Latest Morning Briefing Stories
California Presses Forward In Fight To Regulate Pharma
Such efforts have previously failed in the face of opposition from the drug industry, which questions their effectiveness and contends prices reflect research and development costs.
In ‘Stealth Move,’ Mich. Refines Vaccine Waivers, Improves Rate Among Kids
A whooping cough and measles outbreak prompted lawmakers to require parents to personally meet with health officials before a waiver can be granted.
Tracking Air Quality Block By Block
An environmental advocacy group plans to install 100 pollution sensors at homes, schools and businesses in the congested area near the Port of Oakland to capture variations in the level of diesel contaminants.
GOP Bills To Replace Obamacare Do Not Tinker With Lawmakers’ Coverage
Republicans are hoping to overhaul the federal health law. Among the law’s many provisions is a requirement that members of Congress and their staffs buy their health insurance on the law’s marketplaces.
Drugmakers Help Turn Patients With Rare Diseases Into D.C. Lobbyists
Amplifying the “patient voice,” those with the rarest afflictions are trained to become powerful advocates for new drugs and legislation that would help the industry.
Death By 1,000 Cuts: How Republicans Can Still Alter Your Coverage
There are many ways beyond legislative repeal for the Trump administration and congressional Republicans to unravel the Affordable Care Act.
Another Circle Of Hell: Surviving Opioids In The Fentanyl Era
Unlike heroin, fentanyl routinely shuts down breathing in seconds, and it’s becoming more common.
While Washington Fiddles, Calif. Leaders Forge Ideas For Universal Health Care
But it could take years to achieve coverage for everyone — if it happens at all.
GOP Has No Choice But To Keep Pushing Health Care Rock Up The Hill
The White House continues to look for a policy “win” while members of the House are concerned about heading home for the spring recess where they could “get hammered” for not fulfilling their promise to repeal Obamacare.
To Help Ward Off Alzheimer’s, Think Before You Eat
Good nutrition has been linked to a boost in senior citizens’ cognitive skills.
CMS Chief To Sit Out Watershed Decision On Medicaid Work Mandate In Kentucky
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma will recuse herself from the agency’s decision-making on whether to approve Kentucky’s Medicaid waiver because she helped develop the proposal in her former job as a health policy consultant.
‘It’s Not Like Other States’: High-Cost Alaska Sits In The Eye Of Health Reform Storm
With the most expensive medical care and health insurance premiums in the nation, Alaska seeks a novel way to bail out Obamacare.
For Better Or Worse, Trump And GOP Now Own Health Care
More than six in 10 people think that moving forward the responsibility for dealing with the health law falls to President Donald Trump and Republicans controlling Congress, Kaiser Family Foundation poll finds.
Where There’s Willingness, There’s A Way For Congress And Trump To Fix Health Law
After the collapse of the Republican replacement plan, there may be a way to find consensus and repair the law.
Trump’s Effort To Lure Consumers To Exchanges Could Bring Skimpier Plans
The changes proposed by the administration for the health law marketplaces in 2018 could increase customers’ out-of-pocket costs and reduce the amount they receive in premium tax credits.
Missouri Rejects Federal Money In Order To Set Up Its Own Abortion Restrictions
Abortion is already heavily restricted in Missouri, but now the state is cutting more funding to organizations that provide abortions, even though it means rejecting millions of dollars from the federal government.
Markups On Care Can Fatten Hospital Budgets — Even If Few Patients Foot The Full Bill
A study finds that higher charges are associated with greater payments by private insurers, which can drive up costs for employers and consumers who pay their way.
Boomerang Seniors: Aging Adults Move To Be Near Mom Or Dad
Some older adults are living in the same senior communities as their parents, which streamlines caretaking in the end-of-life years.
Also Made In Mexico: Lifesaving Devices
The medical supply industry makes a particularly revelatory case study of the difficulties of untangling global trade.
The Next Obamacare Battleground: Subsidies For Out-Of-Pocket Costs
Exchange enrollees and insurers fret over a lawsuit that could end federal help with copays and deductibles.
