January 24, 2020

A little-noticed change in a massive spending bill passed by Congress late last year broadens the scope of a $1.5 billion grant program previously restricted to the opioid crisis. Pressed by constituents and state officials alarmed by the growing number of people struggling with meth and cocaine, lawmakers of both parties and the Trump administration agreed to lifting the previous limitations on use of the funding.

January 24, 2020

The 340B Drug Pricing Program doesn’t create strong incentives for participating hospitals to use more expensive drugs, according to new research by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC). MedPAC said hospitals that participate in the 340B program spend about $300 more on drugs for prostate and lung cancers, but not breast, colorectal or leukemia-lymphoma cancers, and that the higher spending at 340B hospitals seems to be driven by the type of cancer that people are treated for rather than 340B’s financial incentives.

January 24, 2020

With health care an election-year priority, the American College of Physicians (ACP) this week called for sweeping government action to guarantee coverage for all, reduce costs and improve the basic well-being of Americans. Declaring that the U.S. health care system “is ill and needs a bold new prescription,” the ACP endorsed either of the two general approaches being debated by Democratic presidential candidates: a government-run “single-payer” system that would cover everyone; or a new “public option” government plan that would offer comprehensive coverage to compete with private insurance.

January 24, 2020

The Supreme Court on Friday announced it will hear two cases on whether employer health plans should be allowed religious and moral exemptions from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirement to cover birth control. The Trump administration in November 2018 issued final rules to allow more employers to opt out of providing no-cost birth control, but federal judges stopped the rules from taking effect. The justices said Friday they would hear the administration’s appeal of lower-court decisions that blocked the rules nationwide. In the case before the court, Pennsylvania and New Jersey sued the administration, arguing that its exemptions would unlawfully deny preventive health care to millions of women. The Supreme Court will decide whether the Trump administration may allow employers to limit women’s access to free birth control under the ACA.

January 24, 2020

The Supreme Court on Friday announced it will hear two cases on whether employer health plans should be allowed religious and moral exemptions from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirement to cover birth control. The Trump administration in November 2018 issued final rules to allow more employers to opt out of providing no-cost birth control, but federal judges stopped the rules from taking effect. The justices said Friday they would hear the administration’s appeal of lower-court decisions that blocked the rules nationwide. In the case before the court, Pennsylvania and New Jersey sued the administration, arguing that its exemptions would unlawfully deny preventive health care to millions of women. The Supreme Court will decide whether the Trump administration may allow employers to limit women’s access to free birth control under the ACA.