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  • Medically Assisted Suicide Bills Are Sweeping the Nation

    Published May 23, 2025
    By AnneMarie Schieber
    Publication -
    Forgoing the long, expensive, and unpredictable ballot proposal process, an increasing number of states are pushing legalized assisted suicide through their legislatures. The bills are having mixed success. Maryland defeated an eighth attempt to pass assisted suicide legislation when a bill failed to gain traction before the Maryland General Assembly ended its session for the […]

  • Innovators Call for More Access to Cutting-Edge Treatments

    Published May 22, 2025
    By Bonner R. Cohen
    Publication -
    The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) should not overlook new applications of existing therapies and treatments to improve patients’ lives in pursuing the goal of making Americans healthier, a panel discussion hosted by The Heritage Foundation concluded. The panel focused on photobiomodulation (PBM) and hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) as two proven treatments that […]

  • Kennedy Orders Top-Down Review of Abortion Pill after Alarming Study

    Published May 21, 2025
    By Harry Painter
    Publication -
    A new study has led to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to order a “complete review” of the abortion pill, mifepristone, amid queries from Congress. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Sen. Steve Daines (R-MO) asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reinstate safety protocols for the drug in response to […]

  • How to Get $880 Billion in Savings from Medicaid Without Cutting Benefits – Commentary

    Published May 20, 2025
    By John C. Goodman
    Publication -
    Because the payment rates are so low, many doctors refuse to see Medicaid patients. Among those who do, the Medicaid patient is the last they want to see. This is one reason why newly enrolled Medicaid patients increase their visits to the emergency room by 40 percent. Parkland Hospital in Dallas (the city’s safety-net hospital) […]

  • Medicaid Overhaul Falls Short, Jeopardizing Tax Cuts

    Published May 19, 2025
    By AnneMarie Schieber
    Publication -
    Republican lawmakers are resisting efforts to overhaul Medicaid, a program that now insures one-in-five Americans and involves billions of dollars in waste, fraud, and abuse. House Republicans dropped their “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” on May 12, a reconciliation bill that doesn’t require the Senate’s 60 vote threshold to pass. Instead of per-capita cuts or a […]

  • Trump EO to Bring U.S. Drug Prices in Line with Other Countries’

    Published May 17, 2025
    By Kevin Stone
    Publication -
    President Donald Trump issued an executive order (EO) aimed at drastically reducing the cost of prescription drugs for Americans by tying their prices to those in other nations. A February 2024 Rand report found U.S. drug prices average 2.78 times higher than those in an index of 33 other nations. The disparity is even greater […]

  • Rep. Chip Roy: U.S. Health Care Is Worse Than Single-Payer – Interview

    Published May 15, 2025
    By AnneMarie Schieber
    Publication -
    Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) released a 46-page report, “The Case for Healthcare Freedom,” earlier this year. The paper is a comprehensive review of the multiple challenges in health care today, which have driven up costs and reduced access to an unprecedented level. Roy discussed the report with Health Care News Managing Editor AnneMarie Schieber, explaining […]

  • Utah Enacts Nation’s First Statewide Ban on Water Fluoridation

    Published May 14, 2025
    By Kenneth Artz
    Publication -
    Utah now prohibits state and local governments from adding fluoride to public water systems, becoming the first state in the nation to do so. Gov. Spencer Cox signed House Bill 81 into law on March 27, and it went into effect on May 7. The legislation also bans political subdivisions from enacting or enforcing laws […]

  • Handout Helps Patients Determine Doctors’ Independence

    Published May 9, 2025
    Publication -
    Patients often trust they are getting personalized advice from their health care providers, yet that is not always the case, a new consumer handout sheet warns. “Hospitals and health systems are quietly swallowing up private medical practices,” states a handout published on April 3 by the Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom (CCHF). “Once independent physicians […]

  • Trump’s Plan to Address Infertility Could Give Birth to New Problems – Commentary

    Published May 6, 2025
    By AnneMarie Schieber
    Publication -
    Although President Donald Trump’s executive order (EO) on “Expanding Access to In Vitro Fertilization” (IVF) is undoubtedly well-intentioned, it opens the door to numerous ethical and practical problems. Technological Fertility Fix Policymakers should note that IVF is not the only way to address declining fertility. The evident approach to solving a problem is to identify […]

  • Trump Administration to Submit Plan to Address Infertility

    Published May 5, 2025
    By AnneMarie Schieber
    Publication -
    On May 19, President Donald Trump’s Domestic Policy Council is expected to submit policy recommendations to improve access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) and reduce the cost. “My Administration recognizes the importance of family formation, and as a Nation, our public policy must make it easier for loving and longing mothers and fathers to have […]

  • Trump Taps Microbiologist Monarez to Head CDC

    Published May 2, 2025
    By Bonner R. Cohen
    Publication -
    President Donald Trump has nominated microbiologist Susan Monarez to be the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Monarez replaces former U.S. Congressman Dave Weldon, M.D., an army veteran and vaccine skeptic whose nomination was withdrawn in March after it became clear the Senate would not confirm him. With a Ph.D. […]

  • Murky Health Care Pricing Data Is Making Money for Hospitals – Commentary

    Published May 1, 2025
    By Devon Herrick
    Publication -
    Transparent Health Care Pricing Even though President Donald Trump has issued directives to make hospital prices more transparent twice now, there are no tools to make it easy for patients to compare prices of an MRI, for example. This is more than a casual observation, as noted in a March 19 article in Health Affairs. […]

  • Let’s Reward Patients for Shopping the Best Prices – Commentary

    Published April 30, 2025
    By Edmund Haislmaier
    Publication -
    Patients should have the right to shop. Rules exist to be followed, not ignored. Or at least that’s what most people think. But in many cases, hospitals and insurers haven’t been following the rules—and the government has been letting them get away with it. During President Trump’s first term, his administration pursued health care price […]

  • House Hearing: Can Medicare Deliver Better, Cheaper Post-Acute Care?

    Published April 28, 2025
    By Kevin Stone
    Publication -
    The House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee held a hearing on ways to improve access to quality post-acute care. Millions of Medicare enrollees require care after a hospital stay, such as rehabilitation, hospice, and home health care, and quality and access have suffered over the years, the panelists said. Consolidation, mergers, and acquisitions by national […]

  • Violent Attacks in Hospitals, Clinics on Rise

    Published April 28, 2025
    By Kevin Stone
    Publication -
    A violent attack in a Pennsylvania hospital in February, resulting in the death of a police officer, has prompted the American Nurses Association (ANA) to ask Congress to pass legislation for a workplace violence prevention standard. “Workplace violence is a longstanding and unresolved issue in healthcare. It is a growing public health crisis that demands […]

  • Report: Medicaid Misspent $4.3 Billion in Duplicate Payments

    Published April 25, 2025
    By Fred Lucas
    Publication -
    U.S. taxpayers spent at least $4.3 billion over a three-year period covering the same Medicaid patients twice or more, The Wall Street Journal reported. Medicaid paid health insurance companies for hundreds of thousands of patients who signed up for the program in two or more separate states. This happened when a patient moved to a different state, […]

  • Supreme Court Considers State’s Selection of Medicaid Providers

    Published April 25, 2025
    Publication -
    The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on April 2 over whether federal law allows states free to select which medical providers they want to fund in their Medicaid programs. In Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, South Carolina defended its right to reject Medicaid vendors who provide abortions elsewhere in the nation, which the state […]

  • Teen Death Puts Spotlight on Abortion Dangers

    Published April 24, 2025
    By Harry Painter
    Publication -
    A pro-life organization is investigating the death of an 18-year-old woman who died after a late-term abortion at a Colorado-based Planned Parenthood clinic. Keri Kasun, PharmD, told Colorado’s House Health and Human Services Committee the family of Alexis “Lexi” Arguello reached out to her for answers about the medical complication Arguello experienced after having her […]

  • No Better Time Than Now for Real Medicaid Reform – Interview

    Published April 23, 2025
    Publication -
    Republicans are taking much political heat for trying to cut $880 billion in federal spending, with Democrats saying the GOP will cut Medicaid benefits. Gary Alexander, director of the Medicaid and Health Safety Net Initiative at the Paragon Health Institute, talked to Health Care News about how Republicans can turn this challenge into a huge […]

  • Republican Medicaid Plan: Yes to Reform, No to Benefit Cuts

    Published April 22, 2025
    Publication -
    Partisan rhetoric over the federal budget has intensified with Democrat politicians claiming Republicans will cut Medicaid benefits. Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker, a Democrat, argued it will be impossible for Republicans to find $880 billion in spending cuts without touching Medicaid. The House budget reconciliation bill instructs the House Energy & Commerce Committee to cut […]

  • States Push to Allow Ivermectin to Be Sold Over the Counter

    Published April 21, 2025
    By Harry Painter
    Publication -
    Ivermectin (IVM) will now be sold over the counter (OTC) in at least one state, with other states in the process of granting that status. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas signed Senate Bill 189 into law on March 25, approving ivermectin for use without a prescription. Idaho’s SB 1211, a similar bill, was passed […]

  • Food Companies May Lose Option to Affirm Ingredient Safety

    Published April 18, 2025
    By Ashley Bateman
    Publication -
    Food companies across the country may lose their authorization to self-affirm food ingredients, dyes, additives, and stabilizers are safe. Department of Health and Human Secretary (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has directed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner to explore revisions to the Substances Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) pathway that gives food manufacturers […]

  • Court Affirms Parents’ Right to Sue Over Forced Vaccinations

    Published April 17, 2025
    By Ashley Bateman
    Publication -
    A recent court ruling may increase accountability of school and state employees who overruled parents’ rights to make health care decisions for their children during the COVID-19 pandemic. In August 2021, Tanner Smith was sent to his high school’s clinic in Guilford County, North Carolina, for COVID-19 testing. Clinic employees allegedly forced Smith to get […]

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