When congressional Republicans in 2017 pushed to repeal the Affordable Care Act and slash Medicaid, dozens of physician groups, patient advocates, hospitals, and others rallied to defend the law and the safety-net program. Eight years later, two industry groups have been notably restrained as GOP lawmakers consider sweeping new Medicaid cuts: the American Medical Association…
A year ago, a new head of Social Security set out to stop the agency from financially devastating many of the people it was meant to help. The agency had long made it a practice to reduce or halt benefit checks to recoup billions of dollars in payments it sent recipients but later said they…
The Trump administration issued its first major set of proposed changes to the Affordable Care Act on Monday that federal officials said are intended to crack down on fraud in the program. Policy experts said they will make it harder for consumers to sign up for coverage, potentially reducing enrollment. Details were released Monday after…
That is the question asked in a new paper by Enright, et al. (2025). The authors use the Tufts Medical Center Specialty Drug Evidence and Coverage (SPEC) database current as of August 2023. This database contains publicly available specialty pharmacy coverage decisions as issued by 18 large US commercial health plans, which—collectively—cover 200m people (i.e.,…
Beam Therapeutics’ first clinical data in the rare disease alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency “set a bar for efficacy in the space,” according to one analyst. But the ongoing market slide poses challenges for biotech companies aiming to raise money by selling stock. The post Beam Base Editor’s Early Data in Rare Liver Disease Tee Up $500M…
At the global health conference in Las Vegas, panelists discuss innovation and metrics for success
Walgreens is selling itself to the private equity firm Sycamore Partners. This comes after the company has faced increased competition from online retailers like Amazon. It remains to be seen, however, if Walgreens will perform better under Sycamore Partners. The post Walgreens to Be Acquired by Sycamore Partners: Where Did the Retail Giant Go Wrong?…
This timeline provides a detailed overview of actions, including counter-actions, related to the administration’s efforts to freeze all U.S. foreign aid and dissolve the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Houston Methodist Coordinate Care is reducing costs through a partnership with Koda Health, a digital platform that guides patients through their end-of-life choices. Preliminary findings show the technology resulted in a 19% reduction in the total cost of care for patients at the end of their life, which equals nearly $9,000 in savings per patient….
If your neighbor is a backyard chicken hobbyist, should you be worried about bird flu? KFF Health News national public health correspondent Amy Maxmen answers that question and shares her reporting, on WAMU’s “Health Hub” segment March 5. The latest outbreak of bird flu has upended egg, poultry, and dairy operations, sickened dozens of farmworkers,…