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KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Change is in the air

Assuming former Vice President Joe Biden becomes President-elect Joe Biden and Republicans retain control of the Senate, the health agenda could be very different from what Democrats campaigned on.

6 Nov 2020

A $200 debit card won’t do much for seniors’ drug costs

If they've been listening to President Donald Trump, seniors may be expecting a $200 debit card in the mail any day now to help them pay for prescription drugs.

30 Oct 2020

Study highlights need for safe disposal of opioid drugs during COVID-19 pandemic

During the global coronavirus pandemic, the opioid crisis in the United States "has grown into a much more complicated and deadly drug overdose epidemic," according to a new report by the American Medical Association (AMA).

28 Oct 2020

FDA grants approval of nonprescription Sklice lotion to treat head lice infestations

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a lotion to treat head lice for nonprescription, or over-the-counter (OTC), use through a process called a prescription (Rx)-to-OTC switch.

27 Oct 2020

If Trump wins, don’t hold your breath waiting for that ACA replacement plan

If President Donald Trump wins reelection next week, it seems unlikely he will unveil the health plan he's been promising since before his election in 2016. Still, other aspects of health care could be featured in his second-term agenda.

27 Oct 2020

Arguing to undo the ACA. Harming Medicare. Do they go hand in hand?

It's a tried-and-true campaign strategy. Candidates go on the attack, claiming their opponent will do harm to Medicare. After all, people 65 and older are good about making it to the polls on Election Day. These voters are also generally motivated to protect the federal health insurance program for seniors.

23 Oct 2020

Progressive group highlights Trump, Tillis weakness on insulin price tags

During the first presidential debate of 2020, President Donald Trump touted his efforts to curb skyrocketing drug prices and declared that insulin is now "so cheap, it's like water."

20 Oct 2020

As Trump touts his ‘great’ COVID drugs, the pharma cash flows to Biden, not him

Pharmaceutical giants Regeneron and Gilead Sciences got the kind of publicity money can't buy this week after President Donald Trump took their experimental drugs for his coronavirus infection, left the hospital and pronounced himself fully recovered.

9 Oct 2020

Sky-high drug prices driven by pharma profits, House Dems charge

Enormous drug company profits are the primary driver of soaring prescription drug prices in America, according to a damning investigation that Democrats on the House Oversight Committee began releasing Wednesday.

30 Sep 2020

FDA takes actions to help provide safe, more affordable drugs to Americans

Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration took actions to help provide safe, effective, and more affordable drugs to American patients as part of the Safe Importation Action Plan, fulfilling the aspect of the July Executive Order on drug pricing to complete the rulemaking to allow states to import certain prescription drugs from Canada.

24 Sep 2020

Without Ginsburg, judicial threats to the ACA, reproductive rights heighten

On Feb. 27, 2018, I got an email from the Heritage Foundation, alerting me to a news conference that afternoon held by Republican attorneys general of Texas and other states. It was referred to only as a "discussion about the Affordable Care Act lawsuit."

21 Sep 2020

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: It’s scandal week

President Donald Trump finally released his promised executive order aimed at bringing down drug costs.

17 Sep 2020

Virtual reality found to be effective in opioid overdose reversal training

The United States has seen a 200% increase in the rate of deaths by opioid overdose in the last 20 years. But many of these deaths were preventable.

14 Sep 2020

Study: Generic cholesterol medications save billions of dollars for Medicare

The switch from brand name to generic cholesterol medications that occurred between 2014 and 2018 has saved Medicare billions of dollars, even as the number of people on cholesterol-lowering drugs has increased, UT Southwestern scientists have calculated.

9 Sep 2020

Majority of Americans fear health-related bankruptcy, show surveys

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to put lives and livelihoods at risk, 1 in 2 Americans say they fear a major health event could lead them to file for bankruptcy, marking a 5% increase since 2019.

1 Sep 2020

Republican Convention, Day 4: Fireworks … and shining a light on Trump’s claims

President Donald Trump accepted the Republican Party's nomination for president in a 70-minute speech from the South Lawn of the White House on Thursday night.

28 Aug 2020

Higher dosage of opioids for outpatient knee surgery is linked to increased risk of overdose death

A new study published in BMJ Open found that opioid prescription rates for outpatient knee surgery vary widely across the country, but the strength of the average prescription in the United States is at a level that has been linked to an increased risk of overdose death.

26 Aug 2020