A Port in the Storm
Value-based health insurance may offer stability for employers in a marketplace about to be upended by more new federal policies
Seven years after passage of the Affordable Care Act created a new world order in health insurance, it all may be upended. With a new administration in Washington, all or parts of Obamacare could be repealed and replaced. All the while, premium increases have continued apace:
Indoor Cycling Firm in Folsom Keeps It Fresh
Spin classes, like those offered at TrueNorth Cycle, have become all the rage
TrueNorth reflects the growing trend of studios and gyms offering stationary cycling — or spin, as the workout is also called — with dozens of these classes available throughout the Sacramento region.
Drought of Biotech IPOs as Health Investors Await Trump
Last quarter was the slowest three-month period for drug company initial public offerings in four years, according to Bloomberg data. And in all of 2016, only 36 biotech and pharmaceutical companies went public in the U.S., according to data gathered by Bloomberg, compared with 68 in 2015 and a record 85 in 2014.
Comstock’s Top 10 Stories of 2016
Last year was one for the history books. But as we start the new year, we wanted to take one last look back at some of our best-performing and most-read articles of 2016. Take a look and see if you missed any of our greatest hits — or if something might deserve a second read.
From Lab to Launch
UC Davis churns out startups by giving its researchers a chance to mix with — and think like — entrepreneurs
Venture Catalyst is one part of a multipronged effort at the school that its leaders say is helping turn university research into companies that produce world-changing technologies. The school has facilitated a total of 49 startups in the last four fiscal years, up from 18 in the four years prior.
Startup of the Month: Atocera Inc.
Cutting edge Davis-based startup aims to solve surgery and shaving problems with innovative semiconductor blades
Technically, Atocera Inc. is the result of a shaving accident.
Back in 2012, Saif Islam, a UC Davis professor of electrical and computer engineering, was in the campus labs building silicon micro-walls for solar panels. During the process of cutting semiconductor material into small slices, something unexpected happened.
Infographic: The Low-down on Our Startups of the Month
Each month, Comstock’s online features a different Startup of the Month. As 2016 comes to a close, we take one last look at these startups to see how they stack up.
True Detection
Anpac Bio — a medtech company building its U.S. headquarters in Sacramento — makes a bold claim to revolutionize cancer screening
But Anpac Bio’s major innovation is not about where, but when. Catching cancer in the earliest stages has been Yu’s goal since the company launched in 2010. With so much medical research focused on treatment and imaging, he set his sights on early detection as the key to prevention. His ideas were unconventional.
Simple, Life-Saving Idea Catches On
Hospitals in Sacramento County give cribs to mothers of newborns to help address sleep-related child deaths
In May 2015, a pediatrician at Kaiser Permanente Roseville Medical Center pioneered a life-saving idea. It was remarkably simple, relatively inexpensive and would help address a public health crisis. Nurses would ask every mother of a newborn leaving the hospital if her baby had a safe place to sleep. If not, Kaiser would send the parent home with a free, portable Pack-N-Play.
Trump’s Repeal Threat Looms Over Obamacare at Critical Point
With about two months to go before it hands over the White House — and potentially Obamacare’s fate — to Trump, the Obama administration is making a final push to get people into the program.