Brainstorm Health: Verily Pharma Partners, ‘Conscience’ Clause Lawsuits, Merck’s Mulligan

Good afternoon, readers.

I read something pretty troubling (if not surprising) this morning. And, yes, it has to do with my generation, AKA the millennial folk.

You may have heard that American health care is an unadulterated mess, and that messiness forces millions of people to make tough decisions when it comes to their finances. Millennials are no exception to that dilemma, according to new research published by Transamerica Center for Health Studies (TCHS).

The report has plenty of fascinating tidbits about the so-called “digital generation’s” approach to medicine. For instance, millennials tend not to go to the doctor’s office, have far less trust in U.S. health care than previous cohorts, and place preventive health and self-care above all else in their hierarchy of priorities.

But this isn’t just a random whim of 20- and 30-somethings. The behavior is influenced by factors like unaffordable medical costs, which, according to the study, force certain young people to take extraordinary measures relative to other generations.

“Millennials with significant out-of-pocket healthcare expenses are most likely to pay these expenses with savings (52% vs. 46% of Gen X and 46% of Boomers), credit cards (44% vs. 38% of Gen X and 33% of Boomers), or 401k withdrawals (16% vs. 6% of Gen X and 3% of Boomers), and are less likely to pay with disposable income (29% vs. 38% of Gen X and 40% of Boomers),” write the authors.

Read on for the day’s news.