Pharmaceuticals

Latest KFF Health News Stories

A Coronavirus Vaccine: Where Does It Stand?

KFF Health News Original

Under ordinary circumstances, these phases of vaccine development can take years to complete. But now, during the age of coronavirus, the timeline is being shortened. Here’s an inventory of where things stand.

2021 Health Plans Granted Leeway To Limit Consumers’ Benefit From Drug Coupons

KFF Health News Original

A rule finalized this spring by the Trump administration permits employers and insurers not to apply drug company copayment assistance toward enrollees’ deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums for any drug.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: SCOTUS, Trump Collide Over Transgender Rights

KFF Health News Original

The Trump administration rolled back protections for transgender patients just days before the Supreme Court cemented LGBTQ rights under the Civil Rights Act. So, what now? Meanwhile, coronavirus politics reaches beyond health care settings. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Tami Luhby of CNN and Shefali Luthra of KHN join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Also, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health stories of the week they think you should read, too.

A Senator From Arizona Emerges As A Pharma Favorite

KFF Health News Original

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has received almost $100,000 from drug companies in the current election cycle, a KHN analysis shows, one of the largest cash hauls in Congress. And it’s only her first term.

Analysis: Get Ready For The Vaccine — They’re Never Simple

KFF Health News Original

Trials are an immense undertaking involving tens of thousands of participants. They’re likely to start this summer — but don’t expect quick results. And what’s a successful result, anyway?

Persiguiendo el esquivo sueño de una cura para COVID-19

KFF Health News Original

Hay más de 1,250 estudios de COVID-19 en marcha. Las farmacéuticas están invirtiendo miles de millones en el desarrollo de medicamentos y vacunas eficaces para poner fin a la pandemia.

Listen: A New Hope In The Battle Against COVID-19

KFF Health News Original

KHN’s Julie Rovner joins a panel of journalists on “1A” to talk about promising results in a study of the drug remdesivir and other developments in the battle against the coronavirus.

KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: SCOTUS Decides An ACA Case. No, Not THAT Case.

KFF Health News Original

The Supreme Court this week, in an 8-1 decision, ruled that insurers are due the roughly $12 billion that Congress several years ago tried to cut off in payments under the Affordable Care Act’s “risk corridors” provision. And while the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage in many places around the country, states are starting to reopen their economies at the urging of President Donald Trump and over objections of public health officials. Caitlin Owens of Axios and Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Also, Rovner interviews KHN’s Carmen Heredia Rodriguez, who wrote the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” installment about COVID testing that should have been free but was not.

KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: How Will We Reopen The Economy?

KFF Health News Original

The politics of COVID-19 are pretty polarized, but health experts across the ideological spectrum agree: The U.S. will need more robust testing before it’s safe to relax social-distancing requirements. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump, Congress and the nation’s governors continue to spar over who should be responsible for what. Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider, Tami Luhby of CNN and Anna Edney of Bloomberg News join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Also, for extra credit, the panelists suggest their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.

With Federal Nod, Consumers Could Lose The Boost They Get From Drug ‘Coupons’

KFF Health News Original

The proposal being weighed by federal officials would allow employers and insurers to decide that drug companies’ assistance doesn’t count toward their members’ deductible or out-of-pocket maximum spending limits. If plans opted for that approach, only payments made by patients themselves would be included in the calculation toward reaching those limits.

Why Hoarding Of Hydroxychloroquine Needs To Stop

KFF Health News Original

Six states — Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas —  have taken steps to limit inappropriate prescriptions for the medicine and preserve supplies for patients who take it for lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.