The unlikely crusader who’s winning the fight to lower hospital prices
You’re reading the web edition of D.C. Diagnosis, STAT’s twice-weekly newsletter about the politics and…
Category: states
STAT+: A rich Republican businessman is an unlikely champion for lower hospital prices — but he’s winning the fight
INDIANAPOLIS — Al Hubbard isn’t the typical crusader for lowering health care costs. Hubbard and…
STAT+: Two dozen states side with HHS in its raucous dispute with pharma over a drug discount program
Two dozen states have waded into the heated dispute between the U.S. government and a…
STAT+: Arkansas becomes the latest state to sue drugmakers and PBMs over insulin pricing
The Arkansas attorney general has filed a lawsuit accusing several drugmakers and pharmacy benefit managers…
Prisons didn’t prescribe much Paxlovid or other Covid-19 treatments, even when they got the drugs
Federal prisons utilized just a fraction of the antiviral drugs they were allocated to keep…
The FDA’s Rob Califf on importing drugs from Canada, on Aduhelm, and on opioids
You’re reading the web edition of D.C. Diagnosis, STAT’s weekly newsletter about the politics and…
STAT+: Right to try 2.0: Advocates want to reduce oversight of ‘n of 1’ therapies
WASHINGTON — The libertarian think tank behind the federal “right-to-try” law is back at it…
STAT+: Louisiana accuses UnitedHealth and its OptumRx PBM of inflating drug costs for its Medicaid program
In the latest bid to pull back the curtain on pharmacy benefit managers, the Louisiana…
Opinion: Not going all in on the 988 hotline will ensure its failure
Time is not on our side. With fewer than 100 days until the scheduled rollout…
STAT+: Biden’s new high-stakes research agency needs a home. For cities and states, the race for ARPA-H is on
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration’s new high-stakes research office has a name, an official place…
STAT+: Hospital prices are soaring especially fast in Northern California. Here’s why
California’s lawmakers have spent decades crafting well-intentioned rules designed to keep the state’s healthcare prices…
STAT+: Gilead faces criticism for donations to state senators who backed ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill in Florida
There was a curious dichotomy underlying the outcry over the so-called ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill…
STAT+: Washington state moves closer to creating the next prescription drug affordability board
In a closely watched development, House lawmakers in Washington state passed a bill to create…
STAT+: Nevada joins a little-known, ambitious state consortium dedicated to better drug prices
After months of talks, the state of Nevada has joined a consortium formed by Oregon…
STAT+: Oregon withdraws a waiver request to run a closed Medicaid formulary
In response to a raft of concerns, Oregon has withdrawn a request made to federal…
Covid-19 politics force state lawmakers to ponder pharma campaign cash
WASHINGTON — Ohio state Rep. Beth Liston had accepted campaign donations from Pfizer before, but…
STAT+: Oregon wants to get out of covering drugs like Aduhelm in Medicaid
WASHINGTON — Oregon is gearing up to ask the Biden administration if its Medicaid program…
Can a pro-Covid vaccine, anti-mandate position help a Republican win in a Democratic state?
Glenn Youngkin is playing both sides on Covid-19 vaccines. In his effort to win Virginia’s…
Visualizing how fast the pandemic is getting better or worse, state by state
Well over a year into the Covid-19 pandemic, visualizations of case data have become ubiquitous….
‘It’s soul-draining’: Health workers deployed to Covid hot zones are overwhelmed by deaths among the unvaccinated
BATON ROUGE, La. — Bren Ingle watched through a set of twin glass doors as…
STAT+: A California law that bans drug coupons failed to increase generic use
A California law that banned coupons for brand-name prescription drugs failed to significantly boost greater…
California could become first state to mandate biosecurity screening by mail-order DNA companies
California lawmakers on Thursday will vote on a bill that would require the state’s growing…
STAT+: California once again delays launch of a closely watched prescription drug purchasing program
For the second time this year, California officials have delayed a much-ballyhooed effort to start…
‘You work your butt off’: Inside the scramble to bring Covid-19 vaccines to homebound Americans
CROSS LANES, W.Va. — Karen Meadows’ plans on Wednesday did not involve leaving her house,…
STAT+: A nascent state effort would tax drug makers for not providing clinical evidence for price hikes
In a bid to control the cost of medicines, lawmakers in two states — Hawaii…
Andrew Cuomo’s Covid-19 nursing home fiasco shows the ethical perils of pandemic policymaking
WASHINGTON — The humbling of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on pandemic policy has been…
STAT+: States still can’t import drugs from Canada. Now, many are seeking to import Canadian prices
WASHINGTON — For years, former President Trump threatened to use foreign prices as a cap…
A Baltimore pastor, preaching about vaccines to the Black community, emphasizes personal agency
Terris King is intimately familiar with the Black community’s skepticism about Covid-19 vaccines. The Baltimore…
The 9 biggest challenges Biden will face on Covid-19, from today on
WASHINGTON — No president wants a federal emergency. No one in that role is waiting…
Opinion: New data, dashboard provide information on Covid-19 hospital capacity
The surge in Covid-19 cases that began in early November has raised questions about how…
Opinion: A new rule that protects VA clinicians who practice across state lines should kick off a movement
Amid the pandemonium of a turbulent election and a resurgent virus, the Department of Veterans…
Opinion: Every state needs emergency regulations to protect essential food workers
The darkest days of the pandemic are still ahead of us, as we head into…
STAT Plus: Out-of-pocket spending on specialty drugs dropped dramatically after states capped costs
Amid efforts to blunt rising medicines costs, a new analysis finds three states succeeded in…
STAT Plus: Drug makers sue to block Minnesota law making it cheaper to get insulin in emergencies
WASHINGTON — The drug industry lobbying association PhRMA sued the state of Minnesota over a…
STAT Plus: Maryland governor vetoes funding for a prescription drug affordability board
In a surprise move, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan vetoed state funding for a “Prescription Drug…
STAT Plus: After a hard-won political fight, this state expanded access to insulin. Can others follow its lead?
On Tuesday, April 14th, Nicole Smith-Holt watched from the top balcony of the Minnesota state…
Trump outlines ‘phases’ for reopening states once coronavirus cases begin to decline
WASHINGTON — President Trump on Thursday told governors that they could begin to ease stay-at-home…
STAT Plus: State legislatures are lapping the federal government on drug pricing — even amid the coronavirus
A version of this article first ran in D.C. Diagnosis, STAT’s weekly newsletter about the…
Who gets hospitalized for Covid-19? Report shows differences by race and sex
The first federal report on who requires hospital care for Covid-19 in the U.S. has…
‘Reject Big Pharma’: Anti-vaccine activists co-opt a populist slogan to try to repeal a state immunization law
The advertisements plastered across city bus stops and flooding television airwaves across Maine make a…
STAT Plus: Americans with employer coverage saw growth in drug spending outpace other medical costs
Americans with private employer health insurance spent nearly 26% more on prescription drugs from 2014…
STAT Plus: PBMs favor their own pharmacies in the Florida Medicaid program
As angst rises over the prices paid for medicines, a new analysis finds some pharmacy…
STAT Plus: Bristol-Myers and Sanofi accuse Hawaii of violating their free speech rights
In an unusual move, two of the world’s biggest drug makers — Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY)…
Faced with prescriber fears of OxyContin misuse, Purdue sales reps misleadingly played up drug’s safety, documents show
PIKEVILLE, Ky. — A year and a half after the opioid painkiller OxyContin went on…
STAT Plus: Generic makers will appeal ruling that allows California to proceed with law banning pay-to-delay deals
A federal judge dealt the pharmaceutical industry a setback by declining to block a new…
3 drug pricing policy experiments to watch in 2020
WASHINGTON — Politicians spent the better part of 2019 bickering over the best way to…
STAT Plus: In tight Massachusetts job market, it’s relo for biotech and remote for tech hires
A state unemployment rate of 2.9% doesn’t quite capture how tight the job market is…
Why the huge surge in EEE cases? Federal rules requiring quick sample disposal mean we may never know
A massive surge in human cases of Eastern equine encephalitis this autumn has raised urgent…
STAT Plus: Generic trade group sues California for an ‘unconstitutional’ law banning pay-to-delay deals
A newly enacted California law that bans so-called pay-to-delay deals between drug makers would reduce…