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KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The autumn of Democrats’ discontent

Democrats in Congress and the White House are feverishly negotiating to pass as much of President Joe Biden's domestic agenda as they can agree on, even as Republicans who oppose much of the increased spending threaten to shut down the government and default on the nation's debt.

23 Sep 2021

International reference pricing could yield considerable savings for prescription drugs in the U.S.

Linking the cost of prescription drugs in the United States to the prices paid in other high-income nations could have reduced American spending for the drugs by at least half in 2020, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

12 Sep 2021

Democrats say abortion is on the line in recall election. But rolling back rights wouldn’t be easy.

As the election to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom approaches, abortion-rights groups are warning that Californians' right to an abortion is on the ballot.

27 Aug 2021

Researchers use residues in wastewater to study illicit drug consumption

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, stay-at-home orders and other restrictions drastically affected how people lived and worked, resulting in social isolation and economic instability. Now, researchers show that some people turned to a variety of drugs for relief. Using wastewater analysis, the team identified a spike in consumption of easily abused prescription opioids and anti-anxiety sedatives, while some illicit drug use plummeted, between March and June 2020.

23 Aug 2021

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The Senate acts

The Senate has set the stage for a busy fall that will include debate on a broad array of health issues, such as prescription drug prices, Medicare expansion and further expansion of the Affordable Care Act.

12 Aug 2021

2+2=? Senate uses murky math as it shelves drug pricing rule to fund infrastructure

The Senate’s release of its bipartisan infrastructure plan signals that lawmakers are poised to throw former President Donald Trump’s belated bid to lower Medicare drug prices under the bus — not to mention trains, bridges, tunnels and broadband connections.

5 Aug 2021

Pfizer court fight could legalize Medicare copays and unleash ‘gold rush’ in sales

Three years ago, pharma giant Pfizer paid $24 million to settle federal allegations that it was paying kickbacks and inflating sales by reimbursing Medicare patients for out-of-pocket medication costs.

29 Jul 2021

As holdout Missouri joins nation in monitoring opioid prescriptions, experts worry

Kathi Arbini said she felt elated when Missouri finally caught up to the other 49 states and approved a statewide prescription drug monitoring program this June in an attempt to curb opioid addiction.

26 Jul 2021

Study finds dramatic decreases in antibiotic dispensing for children during the pandemic

As children made fewer visits to health facilities and engaged in social distancing and other COVID-19 mitigation measures, a smaller number of them also received prescription drugs, a new study suggests.

20 Jul 2021

Sen. Wyden: $3.5T budget may have to trim but it can set a path to ‘ambitious goals’

Exactly what American health care will look like if Democrats can pass their $3.5 trillion spending plan is unclear, but the senator negotiating its health-related provisions hopes what emerges will be dramatic: the first complete health care system for older Americans and significantly reduced costs for everyone else.

20 Jul 2021

Biden’s July executive order includes drug pricing provisions. But will they do enough?

President Joe Biden's executive order of July 9 included various steps toward making good on campaign promises to take on pharmaceutical companies by allowing the importation of prescription drugs and curbing the high cost of medicines.

19 Jul 2021

Senate Democrats’ plan boosts spending on Medicare, ACA subsidies, long-term care

The budget package Democrats are assembling in Congress would likely provide the biggest jolt to the American health care system since the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, according to sources familiar with work on the plan.

15 Jul 2021

As Congress wrestles with plans to expand Medicare, Becerra says any one will do

The Biden administration will support whatever expansions to Medicare Congress is willing to make, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said Tuesday.

13 Jul 2021

Studies provide new evidence of impact of drug price hikes on U.S. patients

Two recent studies led by researchers from the University of Minnesota Medical School add new evidence to the impact of how drug price increases affect U.S. patients and the overall cost of health care.

21 Jun 2021

Drug rebates were associated with higher out-of-pocket costs for patients

Federal agencies that regulate drug pricing and healthcare insurance are concerned that an industry practice of using rebates to lower drug costs for insurers has led to increases in list prices and out-of-pockets costs for patients.

16 Jun 2021

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The drug price dilemma

The high cost of prescription drugs is among consumers' top health policy issues, according to public opinion polls.

3 Jun 2021

Biden administration signals it’s in no rush to allow Canadian drug imports

The Biden administration said Friday that it has no timeline on whether it will allow states to import drugs from Canada, an effort that was approved under President Donald Trump as a key strategy to control costs.

29 May 2021

Colorado lawmakers wage multifront assault on high drug costs

Tired of waiting for federal action to reduce prescription drug costs, Colorado is acting on its own — even if it must do so with one arm tied behind its back.

25 May 2021

Medicare negotiation could save billions of dollars in lower commercial health insurance costs by 2030

As Congress considers legislation to reform prescription drug pricing, a new analysis conducted by the West Health Policy Center and released by its Council for Informed Drug Spending Analysis (CIDSA) estimates that the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act (H.R. 3) could result in hundreds of billions of dollars in lower commercial health insurance costs by 2030.

20 May 2021

Case study examines prescriptions and healthcare use in non-hospitalized COVID-19 recoverers

In a new study published in The Lancet, a team of researchers examined prescription drug and healthcare use after SARS-CoV-2 infection in those who did not require hospital admission.

12 May 2021