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Bill Cassidy of Louisiana chairs the Senate’s health committee. In an interview with ýҕl Health News’ Julie Rovner, he discusses the drug supply, his proposal to defray out-of-pocket costs, and his controversial vote to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary.
ýҕl Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
Drugmakers provide financial assistance to help patients afford increasingly expensive medications. But some insurers do not count those payments toward a plan’s deductible or out-of-pocket maximum and make patients pay instead.
Thousands of people who had a Medicare drug plan with zero-dollar premiums last year got small premium increases this year — and didn’t know it. They were dropped from their coverage for failing to pay amounts as little as $8, and most can’t get it again until 2027.
Margaret Hvatum ended up in the hospital after her insurer denied coverage of a medicine she relies on to boost her immune system. Hvatum got entangled in the preapproval process, which the insurance industry has vowed to improve.
As a federal court mulls a case that could result in significant restrictions on a pill used in most abortions, providers say they have alternatives to preserve access even in states with bans in place.
Four years after the Volunteer State enacted the nation’s first law allowing drugstores to sell ivermectin without patient-specific prescriptions, dozens of pharmacies dispense the drug in highly concentrated pills — many with the help of one anti-vaccine physician.
ýҕl Health News journalists made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Sentri7, drug diversion software powered by artificial intelligence and used at hundreds of U.S. hospitals, did not catch a months-long string of fentanyl thefts in Tennessee in 2025, according to a state document.
Many telehealth companies have emerged in recent years offering easy access to GLP-1 weight loss drugs as demand has exploded. Meanwhile, researchers and doctors are concerned that some of these online companies aren't properly screening or monitoring patients. “It gives a black eye to telemedicine,” one researcher said.
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The data behind alcohol-related traffic deaths is well studied. Less understood is the toll of vehicle deaths involving drugs or a combination of drugs and alcohol. Attempts to fix that have been stymied by federal budget and staffing cuts.
New ethics disclosures show the president invested in Eli Lilly and a company that manufactures injectable devices as his health agencies implemented policies that benefited them.
ýҕl Health News journalists made the rounds on national media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
A third of patients in a clinical trial had tumors shrink while taking a genetically engineered treatment known as RP1.
For all of President Donald Trump’s showmanship, the share of Americans his policies will likely help remains slim, even if some patients do come out ahead.
The new TrumpRx program relies partly on connecting consumers with discount coupons offered by drugmakers. For insured patients, though, using a coupon can prove dicey.
It may soon get easier for millions of people with Medicare to get discounted GLP-1 drugs for weight loss.
In “Hikma v. Amarin,” the Supreme Court’s decision could affect how quickly generic versions of brand-name medicines come to market.
An Arm and a Leg launches its “101” series with the story of Alfred Engelberg, a lawyer who’s been crusading to improve access to generic drugs by fixing loopholes in a law he helped draft more than 40 years ago.
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