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Hello and happy hump day, readers.
Apple—no stranger to health care ambitions—has teamed up with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in order to let veterans access their health records on the iPhone.
The partnership leverages Apple’s iOS Health app, introduced back in 2018 and with support from more than 500 hospitals and clinics, and includes a health records feature that can let iPhone users pull up medical data such as lab test results and prescribed medications.
Now, all veterans covered by the VA and receiving treatment through the Veterans Health Administration will have access to those features.
Why is that such a big deal? It means that more than nine million veterans who receive care through the Veterans Health Administration—technically the largest integrated health system in the country—will now be able to use iPhone to access these records (and potentially incentivize them to snap up one of the devices over a competitor in the process).
Read on for the day’s news.
Sy Mukherjee
sayak.mukherjee@fortune.com
@the_sy_guy
DIGITAL HEALTH
Livongo surges after hours on third quarter earnings report. Shares of digital health firm Livongo spiked 14% in after-hours trading Wednesday after the firm released its third quarter earning results, which included a nearly 150% spike in gross revenues compared to the same period last year and a more than doubling of total members using its diabetes maintenance platform. Still, the stock is down some 36% since the company's IPO pop earlier this year.
INDICATIONS
CVS' Aetna acquisition is paying off. The CVS-Aetna corporate marriage appears to be working thus far. Revenues blew up by more than 36% in the third quarter of 2019, sending the pharmacy retail giant and benefit manager's shares up more than 5% (no mean feat for a company that's regularly in the top 10 of the Fortune 500). Revenues grew to nearly $65 billion—not far off from the $69 billion acquisition of insurer Aetna, which was a clear play at vertical integration in the medical space. (Fortune)
THE BIG PICTURE
Federal court strikes down Trump administration's health care "conscience" rule. A federal judge has struck down a Trump administration proposal to let more health care workers refuse to provide certain kinds of treatment, such as abortions or care for transgender individuals, on religious and moral objections. The so-called "conscience clause" is coercive, ruled Manhattan District Judge Paul Engelmayer, as well as "arbitrary and capricious." The Department of Health and Human Services, which proposed the rule, is reportedly reviewing the judge's ruling. (Reuters)
REQUIRED READING
The Lobbying Industry Is Shadowy and Full of Loopholes. Here's What You Need to Know, by Soni Sangha
Once Seen as a Novelty, Ranked-Choice Voting Gains Ground Nationally, by Mike Hofman
A Contrite WeWork Tallies Its WeWork and Uber Losses, by Erik Sherman
Billionaire Ray Dalio Criticizes Venture Capitalists Who 'Push Money' Onto Startups That Don't Need It, by Polina Marinova
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