Health Care

Core event: Tom Sundlof, former Associate Chief Counsel and Acting Assistant Deputy Chief Counsel in the FDA’s Office of the Chief Counsel, joined Blank Rome LLP as a partner in its Washington, D.C. office, focusing on the Life Sciences team and Corporate, M&A, and Securities practice; this prompted a podcast episode (Season 2, Episode 3 of BRight Minds in Healthcare Delivery, hosted by Eric Tower) on March 25, 2026, discussing FDA's shifting regulatory landscape and its 2026 implications for healthcare innovation.[2][10][12]

Core event: In May 2023, Florida enacted Senate Bill 264, amending the Florida Electronic Health Records Exchange Act (codified at Fla. Stat. § 408.051(3)) to ban healthcare providers using certified electronic health record technology (CEHRT) from storing patient information outside the continental United States, its territories, or Canada—including in third-party cloud services or subcontracted facilities.[1][2][4][9]

HHS Healthcare Advisory Committee Announcement. On March 26, 2026, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced members of the new Healthcare Advisory Committee, a federal advisory body under the Public Health Service Act to provide non-binding recommendations on modernizing U.S. healthcare.[12][8][10] Key members include Bill Gassen (Sanford Health president/CEO and AHA chair-elect designate), Dennis Laraway (Cleveland Clinic CFO), and Dan Liljenquist (Intermountain Health chief strategy officer), selected from over 400 nominations for two-year terms with public meetings.[8][12][14] The committee advises HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz on priorities like chronic disease prevention, reducing regulatory burden, data interoperability, Medicaid quality improvements, and Medicare Advantage sustainability (e.g., risk adjustment updates).[12][10][3]

Startups are increasingly relocating to and investing in Texas due to its business-friendly environment, no state income tax, lower costs, and maturing ecosystems in cities like Austin and Dallas, positioning the state as a rival to Silicon Valley.[1][6][7] In 2024, Texas overtook New York as the top employer in financial services, fueled by hundreds of company relocations from high-tax states like California and New York.[headline] This boom supports a diverse startup scene across fintech, energy, healthcare, AI, and aerospace, with firms like Colossal Biosciences and Axiom Space raising billions.[9]

Emory University School of Law in Atlanta is launching a new AI and the Law concentration starting Fall 2026 (academic year 2026–27), providing students with specialized coursework and interdisciplinary training on AI's legal implications, including regulation, liability, intellectual property, and ethical issues in areas like healthcare, work, and data science.[1][2][3][4][5]

Core Event

A Minnesota federal court ruled on March 9, 2026, in the Lokken case, granting plaintiffs' motion to compel discovery from UnitedHealth Group (UHC) into its use of the AI tool nH Predict—developed by Optum subsidiary naviHealth—for evaluating and denying Medicare Advantage post-acute care claims.[1][2][4] The court approved broad production of documents on nH Predict's development, goals, use policies, employee training, oversight, and certain government investigations, but denied requests for source code, internal probes, financial data, and employee incentives.[1][2] UHC maintains nH Predict is a non-generative care-support tool aiding recovery planning, with final decisions by physicians per CMS guidelines.[2]

Google acquired DeepMind Technologies, a London-based AI startup, in January 2014 for approximately $500-650 million. This deal, confirmed on January 26, 2014, followed failed talks with Facebook in 2013 and involved key investors like Horizons Ventures, Founders Fund, Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, Scott Banister, and Jaan Tallinn.[1][9][2] Founders Demis Hassabis (CEO), Shane Legg, and Mustafa Suleyman led the company, founded in 2010 to fuse neuroscience and machine learning for general AI; Google CEO Larry Page reportedly drove the acquisition.[1][9]

Core event: On February 28, 2026, the U.S. and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury (U.S. codename) and Operation Roaring Lion (Israeli codename), conducting nearly 900 joint airstrikes across Iran in the first 12 hours, targeting missiles, air defenses, military infrastructure, naval vessels, and leadership—including the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei—killing over 2,000 people across Iran, Lebanon, and Israel.[3][4][6] Iran retaliated with missile and drone strikes on U.S. embassies, military bases, oil infrastructure, and ships in the Strait of Hormuz, paralyzing shipping; recent escalations include Iranian drones hitting three ships on March 12, IDF strikes in Tehran, and IRGC threats of economic attrition targeting U.S.-linked banks.[1][3][4]

Core event: A Fast Company article highlights private initiatives addressing the U.S. healthcare crisis—marked by $220 billion in medical debt affecting 100 million Americans, rising costs, coverage gaps, and access attacks—while experts warn these are temporary fixes without federal policy overhaul. Undue Medical Debt has forgiven $27 billion for 17 million people by buying debt cheaply; Lantern reduces specialty care costs; ACLU won 64% of 200+ lawsuits protecting access.[headline summary][2][6]

Background Research Summary

Core event: In recent weeks leading up to March 2026, plaintiffs' law firm Schlichter Bogard & Denton filed at least four ERISA class action lawsuits against employers, brokers, and benefits consultants over voluntary benefit programs like accident, critical illness, cancer, and hospital indemnity insurance. The suits allege breaches of fiduciary duties under ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974), including failures to monitor premiums, negotiate reasonable costs, oversee broker commissions, and avoid prohibited transactions, claiming employees paid excessive fees despite fully funding the plans.[1][2][7][8]

Core event: President Trump signed Executive Order 14370 on December 18, 2025, directing the Attorney General to expedite rescheduling marijuana from Schedule I (no accepted medical use, high abuse potential) to Schedule III (accepted medical uses, moderate abuse potential) under the Controlled Substances Act via DEA rulemaking.[1][3][5][6]

Core Event: On March 16, 2026, President Donald J. Trump signed Executive Order "Establishing the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud," creating a White House-led interagency body to coordinate government-wide efforts against fraud, waste, and abuse in federal benefits programs like Medicaid, SNAP, housing assistance, food aid, medical care, and cash assistance, often administered with states.[1][2][3][4][7][8]