Health Care

States Push Back Against Short-Term Health Care Plans

By Michael Rainey

The Trump administration is promoting short-term health care plans as a cheaper alternative to Obamacare, but some state regulators are pushing back against the expanded use of the plans, which...
Subscriptions for Prescriptions? A New Way to Reduce Drug Prices

By Michael Rainey

Louisiana officials are proposing a Netflix-like subscription plan for certain prescription drugs, in which the state would gain access to unlimited treatments for hepatis C for its Medicaid and...
Health Care Industry Gears Up to Fight ‘Medicare for All’

By Yuval Rosenberg

In anticipation of a “blue wave” election that brings more Democrats to Congress, the insurance and drug industries are gearing up to push back on the idea of a single-payer health care system. The...
Meet Trump's 'Shadow Rulers' of the Veterans Administration

By Isaac Arnsdorf, ProPublica

Last February, shortly after Peter O’Rourke became chief of staff for the Department of Veterans Affairs, he received an email from Bruce Moskowitz with his input on a new mental health initiative...
Here’s What’s at Stake in November: Tax Cuts, a Shutdown and Obamacare Repeal

By Michael Rainey

A lot can change over the next three months, but right now Democrats look likely to win control of the House of Representatives. They currently hold the lead in both generic ballot polls and the...

Once Its Greatest Foes, Doctors Are Embracing Single-Payer

By Shefali Luthra, Kaiser Health News

When the American Medical Association — one of the nation’s most powerful health care groups — met in Chicago this June, its medical student caucus seized an opportunity for change. Though they had...
Chart of the Day: Americans Using Government Programs

By Yuval Rosenberg

The federal welfare program called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families delivers cash aid to about 2.5 million people, or less than 1 percent of the U.S. population — “far smaller than the share...
Chart of the Day: Where Prescription Drug Spending Goes

By Yuval Rosenberg

U.S. spending on pharmaceuticals totaled $480 billion in 2016, according to a report published this week in Health Affairs. “Two-thirds of this total ($323 billion) was captured by drug manufacturers...
Facing Pressure from Trump, Drugmakers Still Rack Up Big Profits

By Yuval Rosenberg

The health care industry is making some healthy profits. Axios’ Bob Herman reports that, with the second-quarter earnings season mostly over, the sector “has already banked more profits than any...
Obamacare Premiums Would Have Dropped: Report

By Michael Rainey

Health insurance premiums in the federal marketplaces would have fallen if President Trump and Republican lawmakers had left the system alone, according to a new analysis from Matthew Fiedler of the...

Medicaid Expansion Boosts Employment: Study

By Michael Rainey

People with disabilities are more likely to be employed in states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Public Health...
Trump Administration Seeks a Big Change in How Medicare Pays Doctors

By Michael Rainey

The Trump administration wants to change the way Medicare pays doctors for office visits by creating a flat payment of about $135 for all appointments. The change is intended to reduce paperwork...
New Health Care Mandates Would Reduce Premiums, Increase Coverage: Report

By Michael Rainey

Health insurance premiums in the federal marketplace would cost 11.8 percent less in 2019 if all 50 states adopted coverage mandates, according to a new study from the Commonwealth Fund and the Urban...
Association Health Care Plans Not Gaining Traction

By Michael Rainey

The influential National Federation of Independent Business long supported the expansion of association health care plans, which allow small businesses and trade groups to join together to offer...
Consumer Directed Health Plans: A Step in the Right Direction

By Tracy C. Miller

Recently, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health has been considering ways to expand consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs). These plans — which essentially balance high deductibles with...