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Many pharmacies still do not stock buprenorphine despite eased prescribing rules

Faced with a worsening drug crisis, policymakers in recent years have made it much easier for doctors to prescribe the highly effective opioid addiction treatment buprenorphine.

2 Sep 2025

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Happy 60th, Medicare and Medicaid!

On July 30, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed landmark legislation creating Medicare and Medicaid. Sixty years later, the programs represent a fifth of the federal budget and provide coverage to nearly 1 in 4 Americans.

21 Aug 2025

Optum Rx invokes open meetings law to fight Kentucky counties on opioid suits

UnitedHealth Group's multibillion-dollar pharmacy benefit manager, Optum Rx, is suing five Kentucky counties in an attempt to force them out of national opioid litigation against the company.

20 Aug 2025

Breaking down why Medicare Part D premiums are likely to go up

Medicare enrollees who buy the optional Part D drug benefit may see substantial premium price hikes — potentially up to $50 a month — when they shop for next year's coverage.

17 Aug 2025

Pregabalin raises heart failure risk in older adults compared to gabapentin, study finds

A large Medicare cohort study found that older adults prescribed pregabalin had a significantly higher risk of developing heart failure compared to those prescribed gabapentin. The elevated risk was most pronounced in individuals with pre-existing cardiovascular disease, especially women and White patients.

13 Aug 2025

Why young Americans dread turning 26: Health insurance chaos

Amid the challenges of adulthood, one rite of passage is unique to the United States: the need to find your own health insurance by the time you turn 26.

11 Aug 2025

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Kennedy cancels vaccine funding

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s announcement that the federal government will cancel nearly $500 million in mRNA research funding is unnerving not only for those who develop vaccines, but also for public health experts who see the technology behind the first covid-19 shots as the nation's best hope to combat a future pandemic.

7 Aug 2025

Chronically ill? In Kennedy’s view, it might be your own fault

On a recent weekday evening, Ashly Richards helped her 13-year-old son, Case, with homework. He did math problems and some reading, underscoring how much he's accomplished at his school for children with autism.

31 Jul 2025

To cut Medicaid, the GOP’s following a path often used to expand health care

President Donald Trump's "One Big Beautiful" budget reconciliation bill would make some of the most sweeping changes in health policy in years, largely affecting Medicaid and Affordable Care Act plans — with reverberations felt throughout the health care system.

2 Jul 2025

Cardiovascular deaths surge among less educated Americans

About 525,000 more deaths occurred among US adults in 2023 than would be expected had pre-2010 mortality trends continued. More than 90 percent of these deaths occurred among individuals without a Bachelor's degree and were largely caused by cardiovascular diseases, underscoring how educational attainment can influence individuals' health opportunities and outcomes.

14 Jun 2025

Research reveals the impact of cannabis laws on traditional prescriptions

Approval of recreational and medical cannabis laws in most U.S. states has allowed individuals to legally obtain cannabis to treat certain medical ailments that had typically been treated with prescription drugs.

22 May 2025

Trump won’t force Medicaid to cover GLP-1S for obesity. A few states are doing it anyway.

When Page Campbell's doctor recommended she try an injectable prescription drug called Wegovy to lose weight before scheduling bariatric surgery, she readily agreed.

21 May 2025

Trump exaggerates speed and certainty of prescription drug price reductions

President Donald Trump expressed high hopes for an executive order to reduce drug prices.

20 May 2025

Pharmacists stockpile most common drugs on chance of targeted Trump tariffs

In the dim basement of a Salt Lake City pharmacy, hundreds of amber-colored plastic pill bottles sit stacked in rows, one man's defensive wall in a tariff war.

16 May 2025

Loss of drug subsidies linked to higher mortality among low-income Medicare beneficiaries

While it may seem intuitive that people would die without life-saving medications, Penn and Harvard researchers have connected losing a federally funded prescription drug assistance program and an increase in mortality.

14 May 2025

Innovative technology instantly spots street drugs

A portable device that can instantly detect dangerous street drugs at extremely low concentrations has been developed at the University of Bath in the UK.

7 May 2025

Retail pharmacies excluded from Medicare Part D networks at higher risk of closure

Retail pharmacies excluded from Medicare Part D networks maintained by drug benefits middlemen were much more likely to close over the past decade, according to new research from USC published in Health Affairs.

6 May 2025

Medicaid enrollment drops linked to disrupted care for young people

Children and young adults with depression, schizophrenia, ADHD, asthma and epilepsy can get great relief from medications to control their symptoms, helping them stay in school or work and prepare for their futures.

3 May 2025

Opioid control policies linked to drop in domestic violence

A new study led by the University of South Florida reveals opioid control policies may offer broader public health benefits, including reducing instances of domestic violence.

18 Apr 2025

Safe and simple ways to dispose of unused medicines

Is your medicine cabinet full of expired drugs or medications you no longer use? The best way to dispose of most types of expired, unwanted or unused medicines is through a drug take-back program.

16 Apr 2025