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Medicare currently isn't allowed to negotiate drug prices, but analysts looked at agencies that can -- like the Department of Veterans Affairs -- and crunched some numbers. As drug prices continue to rise, officials scramble to find ways to curb the cost hikes. Meanwhile, Medicare beneficiaries will pay lower premiums on their prescription drug plans next year.
In some places, insurers are even seeking small decreases to some of their rates as the health law marketplace stabilizes. But there are still some areas that will be hit with double-digit spikes, such as New York, where Gov. Andrew Cuomo is pushing back against the requests.
The administration issued its final rule on the short-term plans on Wednesday, allowing insurers to sell them for 12 months and then renew them for two years. The coverage is cheaper because it doesn't meet the strict requirements instituted by the health law -- such as covering essential benefits. Democrats and other critics aired their concerns about the move putting both consumers and the marketplace at risk.
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
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The most publicized of the controversies involved a study on the benefits of moderate drinking and scientists' attempts to woo the alcohol industry to fund the study. NIH Director Francis Collins acknowledged the setbacks, but the agency hopes to make clear the lapses are one-offs and not indicative of a larger cultural problem. In other public health news: suicide, Parkinson's disease, exercise, Lyme disease, brain injuries, and more.
Attorneys general in eight states and the District of Columbia had filed a joint lawsuit attempting to force the Trump administration to prevent the company from uploading blueprints for consumers to print out plastic guns. The weapons would be hard to catch even by metal detectors.
Ideas about care are changing from the past when doctors were likely to take the baby away from the mother and put it in brightly lit ICU, making their risk of withdrawal higher. News on the epidemic also comes out of Texas, Arizona and Massachusetts.
"Any time Google tries to enter your industry, that's a very big competitive threat," said Nilesh Chandra, senior leader in PA Consulting's health care business. In other health and technology news, IBM is tweaking its software that allows its supercomputer to recommend cancer treatments and a hospital turns to tech to help solve pervasive hand-washing issue.
The Wall Street Journal offers a look on some of the problems with the pricing structure of the U.S. health system. And, in other news, Democrats, hoping to take back the House in November, are already laying the groundwork for a Medicare for All vote.
“We will fight this rule at every turn,” said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who is leading a coalition of 13 attorneys general who say the proposals for how Title X funding is distributed are unconstitutional. Governors have also added their voices, saying they'll back out of the program if the rule is implemented.
“The Republican majority has cast aside Democratic wishes for openness and transparency and has made a partisan request for only a small subset of Judge Kavanaugh’s records,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday morning. “It is such a break from precedent that you have to wonder: What are the Republicans hiding about Judge Kavanaugh’s record?” But, there are signs that two moderate Republican senators who are being watched closely for their votes may back the nominee.
“These individuals have access to 24/7 food and water,” said Matthew Albence, the acting No. 2 official at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. “They have educational opportunities. They have recreational opportunities, both structured as well as unstructured.” Meanwhile, another official testified that he warned higher-ups about the psychological trauma the separations could have on children.
The administration released the final rule on Wednesday expanding the amount of time people can be covered under the plans. But they're less expensive for a reason. “We make no representation that it’s equivalent coverage,” said James Parker, a senior adviser to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. Insurers and analysts are worried that the plans will attract healthier consumers away from plans that meet the guarantees of the Affordable Care Act, driving premiums up for the rest of the marketplace.
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Opinion writers weigh in on these and other health topics.
Media outlets report on news from Washington, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Iowa, California, Oregon, Missouri and Minnesota.
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