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More Hospitals Drop Medicare Advantage
Thirty-three hospital systems are dropping their Medicare Advantage (MA) contracts, reports Becker’s Hospital Review. The publication has been monitoring participation rates for several years. In 2024, citing contracts ending in 2025, Becker’s lists 33 hospitals as becoming “out of network” for Medicare Advantage contracts. In 2023, 13 hospitals ended their contracts. In 2024, the publication…
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What Trump Gets Right About TrumpRX – Commentary
Donald Trump is the first American president to take an active interest in what is happening to patients when they buy drugs at a local pharmacy. Without any new legislation, private companies are responding. Cigna Scripts, the nation’s largest pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), just announced that for many of its clients it will end its…
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Trump Administration Gives Mixed Signals on Marijuana Market
The Trump administration has stalled in its effort to determine whether to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug, a new filing by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in an administrative law hearing acknowledges. “This doesn’t constitute a new delay of rescheduling’s consideration, which has been stalled out for months after…
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FDA Approves New Generic Abortion Pills
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a generic version of the abortion pill mifepristone in October, making chemical abortion more affordable and accessible to pregnant women who wish to terminate the lives of their unborn children. Mifepristone is used in two-thirds of American abortions, according to the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute. Republicans such as Sen.…
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Costco to Sell Ozempic, Wegovy at Almost Half Current Price
The company that sells Ozempic and Wegovy, drugs known for promoting easy weight loss, is now selling the products at Costco. Novo Nordisk, which manufactures the injectable pen semaglutide drugs for type 2 diabetes and weight loss, said in October it is making the prescription drugs available at Costco pharmacies for $499 for a four-week…
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Florida Becomes First State to End Vaccine Mandates
Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, M.D., and Gov. Ron DeSantis are working with the legislature to end all vaccine mandates for schoolchildren in the state. The two leaders announced their decision at a September 3, 2025, news conference. “The Florida Dept. of Health, in partnership with the governor, is going to be working to end…
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Merck Leaves UK Over Fears of Drug Price Controls
Pharmaceutical giant Merck announced the cancellation of a planned $1.3 billion research center in London and the termination of all research and development activities in the United Kingdom (UK). The company said on September 10 its decision “reflects the challenges of the UK not making meaningful progress addressing the lack of investment in the life-science…
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Preexisting Conditions Strongly Affect Maternal Mortality: Report
Maternal mortality rates are on the rise for all races in the United States and are strongly affected by the health of a woman before she conceives, a Texas advisory committee to the U.S Commission on Civil Rights reports. The Texas Advisory Committee gathered testimony from October 2024 to February 2025 and released its report…
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In Health Care, Copper Is the New Gold – Commentary
Since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was enacted, Americans have faced soaring health insurance premiums, which have more than doubled since 2013. Rising deductibles have compounded the issue, creating a double blow to affordability. Government subsidies, often touted as relief, merely mask this price inflation rather than addressing it, obscuring consumers from the true cost…
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Trump, Drug Companies Make Deal on Discounted Drugs Through Trump Rx
Consumers will be able to buy discounted brand-name drugs through a government direct sales exchange called Trump Rx, starting in early 2026. On October 16, the Trump team worked out an agreement with a drug maker to directly sell fertility drugs at a deep discount to lower the cost of in vitro fertilization treatments (see…
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