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  • Why Are Lower-Cost Biosimilars So Hard for Patients to Get?

    Published June 11, 2025
    By Kevin Stone
    Publication -
    The House Ways and Means Committee heard testimony on hindrances to the expansion of use of biosimilars, medications close in structure and function to a patented biologic medicine. Witnesses at the April 8 hearing told legislators biosimilars save patients and taxpayers money, that pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) middlemen often raise prices or limit availability for […]

  • Pfizer’s COVID-19 Shot Linked to More Deaths Than Moderna’s, Study Finds

    Published June 9, 2025
    By Kenneth Artz
    Publication -
    Recipients of the Pfizer mRNA vaccine experienced more all-cause deaths within the first 100 days post-vaccination than those who received the Moderna shot, a new study of 1.47 million people found. Although all-cause mortality for either shot should have been the same, 230 more people per 100,000 who got the Pfizer jab died within the […]

  • Best Way to End Medicaid Waste: Give Enrollees Cash – Commentary

    Published June 5, 2025
    By Robert Koshnick, M.D.,
    Publication -
    In their paper titled “Leveraging the Medicaid Expansion,” David Hyman and Charles Silver write, “We propose that rather than adhering to Medicaid’s traditional structure, where states pay providers at unreasonably low rates for treating beneficiaries, expansion projects should be modeled on Social Security and the Earned Income Tax Credit, both of which distribute money that […]

  • ‘Designer Babies’ through IVF Raise Critics’ Ethical Concerns

    Published June 4, 2025
    By Harry Painter
    Publication -
    Genetic screening technology now allows parents employing in vitro fertilization (IVF) to select for certain traits, allowing them to avoid passing on diseases or undesirable traits to their children. Orchid, a genetic screening company that bills itself as “the world’s most advanced whole genome screening for embryos during IVF,” allows parents essentially to customize children, […]

  • Research and Commentary: Texas Bill Would Unleash Faster, Better Health Care Treatments

    Published June 3, 2025
    Publication -
    Research and Commentaries -
    Texas lawmakers are considering a bill that would speed and improve health care treatments by easing preauthorization requirements for physicians and providers delivering certain health care services. Senate Bill 1380 would establish “that certain health care services, including emergency care, intervention-necessary care, outpatient mental health treatment, and preventive services, cannot require preauthorization from health maintenance […]

  • HHS to Require Placebo-Controlled Trials for New Vaccines

    Published June 3, 2025
    By Kevin Stone
    Publication -
    The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced it will enact a new policy requiring placebo-controlled trials for all new vaccines. The Washington Post reported on May 1 that HHS sent the outlet a statement that said, in part, “All new vaccines will undergo safety testing in placebo-controlled trials prior to licensure—a radical departure […]

  • DOJ Pressures Medical Journals for Lack of Neutrality

    Published June 2, 2025
    By Bonner R. Cohen
    Publication -
    The Justice Department has sent letters to leading medical journals, requesting information on how the publications chose and present their content. Although the letters do not constitute a formal DOJ investigation into the journals’ practices, their wording leaves little doubt the publications are under scrutiny in the latest escalation of the conflict between the Trump […]

  • FDA to Phase Out Synthetic Food Dyes

    Published May 27, 2025
    By Ashley Bateman
    Publication -
    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plan to phase out all petroleum-based synthetic dyes from food and drugs in the United States by the end of 2026. The agencies plan to create a national standard and timeline to transition from synthetic to natural alternatives. That […]

  • Hospitals Say No to Medicare Advantage

    Published May 27, 2025
    By Bonner R. Cohen
    Publication -
    Hospitals and medical centers across the United States are increasingly opting out of Medicare Advantage (MA), a popular program that provides coverage to millions of older Americans. Providers are exiting MA so fast that Becker’s Hospital Review now continuously updates its growing list of cancellations. In 2025, Dallas-based Baylor Scott & White severed ties with […]

  • 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 […]

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