Healthcare Docket

More than 330 provider organizations signed letters this week urging the White House and Congress to extend a pandemic-era telehealth prescribing flexibility. Failure to extend this policy would cause millions of Americans to lose access to treatment, they argued.

The AMA came out in support of the Biden-Harris Administration's final rule on mental health parity, while AHIP and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association argue that it will increase costs and negatively affect access to care.

The European Union’s highest court sided with Illumina, agreeing that the European Commission had no authority to review the acquisition of liquid biopsy company Grail. The ruling comes after Illumina stopped challenging antitrust litigation, opting to instead spin out Grail as a standalone company.

A federal judge recently blocked the FTC's ban on noncompetes. The decision has important implications for healthcare.

The White House might soon finalize a rule that will either save or cost patients billions of dollars in prescription drug costs. The rule concerns ‘copay accumulators,’ which are programs health plans use to prevent copay assistance from counting toward patients’ deductibles or out-of-pocket maximums.

The National Community Pharmacists Association and providers argued that Change Healthcare didn’t take the needed precautions against the cyberattack that happened earlier this year.

The Federal Trade Commission recently released an interim report that details how the practices of pharmacy benefit managers negatively impact patients and pharmacies. Some experts hope for legislative action based on the report.

Walgreens’ financial performance is still rocky, but experts agree there is a good chance that CEO Tim Wentworth can lead the company to recovery.

Amedisys and UnitedHealth Group plan to divest care centers to an affiliate of VitalCaring Group. Several experts said this will likely clear the way for the companies’ merger.

Several policy changes, including the Medicaid continuous enrollment provision and enhanced Marketplace tax credits, improved health coverage and access during COVID-19, a new report showed.

Illinois, Kentucky, Oregon, Utah, and Vermont have been authorized by HHS to provide Medicaid/Children’s Health Insurance Program coverage to those transitioning out of incarceration up to 90 days before they’re released. Several healthcare leaders called the action a necessary step.

In this episode, we’re joined by Rabia Muqaddam, senior staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights. Muqaddam discusses the Supreme Court’s recent decision that preserved access to the abortion pill mifepristone.

The Supreme Court made several recent decisions that impact healthcare, including overturning the Chevron deference and upholding access to the abortion pill mifepristone.

The American Hospital Association sent letters to the Senate and House urging them to support legislation that would prevent the CMS from enforcing its final rule on minimum staffing requirements for long-term care facilities. The organization argued that the mandate could lead nursing homes to reduce capacity or close altogether.

Multiple stakeholders are to blame for prescription drug costs, including pharmaceutical companies and PBMs, according to Merith Basey, executive director of Patients for Affordable Drugs.

Under the Affordable Care Act, most private health insurance plans are required to cover birth control methods approved by the FDA without out-of-pocket costs. But not all plans are doing this, Bernie Sanders declared in a letter.

Two senators recently introduced a bill that seeks to regulate private equity firms’ involvement in the healthcare industry. If passed, the act would establish a criminal penalty of up to six years in prison for private equity executives whose business decisions result in a patient’s death.

Many healthcare leaders feared that if the top court could overturn mifepristone’s FDA approval, the same could happen to other drugs.

America should be a global leader in healthcare. Instead, we rank last among our peers, and outmoded regulations are holding us back.

Three upcoming Supreme Court decisions have the potential to radically change FDA regulation of medications. The cases, which involve ‘Chevron deference’ and the abortion pill mifepristone, were discussed on a panel during the BIO conference in San Diego.