Artificial intelligence (AI) tool NarxCare influences and limits painkiller prescriptions to help fight the US opioid epidemic; legislators in states with strict abortion bans are directing residents to pregnancy resource centers; air pollution is reportedly more dangerous to the average person’s health than smoking or alcohol.
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Patients and physicians are publicly shaming insurance companies on social media for the troublesome prior authorization process; HHS has awarded $1.4 billion in grants for the creation of new technologies and tools to prevent COVID-19 infection; Novo Nordisk has increased lobbying efforts to allow Medicare coverage of weight loss drugs.
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What We’re Reading: Unpaid Medical Debt; COVID-19 and Hypertension; SNAP Work Requirement Changes
August 21st 2023About 17 million middle-class Americans have unpaid medical bills; more than 1 in 5 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 developed high blood pressure; work requirements for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to begin in September.
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The platinum drugs most effective in treating ovarian cancer are in limited supply due to the drug shortage; the government proposes a plan to prevent hospitals from redistributing Medicaid money; physicians ask for help in treating the high number of children with mental illness coming to the emergency department.
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Amazon’s online pharmacy aims to improve access and price transparency for insulin; cases of the COVID-19 Eris variant are increasing globally; the Department of Justice (DOJ) responds to pushbacks of Medicare's drug price negotiation program from the Chamber of Commerce (COC).
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Novo Nordisk continues to limit starter doses of popular weight-loss drug Wegovy in the US; veterans and survivors received an error message when submitting PACT Act claims shortly before the deadline; insurance companies are failing to inform patients of their eligibility for free preventative services.
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Patients with a specific gene are more likely to develop long COVID; senators send letters to the Internal Revenue Service, urging them to investigate the practices of nonpartisan hospitals; pregnant workers and workers with newborns could potentially gain job accommodations through a new proposal.
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What We’re Reading: Heatstroke Calls Surge; Leqembi Update; Childhood Vaccination Rate Misses Target
August 7th 2023A severe heat wave is causing an uptick in heat-related emergency visits; Leqembi set to be rolled out in the coming months; declining childhood vaccination rate raises concerns over winter surge.
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What We’re Reading: Historic Low of Uninsured; Youth Gender Treatments; Birth Control Recall
August 4th 2023A record low of 7.7% of Americans had no health insurance at the start of 2023; the American Academy of Pediatrics renewed its backing of gender care for children while requesting a research review; 2 lots of an oral contraceptive were recalled for possible reduction in effectiveness.
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The US Labor Department initiated a lawsuit against a UnitedHealth Group unit after it allegedly denied thousands of claims without assessing their merit; the cost of lecanemab, the first drug that claims to slow the advance of Alzheimer disease, will mostly fall upon taxpayers; nearly 7 million women in the US live in maternity care deserts with little to no access to maternal care.
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What We’re Reading: Dementia Care Initiative; Alcohol-Related Deaths in Women; Medical ID Theft
July 31st 2023The Biden administration announces its Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) Model for dementia care; women’s alcohol-related morality is growing at a faster rate than men’s; medical theft can occur in a large-scale breach or singular theft of someone’s information.
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