Policy

The FDA has approved the first over the counter (OTC) birth control pill Thursday; the US Chamber of Commerce has filed a motion for preliminary injunction on the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation program; individuals living in historically redlined areas are likely to have worse heart health.

Racist assumptions identified in medical education impact maternal outcomes; excessive drinking during the pandemic responsible for increased alcoholic liver disease deaths; Iowa ban will restrict abortions after about 6 weeks of pregnancy.

FDA to import cancer drugs from China; respite programs offer a safe environment for people who experience mental health crisis; White House officials call for more xylazine testing.

US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer asks the FDA to investigate Prime energy drink; Washington state sees hefty fine for failing to provide mental health resources to incarcerated individuals; a new rule would require companies to disclose use of certain “forever” chemicals.

A new proposal from the Biden administration would place more restrictions on certain health insurance plans as part of an initiative to cut costs; Eli Lilly’s obesity treatment retatrutide appears to help lessen liver fat content; Earth’s hottest day on record calls into question what temperatures humans can safely tolerate.

Medicare Advantage beneficiaries are struggling to find psychiatrists; the CDC plans to cut state funding for child vaccination programs; almost 50% of American faucets could contain forever chemicals.

Four people in Florida and 1 person in Texas were exposed to malaria; late revisions could counter a pending lawsuit to end abortion restrictions; about 2000 nurses in Texas and Kansas plan to strike.

Black veterans continue to encounter benefits disparities; health workers feel capable of handling future surges after the pandemic; the COVAX initiative aims to redirect remaining vaccine spending

Eli Lilly will gain Dice Therapeutics’ experimental psoriasis drug; about 1.5 million people dropped from Medicaid since April and May; families are uprooting their lives due to transgender care restrictions

Mandy Cohen, MD, MPH, will take over the CDC; abortion activists acknowledge 1 year without Roe v Wade; Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) challenges Medicare’s drug price negotiation program.

HHS and CMS extended postpartum coverage in New York through Medicaid and CHIP for an entire year; a minimum of 1.7 million Americans use health sharing plans, even though they lack protections; Pfizer expects pediatric syphilis drug Bicillin L-A to experience a shortage.

Biden administration finalizes a deal on covering preventive care despite legal battle; CMS prepares safety net hospital reimbursement plans; over 1 million Americans have been dropped from Medicaid coverage

The Biden administration will impose drug price inflation penalties on drugmakers; a study reveals massive amounts of COVID-19 relief funds were stolen; experimental vaccine nearly doubles survival in patients in a trial.

The plan aims to reverse a significant surge in sexually transmitted infections, including gonorrhea, syphilis, and chlamydia.

According to a spokesperson, Merck is prepared to take the lawsuit to the Supreme Court as it challenges drug price negotiations as part of the Inflation Reduction Act.

A federal appeals court heard argument about whether to freeze preventative health screenings and care in the Affordable Care Act (ACA); Canadian wildfires trigger health threats as smoke descends south; a large study displayed the safety of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines in young children.

Merck sues to stop Medicare drug price negotiations; doctors delay lifesaving therapies due to cancer drug shortages; a federal appeals court will hear Affordable Care Act coverage prevention case.

Health restrictions on transgender adults and children; weight-loss companies to include obesity drugs; hormone patches or creams for menopause may have lower blood pressure risk than pills

The authors find that 340B-covered hospitals and grantees are contracting mainly with pharmacies in significantly more affluent neighborhoods than their own.

The FDA approved Pfizer’s respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine Wednesday; Medicare announced plans to largely cover a new class of expensive Alzheimer drugs; more states are extending postpartum coverage under Medicaid.

Debt limit deal will not effect Medicaid; a national safety board may make health care safer; experimental hemophilia therapy reduces bleeding.

AHIP president and CEO Matthew Eyles will step down later this year; the House Energy and Commerce Committee moved a series of health care measures concerning pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs); US debt default could stop FDA drug and device reviews, said FDA chief.

Kicking off the 2023 Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health annual conference, Mark Fendrick, MD, of the University of Michigan, delivered a keynote exhorting the audience of employers and payers to implement the principles of value-based insurance design (VBID) in order to improve individual and population health and drive toward equity.

Blue Cross Blue Shield in Massachusetts sets agreement with Tufts Medicine using equity benchmarks; drug prices covered by Medicaid to undergo yearly audit; South Carolina abortion ban headed to governor as Planned Parenthood announces national staff cutbacks to shift resources to the states.