What We're Reading: FDA Foundation Questions; Millennials and Primary Care; Democrats Go After Short-Term Plans

Reagan-Udall Foundation Struggles With Funding, Mission Questions in Its Work With the FDA

The Reagan-Udall Foundation for the FDA, a little-known nonprofit set up by Congress over 10 years ago to help the agency work with the private sector, is still struggling with funding as well as questions about its mission, STAT News reported. It is supposed to act as a liaison between the FDA itself and drug companies, researchers, nonprofits, or other businesses with regulated products who might want to support a project to make the agency’s job easier. But it has raised just under $15 million during its first decade, amid a larger debate about how closely a regulator should work with the industry it regulates.

Millennials Moving Away From Relationships With Primary Doctors

The preferences of millennials are changing the traditional model of office-based primary care, Kaiser Health News reported. Their desire for convenience, fast service, connectivity, and price transparency has translated into an affinity for retail clinics carved out of drugstores or big-box retail outlets, free-standing urgent care centers that boast evening and weekend hours, and online telemedicine sites that offer virtual visits without having to leave home. But some experts warn that moving away from a one-on-one relationship may be driving up costs and worsening the problem of fragmented or unnecessary care, including the misuse of antibiotics.

Democrats Planning to Force Vote in Senate on Short-Term Health Plans

Democrats are planning to force a vote in the Senate this week on overturning a Trump administration rule expanding short-term health insurance plans, which are not compliant with the Affordable Care Act. The Hill reported that the Democratic resolution, which will likely get a vote on Wednesday, would overturn a rule finalized in August. Although it is unlikely to pass, a failed vote would allow Democrats to hammer Republicans on the issue of pre-existing conditions, which they have made central to the campaign ahead of next month’s midterm elections. Short-term health insurance plans can deny coverage to people who have pre-existing conditions.