Category: Health Industry

Judging the Abortion Pill

Any day now a conservative federal judge in Texas could upend the national abortion debate by requiring the FDA to rescind its approval of mifepristone, a drug approved in the U.S. more than 20 years ago that is now used in more than half of abortions nationwide. Meanwhile, a controversial study on masks gets a clarification, although it may be too late to change the public impression of what it found. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.

FDA Looks Into Dental Device After KHN-CBS News Investigation of Patient Harm

The FDA’s interest in the AGGA dental device follows a KHN-CBS News investigation, according to a former agency official.

Feds Move to Rein In Prior Authorization, a System That Harms and Frustrates Patients

The federal government wants to change the way health insurers use prior authorization — the requirement that patients get permission before undergoing treatment. Designed to prevent doctors from deploying expensive, ineffectual procedures, prior authorization has morphed into an unwieldy monster that denies or delays care, burdens physicians with paperwork, and perpetuates racial disparities. New federal rules may not be enough to tame it.

Black Patients Dress Up and Modify Speech to Reduce Bias, California Survey Shows

Many Black patients also try to be informed and minimize questions to put providers at ease. “The system looks at us differently,” says the founder of the African American Wellness Project.

Seniors With Anxiety Frequently Don’t Get Help. Here’s Why.

Older people often aren’t being screened for anxiety disorders, even though it is a common affliction — one masked by other problems when growing old.

Why Does Insulin Cost So Much? Big Pharma Isn’t the Only Player Driving Prices

Big Pharma may be moving on from squeezing diabetes patients on insulin prices, but it’s the arbitrators that jack up prices for those who can least afford them.

Girls in Texas Could Get Birth Control at Federal Clinics, Until a Christian Father Objected

AMARILLO, Texas — On the vast Texas Panhandle, raked by wind and relentless sun, women might drive for hours to reach Haven Health, a clinic in Amarillo. One of more than 3,200 federal family-planning clinics nationwide, Haven serves both English and Spanish speakers, providing contraception, testing for pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, and cervical cancer […]

Biden Administration Urged to Take More Aggressive Steps to Relieve Medical Debt

Consumer and patient advocates push for new federal rules to protect Americans from debt collectors and force hospitals to make financial assistance more accessible.

Watch: Walgreens Stops Sale of Abortion Pill in 21 States Under GOP Threat of Legal Action

The nation’s second-largest pharmacy chain will stop dispensing the abortion pill mifepristone under pressure from Republican attorneys general. 

Struggling to Survive, the First Rural Hospitals Line Up for New Federal Lifeline

Hospitals in New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma are among the first to apply for a new rural hospital payment model that shifts the focus of services away from overnight stays to outpatient and emergency care. Still, experts say the law needs to be amended to provide the right mix of care for rural communities.