Business Insider’s biggest healthcare stories for July 23

Welcome to Dispensed Daily, your daily dose of healthcare news from Business Insider’s healthcare editor Lydia Ramsey Pflanzer. Subscribe here to get this newsletter in your inbox every weekday.

Hello,

Today in healthcare news: more on the stimulus debates happening on Capitol Hill, an inside look at Medly Pharmacy’s latest fundraise, and Ireland’s contact-tracing app gaining traction in the US. 

Republicans are weighing a short-term extension for federal unemployment benefits, which would avoid a lapse in ramped-up payments for over 30 million Americans

• A $600 weekly boost to unemployment benefits is set to expire at the end of July.
• GOP leaders are in discussions with the White House over whether to extend it for the short term or whether to lower the payments.
• They’re rolling out an opening bid for the next coronavirus rescue package soon.

Read the full story from Kimberly Leonard and Joseph Zeballos-Roig here>>

How pharmacy startup Medly raised $100 million to take on Amazon and drug-delivering giants

• Medly Pharmacy, a drug-delivering startup, in July raised $100 million in its series B round.
• That’s while pharmacy startups are gaining new ground as the coronavirus pandemic puts a new importance on delivery services.
• Here’s how Medly intends to compete with big players like CVS Health and Amazon in the $355 billion prescription drug market.

Read the full story from Blake Dodge here>> 

Ireland’s contact-tracing app has done so well that US states want to use it

• Ireland launched its contact-tracing app on July 7, and within a week it had 1.3 million downloads — roughly 37% of the country’s adult population.
• NearForm, the company that built the app for Ireland’s health authority, has donated its code to an open-source project.
• Other countries and US states have already asked permission to retool the app for themselves, and NearForm told Business Insider it’s started work with Pennsylvania authorities.

Read the full story from Isobel Asher Hamilton here>>

More stories we’re reading:

• Hims is looking to go public via a SPAC (Reuters) — More on SPACs here from Business Insider’s Melia Russell 
• The biggest for-profit hospital chain in the US just posted a massive profit, shrugging off the coronavirus (Axios)
•  Pfizer, BioNTech surge after the US government orders 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine (Markets Insider)
• Trump gave his first coronavirus briefing since April, and none of the other members of the coronavirus task force were in the room (Business Insider)

See you tomorrow for a longer Friday version of Dispensed! You can find me in the meantime at [email protected].

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– Lydia