a 9/11-style attack conducted by migrants who illegally snuck across the southern border under Biden. 

The roughly 2 million so-called “gotaway” migrants that border patrol agents never apprehended during the previous administration concerns Homan more than the drug smuggling or sex trafficking that took place on the US-Mexico boundary during Biden’s only term in office, he told Fox News host Sean Hannity. 

3

Homan argued that the Biden administration was granting work permits to “unvetted” migrants.Fox News

“These 2 million known gotaways scares the hell out of me,” Homan said, adding that he fears some could be terrorists. 

“I’m convinced something’s coming unless we can find them,” he warned. 

Homan, who President Trump has tasked to oversee efforts to carry out his mass deportation plan, noted that it was alarming to him that millions of migrants went to great, and expensive, lengths to avoid detection when the Biden administration was quickly releasing illegal border-crossers into the US. 

“Why did 2 million illegal aliens pay more to get away?” Homan told Hannity. “They could have paid half of what they paid to cross the border, turn themselves into border patrol agents, get released that same day, get a free airline ticket to the city of their choice, get a free hotel room, get three meals a day, plus free medical care and work authorization.”

“Two million people paid more to get away,” he argued. “They didn’t want to be vetted. They didn’t want to be fingerprinted. Why?”

“This scares the hell out of me and I’ve been doing this for 40 years. It should have scared the hell out of every American what the Biden administration did.” 

3

An Egyptian national on an expired work visa allegedly carried out an antisemitic terror attack in Colorado on Sunday.

Homan described the “gotaways” as “the biggest national security vulnerability this country’s ever seen” and predicted the US will be grappling with the effects of Biden’s border policies “for the next ten years.”

The border czar’s comments come one day after a madman who was in the country illegally torched and wounded 12 people with a makeshift flamethrower and Molotov cocktails in an antisemitic terror attack in Boulder, Colorado. 

The suspected firebomber, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, is a 45-year-old Egyptian national who entered the country on a tourist visa in 2022, sought asylum and later obtained a work permit from the Biden administration, according to the Trump administration. 

3

Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, has been charged in the Boulder terror attack.Boulder County Sheriff's Office/AFP via Getty Images
Soliman’s work visa expired this past March, meaning he was no longer in the country legally.

Homan lamented that “even through the legal process, the Biden administration was bringing people unvetted”  and “handing out work visas like they’re candy.”

https://nypost.com/2025/06/03/us-news/tom-homan-convinced-us-will-see-major-terror-attack-because-of-bidens-lax-border-policies-its-coming/

Ukraine "Stinks Of Authoritarianism" - Kiev Mayor Klitschko Hits Out At Zelensky

 by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

The former mayor of Kiev, Vitali Klitschko has blasted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and bluntly stated that the country is plagued by authoritarianism.

The former world heavyweight champion boxer told the Times of London that Kiev City Council essentially cannot operate because of “raids, interrogations and threats of fabricated criminal proceedings.”

“This is a purge of democratic principles and institutions under the guise of war,” Klitschko declared, adding “I once said that it smells of authoritarianism in our country. Now it stinks of it.”

The Times describes Zelensky and Klitschko as being in a “de facto state of war.”

The report notes that the Ukrainian government has arrested seven Kiev city officials as part of ongoing investigations targeting an alleged criminal network involved in corruption cases related to urban development.

“Many mayors are intimidated, but my celebrity status is a protection,” Klitschko stated, adding  “You can dismiss the mayor of Chernihiv, but it is very difficult to dismiss the mayor of the capital, whom the whole world knows.”

“That is why everything is being done to discredit and destroy my reputation,” he further urged.

Zelensky has reportedly been considering arresting Klitscho after he called for the President to consider ceeding Crimea to Russia as part of a peace deal.

This fued has been ongoing for sometime. A year and a half ago, Klitschko urged that Zelensky failed to prepare Ukraine properly for the war with Russia and will “pay for his mistakes.”

Meanwhile, after earlier in the week calling for three way meetings between himself, President Trump and Putin, Zelensky has now declared that it would be “meaningless” and instead wants more military aid.

A major escalation is expected after Ukraine launched a massive drone attack on Russian airbases Sunday, which many are equating with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

* * *

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ukraine-stinks-authoritarianism-kiev-mayor-klitschko-hits-out-zelensky