High-deductible plans increase cancer mortality

In this week’s episode of Medicine: The Truth, hosts Jeremy Corr and Dr. Robert Pearl examine a sweeping set of developments shaping American healthcare. From the first state-approved use of generative AI to prescribe medications without human oversight to rising healthcare costs, from worsening vaccine misinformation to the stubborn persistence of preventable disease, this show focuses on biggest stories in medicine today.

The episode opens with a groundbreaking and controversial pilot program in Utah that allows a generative AI system to renew prescriptions for chronic disease without physician involvement.

From there, the conversation turns to the relentless rise in healthcare spending. New federal data show Americans now spend more than $15,700 per person annually on medical care, with costs growing twice as fast as the economy.

While insurance coverage remains high for now, Pearl warns that expiring subsidies, Medicaid restrictions and rising premiums are already pushing millions out of coverage. For many families, healthcare affordability has become a top issue and, increasingly, a political fault line heading into the midterm election cycle.

Here are more major storylines from MTT episode 103:

• Exercise as medicine for depression: A large meta-analysis finds that regular exercise can be as effective as antidepressant medication for many patients.
• Trump’s healthcare plan fades quickly: Pearl explains why the president’s proposal disappeared from the headlines.
• Measles returns in force: Cases are nearing 1,000 and outbreaks concentrated in under-vaccinated communities.
• Vaccine battles intensify under RFK Jr.: New appointments to federal advisory committees raise alarm among scientists, as anti-vaccine voices gain influence.
• Chronic disease remains America’s top killer: Cardiovascular disease continues to claim nearly one million lives annually.
• Generative AI’s biggest promise: Pearl makes the case that AI-driven, at-home monitoring could finally transform chronic disease management.
• Cancer trends turn ominous: Colorectal cancer deaths among Americans under 50 are rising sharply, becoming the leading cancer killer in this age group.
• Genetics vs. lifestyle revisited: New research suggests genetics may account for half of lifespan variation but lifestyle still determines how many of those years are lived in good health.
• High-deductible health plans: New data show cancer patients with high-deductible insurance have significantly higher mortality.
• GLP-1 weight-loss pills arrive: The first oral GLP-1 drug launches to record demand.
• A devastating flu season for children: Despite the availability of safe vaccines, pediatric flu deaths reach alarming levels among unvaccinated kids.

As the episode closes, Dr. Pearl delivers a stark warning about the resurgence of pseudoscience in medicine. Tune in for more fact-based coverage and analysis of healthcare’s biggest stories.

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Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of the new book “ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients & Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine” about the impact of AI on the future of medicine.

Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn

The post MTT #103: Can generative AI safely prescribe medicine on its own? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.