What We're Reading: Insys Opioid Lawsuits; Birth Control Mandate; Uninsured Virginians

States Sue Insys Over Opioid Marketing

Massachusetts reaching a settlement with Insys Therapeutics over the company’s marketing of its opioid, Subsys, may have opened the door to more lawsuits. According to The Wall Street Journal, New Jersey has now filed a lawsuit against Insys claiming that the company marketed its painkiller for widespread use when it was approved to treat serious cancer pain. New Jersey is claiming that the company is responsible for a woman who died after being prescribed Subsys for fibromyalgia.

Rolling Back the Birth Control Mandate

The requirement that employers cover birth control in health insurance plans is being rolled back. The Trump administration announced it would allow for more exemptions for those who cite moral or religious objections to providing coverage of birth control, reported The New York Times. The Trump administration, in writing the new rules, notes that the Affordable Care Act actually does not explicitly require that birth control is covered. Getting rid of the requirement could cause hundreds of thousands of women to lose access to free birth control.

Virginians Eligible for Medicaid Staying Uninsured

Approximately 90,000 Virginians are eligible for healthcare assistance programs, but have remained uninsured. A new report has found that of those eligible, 60,000 are children who can be signed up for Medicaid or the state’s program for children. In 2015, there were a total of 747,000 uninsured people in Virginia. The state has not expanded the Medicaid program, which would make even more people eligible for coverage.