STAT+: New Eli Lilly Alzheimer’s data poses Medicare coverage conundrum
WASHINGTON — Eli Lilly’s latest anti-amyloid Alzheimer’s treatment seems to slow the disease, the company announced…
Category: policy
STAT+: Juul execs shower House Oversight chair with campaign cash, just as he launches probe into FDA’s moves on e-cigarettes
WASHINGTON — Juul executives wrote personal checks to the head of the House Oversight Committee,…
STAT+: What the Covid-19 pandemic can teach us about drug patents
Inventing treatments and vaccines is only part of the battle in an epidemic and pandemic,…
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STAT+: Biden’s pick to lead NIH stares down an increasingly political litany of questions
WASHINGTON — President Biden’s presumed pick to lead the National Institutes of Health, Monica Bertagnolli,…
STAT+: Senators delay start date for possible PBM reforms
WASHINGTON — Pharmacy benefit managers may have gotten themselves a slight reprieve. Senators drafting reforms to…
Biden officials propose slate of Medicaid transparency changes
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Thursday rolled out proposals to set national standards for…
STAT+: Pharma executives flood Bill Cassidy with campaign cash
WASHINGTON — Sen. Bill Cassidy’s new perch as the top Republican on the Senate health…
STAT+: Another powerful congressional committee is ready to take on PBMs
WASHINGTON — House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer plans to hold a hearing on the…
STAT+: EU releases proposed pharma overhaul, cutting period of market exclusivity
LONDON — The European Commission on Wednesday unveiled a long-awaited proposed update for how the…
STAT+: Medicare official insists drug price negotiation will consider value of drugs
WASHINGTON — When Medicare starts negotiating drug prices, it will take into account how important…
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STAT+: Sens. Bernie Sanders, Bill Cassidy reach deal on PBM, generic reform
WASHINGTON — Senate health committee leaders Bernie Sanders and Bill Cassidy on Tuesday announced an agreement…
With little FDA oversight, melatonin supplements vary widely in actual dosage, study finds
WASHINGTON — Consumers turning to melatonin gummies to get some help falling asleep might be…
Supreme Court maintains access to abortion pill mifepristone, at least for now
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday ruled 7-2 that a commonly used abortion…
STAT+: Powerful Senate duo drops a bipartisan PBM reform plan
WASHINGTON — The chair and ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday unveiled…
The NIH has poured $1 billion into long Covid research — with little to show for it
WASHINGTON — The federal government has burned through more than $1 billion to study long…
STAT+: FDA’s Califf talks cell and gene therapies, abortion pill, Alzheimer’s drugs
WASHINGTON — Senators grilled FDA Commissioner Rob Califf Wednesday on everything from the agency’s stance…
STAT+: Senate still hasn’t made hard decisions on lowering insulin costs
WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats are trying to cap insulin costs for every American, but they…
STAT+: Medicare advisers endorse reforms to lower drug spending
In the latest move to address prescription drug pricing, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission unanimously…
STAT+: Federal group studying surprise ambulance bills will finally meet — five months late
The federal committee in charge of finding ways to stop surprise billing from ground ambulances…
STAT+: Senate hashing out policy details on generics, PBMs, insulin
WASHINGTON — Senators are slightly delaying their latest legislative push on health care, but as they…
STAT+: Just how big of a pay bump do hospitals need from Medicare next year?
The federal government is proposing to give hospitals a 2.8% raise in their Medicare payments…
Where is PhRMA in the mifepristone debate?
WASHINGTON — A judge’s decision to suspend the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of an…
Where is the White House’s new pandemic response office?
WASHINGTON — In the wake of a pandemic that claimed more than 1 million American lives,…
STAT+: Medicare Advantage plans will have to stop denying required care, federal officials say
The Biden administration is moving forward with proposals that would crack down on Medicare Advantage…
STAT+: Could a fight over cost-effectiveness upend Medicare drug price negotiation before it’s begun?
WASHINGTON — As Medicare drug price negotiation looms, congressional Republicans are scrambling to push through…
STAT+: Wary of changes to Medicare Advantage, health insurers put up a fight — and exaggerate the stakes
For the past two months, the health insurance industry has attempted to scare older adults…
STAT+: Key senators blast Medicare Advantage insurers for ‘exorbitant salaries,’ ‘massive payouts’ to execs
WASHINGTON — Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) slammed seven different Medicare Advantage…
STAT+: Senators interrogate health secretary Becerra on Alzheimer’s drug coverage
WASHINGTON — The future of Alzheimer’s treatments and coverage hung heavily over lawmakers’ Wednesday hearing…
STAT+: Hospitals are not crumbling, Medicare experts tell Congress
Hospitals’ financial situations are not nearly as dire as industry groups are making them out…
STAT+: Califf criticizes insurers for doing too little on drug research
WASHINGTON — FDA Commissioner Robert Califf wants private insurers to chip in on doing post-approval…
STAT+: The big-money Medicare policy that has hospitals worried this Congress
WASHINGTON — There are few things that get lawmakers in Washington salivating more than a wonky…
STAT+: Medicare explains how it will choose drugs for negotiation
WASHINGTON — Medicare laid out Thursday in the greatest detail yet how it will choose…
STAT+: Would the federal government defer to states to regulate PBMs?
WASHINGTON — After years of struggling to regulate the drug middlemen that create pharmacy networks,…
STAT+: Biden administration to fine manufacturers of 27 medicines for price hikes
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration will fine drugmakers who hiked prices faster than the rate…
STAT+: Medicare will take R&D costs, effectiveness into account when it negotiates drug prices. But studies show that doesn’t affect prices
By law, Medicare will have to take a medication’s efficacy and its research and development…
Biden administration requests $20 billion cash infusion to bolster public health
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is calling for a big boost for public health funding…
STAT+: Biden makes drug pricing a central part of his deficit reduction plans
WASHINGTON – President Biden made lowering drug prices a key part of his budget with…
With a $11 billion price tag, the White House pitches a plan to end hepatitis C
WASHINGTON – The Biden administration is calling on Congress to fund a more than $11…
STAT+: An unlikely new 340B alliance emerges between PhRMA and community health centers
WASHINGTON — An unusual new alliance of the brand-drug lobby PhRMA and community health centers…
STAT+: Medicare chief on the new drug price negotiation program’s operations, hiring, and timelines
WASHINGTON — Medicare officials are still hammering out the technical specifics of how the massive…
Biden proposes expanding Medicare drug negotiation program
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration will propose expanding Democrats’ new drug pricing law by allowing…
It’s easy to buy flavored vapes in California, even in cities with longtime bans
LOS ANGELES – California cities are supposed to be cracking down on sales of flavored…
After nearly 4 years of deliberation, FDA punts on how to regulate CBD
WASHINGTON — The FDA is giving up on trying to figure out a way to…
New lawsuits target state restrictions on abortion pills
WASHINGTON — Supporters of abortion rights filed separate lawsuits Wednesday challenging two states’ abortion pill…
STAT+: The 4 biggest questions about the FDA’s forthcoming changes to accelerated approvals
WASHINGTON — Congress just boosted the FDA’s authority over the post-market clinical trials that are…
STAT+: PhRMA terminates lobbying contract with White House official’s brother
WASHINGTON — The pharmaceutical industry lobbying group PhRMA has severed its contract with a lobbyist who…
‘Hot mess’: Abortion pills at pharmacies could face legal quagmires, especially in restrictive states
WASHINGTON — Federal regulators’ green light for pharmacists to dispense abortion pills is crashing into…
STAT+: Loan repayment program seeks to bolster infectious disease field
As part of the $1.7 trillion government spending bill that President Biden signed late last…
STAT+: Oscar Health’s CEO on post-hype health insurance and finally turning a profit
Oscar Health has excelled at one thing in particular since its inception a decade ago:…
STAT+: With the FTC’s more expansive approach to antitrust, PBMs are in the crosshairs
WASHINGTON — The Democrats leading the Federal Trade Commission are hoping to expand the agency’s…