A Holiday Reflection and Temporary Farewell

This is the web version of Brainstorm Health Daily, Fortune’s daily newsletter on the top health care news. To get it delivered daily to your in-box, sign up here.

Happy Friday, readers—and well wishes at this year’s end.

I wanted to share how thankful I am to all of you before Brainstorm Health Daily takes off for a holiday hiatus. (Fair warning: We’re off for the next two weeks, but will be back in your inbox on Monday, January 6.)

I’ve received amazing input, advice, and tips from so many of you. And this has helped me get better at the basic job I have—to inform you and, hopefully as a collective community, to influence the way the health care business operates to the benefit of businesses and consumers alike.

You’ve given me tips on the top medical advances of the past decade; of the most important health care leaders; and, sometimes, you’ve just called me out in order to give me perspective I wouldn’t have. (Heck, you’ve even put up with philosophical essays on TV shows and how they relate to medicine.)

Next year is going to be particularly exciting for Fortune as we move to a new model (more on that here). It will serve all of our readers well. Also, keep a lookout for our newest newsletters, including the exquisitely titled finance publication “Bull Sheet.”

I hope you remain just as engaged with us over here at Brainstorm Health in 2020 as you were last year. Because, while it may sound corny around this season, it really does take a village.

Read on for the day’s news, have a wonderful holiday, and we’ll see you on January 6.

Sy Mukherjee
sayak.mukherjee@fortune.com
@the_sy_guy

INDICATIONS

The Sackler family isn't pleased with the removal of their name from Tufts. The Sackler family has endured a beating over its connection with Purdue Pharma, the company it privately held and the maker of Oxycontin, over its alleged role in fueling the opioid epidemic. One consequence was the removal of the Sackler name from Tufts University buildings (beyond, well, bankruptcy procedures and a huge host of lawsuits). It turns out some members of the Sackler clan aren't pleased, with one associated lawyer sending out a letter calling Tuft's decision "contrary to basic notions of fairness." (New York Times)

THE BIG PICTURE

Obamacare signups fall amid regulatory uncertainty. The federal government is out with a new report showing that signups for individual health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) fell to 8.3 million this year—a 200,000 person decline precipitated by reductions in outreach spending and multiple technological issues, among other road bumps. About 8.5 million people had signed up for ACA plans last year, which was a 4% decline from the previous year (a surprisingly low cut considering the repeal of Obamacare's individual mandate); This year, the numbers fell to 8.3 million, according to preliminary estimates, although there was a temporary extension after website failures during the closing deadline for Healthcare.gov. (Reuters)