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August 27, 2026

Semiconductor Tariffs: Phase Two Is Coming

By Joe Lieber

Following reports that the Trump administration is considering eliminating the tariff exemptions for data centers and extending Sec. 232 semiconductor tariffs to servers and other chip products, we assign ~70% odds that Trump announces expanded…

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August 26, 2026

Rx Pricing: “Deal” or No Deal?

By John Leppard

Bloomberg is reporting that the White House intends to “announce a new round of drug pricing agreements with several midsized biotech companies on Monday,” and that “in exchange, the companies will be exempt” from the…

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August 26, 2026

(META, GOOGL, SNAP, PINS, RDDT) The Next Social Media Risk: Private Litigation, Adult Claims and Product Restrictions

By Joe Lieber

We think Meta’s (META) settlement with state attorneys general (AG) is positive for the company and the social media industry. The state AG cases were the largest and most advanced litigation threat facing the company,…

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August 25, 2026

Medtech & Biopharma Catalyst Calendar

By John Leppard

This fall seems likely to be a busy one for medtech and biopharma, with key policy catalysts coming up for a number of companies. These span from both the far-reaching in terms of most favored…

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August 21, 2026

[HUM, ALHC, UNH, CVS, AGL, ASTH]: MA Tech Changes Rule Expectations: Stars Likely in Focus, Major Risk Adjustment Change Seem Less So

By Beth Steindecker

The pending Contract Year (CY) 2028 Technical and Policy Changes proposal for the Medicare Advantage (MA) insurers [HUM, ALHC, UNH, CVS, ELV, CNC, CLOV, MOH] and MA-exposed providers [AGL, ASTH] could be relatively more consequential…

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August 20, 2026

2026 Midterms: Democrats Still Overwhelming Favorite to Flip House

By Joe Lieber

We continue to believe the odds Democrats win control of the House are greater than 80%, while we give Republicans roughly a 60% chance of retaining the Senate. In this note, we are focusing on…

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August 19, 2026

HTFL: SaMS & Longer-Term Medicare Rate Outlook

By John Leppard

Following HTFL’s strong 2Q26 results, we have received a number of questions on how Medicare hospital outpatient reimbursement might evolve in light of CMS’s proposal to eventually establish a new payment paradigm for software as…

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August 13, 2026

(META, GOOGL, SNAP, PINS, RDDT) California Under-16 Social Media Restrictions: 80% Odds of Enactment

By Joe Lieber

We wanted to update you on California’s AB 1709, which would restrict personalized feeds, autoplay and other addictive features for users under 16 and would negatively affect Meta (META), Alphabet (GOOGL), Snap (SNAP), Pinterest (PINS),…

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August 13, 2026

OSCR, CNC, ELV: Which Known Obamacare Policy Headwinds Remain After 2026?

By Beth Steindecker

Through 2028, Obamacare enrollment faces two statutory headwinds after the large, still unfolding 2026 reset: The 2027 narrowing of ACA subsidy eligibility for certain non-citizens. The 2028 installation of pre-enrollment subsidy eligibility verification. For exchange…

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August 12, 2026

GKOS: iDose LCD Expectations

By John Leppard

With GKOS’s strong 2Q26 results coming on the heels of five separate MAC stakeholder meetings on the draft iDose LCDs issued in late May, we suspect the final policy – likely out in Oct. /…

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