The FDA expands the emergency use of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine for adolescents. Walmart buys telehealth company MeMD. And Cigna sees preventive care return to pre-pandemic levels.

Concert Health CEO Spencer Hutchins discusses how the San Diego-based behavioral health medical group works in tandem with primary care providers to treat patients with behavioral health needs. 

The US is supporting the effort to waive patent protections for COVID vaccines. Almost all hospitals are still doing unnecessary procedures according to a Lown Institute study. And the story of a mental health hack in Finland should serve as a warning as the popularity of virtual mental apps grows.

The next step in the vaccine rollout is the hardest, convincing vaccine-hesitant people to get shots. Hospitals inTexas are concerned about the Medicaid funding showdown. And The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine joins calls to reinvest in primary care.

President Biden wants 70 percent of American adults to get at least one vaccine dose by July 4. CVS Health is continuing to expand its care delivery business. And regulators are starting to fleshing out the details of the surprise billing protections.

There’s doubt that the US will reach herd immunity, because of vaccine hesitancy and more contagious variants. Insurers were more profitable in 2020 despite paying for COVID-19 testing and treatment. And companies are overwhelmed by all the digital health options 

New York is planning to fully reopen on July 1. The FDA announced a ban on menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars. And employers say it’s time the government helps control healthcare costs.

President Biden’s American Families Plan doesn’t include drug pricing legislation, a priority of many Congressional Democrats.  CMS is proposing an inpatient rate bump for hospitals next year. And the American Medical Association calls for states to stop banning gender-affirming care for transgender kids.

Colorado lawmakers are bringing back a public option proposal. In West Virginia, young adults can get a COVID vaccine and a savings bond. And a new study in mice provides evidence that an old drug might help people heal from surgeries without a scar.