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In an interview for KHNâs âWhat the Health?â podcast, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra says the administration is eager for Congress to make changes to Medicare that will provide more benefits and make more older adults eligible for the program. He also said a priority will be making permanent the enhanced premium subsidies for Affordable Care Act marketplace plans.
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra is the special guest for this bonus episode of KHNâs âWhat the Health?â podcast. He and host Julie Rovner discuss a breadth of topics the secretary oversees, including covid-19, prescription drug prices, Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.
It could take years for follow-up studies to prove Aduhelm slows the disease â or doesnât. Meanwhile, its maker will profit.
The potential benefits of Aduhelm are small, its effectiveness is not certain, and even the FDA Thursday shifted its guidance on who should get the drug. But physicians are dealing with an onslaught of interest from patients and their families, and figuring out which patients are best positioned to be helped by the drug will be difficult.
The pharmaceutical industry argues that large profits are needed to fund extensive research and innovation. But Democrats on the House Oversight and Reform Committee, seeking to bolster their effort to let Medicare negotiate drug prices, say major drug companies plow more of their billions in earnings back into propping up their stock and enriching executives and shareholders.
Aduhelm, approved by the Food and Drug Administration last month despite questions about its efficacy, could be prescribed to at least 1 million patients a year, for a price tag of about $56 billion. Experts suggest there might be better ways to spend that money.
The data is reassuring to people who got this shot.
The approach, known as contingency management, has helped thousands of veterans kick the methedrine habit, but a federal government ruling has limited its use. California hopes to challenge that and make the treatment a Medi-Cal benefit.
The Biden administration is moving to undo many of the changes the Trump administration made to the enrollment process for the Affordable Care Act to encourage more people to sign up for health insurance. Meanwhile, Congress is opening investigations into the controversial approval by the Food and Drug Administration of an expensive drug that might (or might not) slow the progression of Alzheimerâs disease. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Kimberly Leonard of Insider and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHNâs Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, Rovner interviews Marshall Allen of ProPublica about his new book, âNever Pay the First Bill: And Other Ways to Fight the Health Care System and Win.â
As more independently owned community pharmacies close, a Colorado town is crowdsourcing ways of getting prescription medicines delivered to those who canât travel the long distance to the closest pharmacy. But even those stopgap measures donât always work.
In an ongoing effort to control prescription drug costs, states are targeting the companies that mediate deals among drug manufacturers, health insurers and pharmacies. The pharmacy benefit managers say they negotiate lower prices for patients, yet the nitty-gritty occurs largely behind a curtain that lawmakers are trying to pull back.
Democrats in Congress and the states are devising strategies to expand health coverage â through the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, Medicaid and a âpublic option.â But progress remains halting, at best. Meanwhile, lawmakers in Washington may have to agree on how to control prescription drug prices if they wish to finance their coverage initiatives. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Tami Luhby of CNN and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KHNâs Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, Rovner interviews Michelle Andrews, who reported and wrote last monthâs KHN-NPR âBill of the Monthâ episode about a very expensive sleep study.
The scientific literature shows that natural immunity does provide protection against covid-19, but experts say getting vaccinated can provide additional protection against variants.
Federal officials say that some of the money changing hands has corrupted doctors and endangered patients.
The federal approval of a controversial drug to treat Alzheimerâs disease has reignited the debate over drug prices and the way the Food and Drug Administration makes decisions. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden seeks to gain goodwill overseas as he announces the U.S. will provide 500 million doses of covid vaccine to international health efforts. Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Joanne Kenen of Politico join KHNâs Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, Rovner interviews Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, the new administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. And to mark the podcastâs 200th episode, the panelists discuss what has surprised them most and least over the past four years.
Safety-net clinics especially are bracing for how the drugmakerâs policy shift could reduce their budgets and hamstring their ability to provide care to an at-risk population.
As vaccine expiration dates loom, states with hundreds of thousands of doses on hand say demand is tanking and thereâs no easy way to donate to other states or countries that might want them
The agency is to decide by June 7 whether to greenlight Biogenâs drug aducanumab, despite a near-unanimous rejection of the product by an FDA advisory committee of outside experts in November. Some scientists at the agency have endorsed the drug, though.
Republicans, Democrats and the public at large agree that prices for prescription drugs are too high. But no one seems to know how to fix it. Vanderbilt University drug price researcher Stacie Dusetzina explains the basics of why drugs cost so much and why itâs hard to do something about it. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet and Anna Edney of Bloomberg News join KHNâs Julie Rovner to discuss the prospects for policy changes.
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Hereâs a collection of their appearances.
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