In this weekly rollup, Vic welcomes guest host Jinesh Patel, CEO of Uptime Health, to unpack a packed week across the health and tech economy: a stronger Q2 GDP print alongside rising jobless claims and pricier equities, the AI-driven efficiency wave and large-company layoffs, venture updates from workflow and dementia-care AI to immigrant-care platforms, policy turmoil around the CDC and HHS budgets, a Google antitrust outcome that stops short of a Chrome spinoff, payer and provider shifts (Cigna’s specialty-pharmacy bet, SCAN’s MA expansion, UPMC’s rebound, HonorHealth’s clinic pickup), the aging-alone crisis and home-care labor headwinds, the Web3 through-line from a high-profile Bitcoin listing to Polymarket’s U.S. push, and new AI moves like Epic’s model trained on massive EHR data and OpenAI’s product-testing acquisition—plus how all of it hits frontline operations and revenue in care settings.
Links
14:29 U.S. Economy Grew Faster in Second Quarter, New Estimate Shows WSJ
17:25 US Initial Jobless Claims Rise to Highest Level Since June Bloomberg
20:50 U.S. Stocks Are Now Pricier Than They Were in the Dot-Com Era WSJ
23:31There's new evidence the job market is softening Axios
25:27 Oracle lays off thousands—or more—globally amid rapid AI shifts Fast Company
27:49 Predoc raises $30M to scale AI health information management platform Silicon Angle
29:34 NewDays Secures $7M To Expand Treatment for Cognitive Impairment, Dementia MedCity
32:01 Welcome Tech raises $7.5M to expand AI immigrant services Mobi Health
32:39 VCs Had No Time Off This Summer. Blame AI. WSJ
36:59 We Ran the C.D.C.: Kennedy Is Endangering Every American’s Health NYT-Op
37:58 Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: We’re Restoring Public Trust in the CDC WSJ-Op
Enough is Enough Letter: website
43:47 House Republicans propose 6% budget cut to HHS for 2026 fiscal year Fierce Healthcare
45:35 Google Dodges Worst Penalties in U.S. Antitrust Case WSJ
48:30 Cigna’s Evernorth invests $3.5B in ex-Walgreens specialty pharmacy Healthcare Dive
50:23 SCAN Health Plan to expand MA footprint into Washington for 2026 Fierce Healthcare
51:26 UPMC is flipping 2024's operating losses halfway through the new year Fierce Healthcare
52:14 HonorHealth to pick up Evernorth primary care clinics in Phoenix Fierce Healthcare
53:41 More Older Americans Are Aging Alone. Who Will Take Care of Them? WSJ
56:47 Trump Brothers-Backed Bitcoin Mining Company Surges After Nasdaq Listing WSJ
58:27 Polymarket cleared for US users X
59:39 Comet: A New Medical Intelligence for Clinical and Operational Insights Epic Website
1:02:58 Banner and Ant