Monday, October 26, 2026
Steris said on Monday 12 October that it will buy Xodus Medical, a privately held maker of surgical safety products, for $2.1 billion at closing, with up to $150 million more in earnout. It expects to close by 31 December 2026 and to fund the deal primarily with debt. Nothing has closed.
Medicare launched its GLP-1 Bridge program in July, covering weight-loss drugs for certain enrollees at a $50 monthly copay. Meanwhile, commercial insurers have moved in the opposite direction — the number of people without coverage for Zepbound grew by 17 million in 2026. The gap between what the drugs cost and what payers will cover is widening.
Clayton Dubilier & Rice and McKesson agreed on Monday to take Option Care Health, the largest independent home infusion company in the United States, private for $32.05 a share. McKesson is putting in about $1.4 billion for 49 per cent, and the agreement sets out a framework for it to buy the private equity firm's majority later. Lenders have committed more money to the deal than the two buyers have.
Fitch put the trailing twelve-month default rate across 1,300 private credit borrowers at 6.3 percent at the end of August, a record, with 14 default events in the month. Healthcare providers and industrial manufacturers are both running near 10 percent. On Wednesday the Federal Reserve raised the rate almost all of that debt is priced against.
The best-taxed account in the American system was designed for medical bills and is increasingly being used as a supplemental retirement fund by the people who least need help saving.