Latest Kaiser Health News Stories
Trump Administration ‘Open For Business’ On Drug Imports From Canada
HHS secretary announces a preliminary plan Wednesday to allow Americans to import certain lower-cost drugs from Canada. Manufacturers were quick to criticize the plan, saying it does not guarantee the safety of drugs coming into the country.
Trump Administration Moves To Make Health Care Costs More Transparent
The proposed rules would require hospitals to provide far more detail about the actual prices they charge insurers for patients’ care.
New Protocol For HIV Prevention Drug Reduces The Number Of Pills Required
Health officials and AIDS advocates in San Francisco have endorsed a new regimen for PrEP medication: to be taken only immediately before and after sex, thus reducing cost and potential side effects. The standard regimen is one pill a day for an open-ended period.
Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes
Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health care policy stories each week, so you don’t have to.
Klobuchar Says D.C. Has Enough Drug Lobbyists To Double-Team Lawmakers
The drug industry has the biggest lobbying war chest.
GOP Senators Distance Themselves From Grassley And Trump’s Efforts To Cut Drug Prices
Even some Republicans who supported a sweeping bipartisan bill to rein in drug costs may not back it in the Senate vote.
KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Cue The Drug Price Debate
Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee unveiled their long-awaited proposal to try to rein in prescription drug costs, even as bipartisan leaders of the other Senate committee that oversees health announced it would not bring its drug price bill to the Senate floor until fall. Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post, Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this, plus court actions on health issues.
Summer Setbacks: The Long Road To Lower Drug Prices Hits Some Potholes
Efforts to control drug prices seemed on a glide path earlier this year after gaining traction at the White House and in Congress. But prospects today look less certain and highly controversial.
A Conservative Group Paints Trump’s Drug-Pricing Experiment As ‘Socialist.’ Is It?
The Americans for Tax Reform commercial takes too broad a brush against an initiative under consideration by the administration that would be part of the president’s promise to curb high drug prices.
KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Biden Doubles Down On Obamacare
Presidential candidate Joe Biden unveiled a health plan intended to provide a more moderate alternative to his competitors’ “Medicare for All” plans. It would build on the Affordable Care Act but would go much further. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this, plus Planned Parenthood’s very bad week, the U.S. House vote to repeal the health law’s “Cadillac tax” on generous health plans, and the reduction in deaths from opioids.
KHN Investigation On Opioid Prescribers Pains Some Readers And Tweeters
Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
Common Medications Can Masquerade As Dementia In Seniors
A wide variety of medications used to treat allergies, insomnia, leaky bladders, diarrhea, dizziness, motion sickness, asthma, Parkinson’s disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and psychiatric disorders can interfere with cognition in older patients.
Pain Meds As Public Nuisance? Oklahoma Tests A Legal Strategy Against Opioid Maker
Oklahoma is seeking $17 billion in damages from Johnson & Johnson, the pharmaceutical giant. After a seven-week trial, a judge will decide if the opioid drugmaker is liable and if so, for how much.
A ‘No-Brainer’? Calls Grow For Medicare To Cover Anti-Rejection Drugs After Kidney Transplant
Banking on new cost estimates, a bipartisan coalition in Congress is poised to try — once again — to end a three-year limit on coverage for lifesaving medication required to keep the organs functioning.
Even When HIV Prevention Drug Is Covered, Other Costs Block Treatment
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended that people who are at high risk of contracting HIV take PrEP, a preventive treatment. The decision means most health plans will be required to cover the drugs without charging patients. But the recommendation doesn’t apply to the other clinical and lab services people need.
Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes
Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health care policy stories each week, so you don’t have to.
KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Could The ACA Really Go Away?
Is the entire Affordable Care Act unconstitutional? That was the question before a federal appeals court in New Orleans this week. Two of the three judges on the panel seemed inclined to agree with a lower court that the elimination of the tax penalty for failure to maintain coverage could mean the entire health law should fall. Also this week, President Donald Trump wants to improve care for people with kidney disease. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this, plus courts blocking efforts to require drug prices in TV ads and to kick Planned Parenthood out of the federal family planning program. Plus, Rovner interviews University of Michigan law professor Nicholas Bagley about the latest legal threat to the ACA.
How To Get A Cheaper Prescription Before Leaving The Doctor’s Office
A pricing tool embedded in their electronic health record and prescribing system lets doctors see how much patients will pay out-of-pocket based on their insurance and the pharmacy. But doctors have been slow to adopt the technology, which has limitations.
Watch: High Cost Of Insulin Sends Americans To Canada To Stock Up
KHN, in collaboration with PBS NewsHour, reports on the skyrocketing cost of insulin — and the trend’s deadly consequences. The price in the U.S. nearly doubled from 2012 to 2016, prompting some patients and activists to travel to Canada, where insulin can be 90% cheaper.
Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes
Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health care policy stories each week, so you don’t have to.
