General
Trump signs student debt forgiveness for disabled veterans
Darlene Superville, The Associated Press
Hundreds of millions of dollars in federal student loan debt owed by tens of thousands of disabled military veterans will be erased under a directive President Donald Trump signed Wednesday.
Vaping Sicknesses Rising: 153 Cases Reported in 16 States
Sheila Kaplan, The New York Times
Sixteen states have now reported 153 cases of serious, vaping-related respiratory illnesses in the past two months, and many of the patients are teenagers or young adults.
Feds Pave The Way To Expand Home Dialysis — But Patients Hit Roadblocks
Judith Graham, Kaiser Health News
Home dialysis for older adults will become more common in the years ahead, experts predict — but not without overcoming significant challenges.
Planned Parenthood sees swift fallout from quitting program
Lindsay Whitehurst and David Crary, The Associated Press
Planned Parenthood clinics in several states are charging new fees, tapping into financial reserves, intensifying fundraising and warning of more unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases in the wake of its decision to quit a $260 million federal family planning program in a dispute with the Trump administration over abortion.
Home health aides care for the elderly. Who will care for them?
Alexia Fernández Campbell, Vox
One of the fastest-growing jobs in America is also one of the hardest.
Insurance lobby chief says Biden, Sanders health plans ‘similarly bad’
Nathaniel Weixel, The Hill
The head of the nation’s health insurance lobby on Wednesday said he does not see much difference between “Medicare for All,” which is being championed by progressive Democratic presidential candidates, and the public option pushed by former Vice President Joe Biden.
Their Mothers Chose Donor Sperm. The Doctors Used Their Own.
Jacqueline Mroz, The New York Times
Scores of people born through artificial insemination have learned from DNA tests that their biological fathers were the doctors who performed the procedure.
NIH’s All of Us program will begin offering genetic counseling soon
Eileen Drage O’Reilly, Axios
The National Institutes of Health on Wednesday announced a $4.6 million award in initial funding to health tech company Color to provide results and genetic counseling when desired to the participants in its huge research project, All of Us.
Why Planned Parenthood Can’t Totally Write Off Susan Collins
Amanda Terkel, HuffPost
The group has been under pressure to cut ties with the GOP senator, but she still remains a much-needed ally in the fight against the Title X abortion “gag rule.”
Planned Parenthood Whistleblower Awarded $3 Million for Wrongful Termination
Alexandra DeSanctis, National Review
A former Planned Parenthood employee has received $3 million in damages after a jury in Maricopa County, Ariz., determined she had been wrongfully terminated for telling supervisors about unsafe medical practices.
U.S. Stock Futures Drift; Dollar Climbs With Oil: Markets Wrap
Todd White, Bloomberg
U.S. equity futures fluctuated and Europe stocks dipped as traders parsed economic data and awaited an address by the Federal Reserve chief on Friday. The dollar climbed with oil, while gold dipped.
Payers
Why 2020 Democrats are backing off Medicare-for-all, in four charts
Amber Phillips, The Washington Post
A notable number of the 2020 presidential candidates (save Sen. Bernie Sanders) who endorsed Medicare-for-all are starting to say it’s a long-term ambition rather than a practical policy proposal they would enact when in the White House.
Providers
Duo to push opioid settlement toward hospitals
Julie Carr Smyth, The Associated Press
West Virginia University President Gordon Gee and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich are creating a nonprofit that will fight to steer cash from any national opioid settlement to hospitals, rather than to local and state governments already sparring for control of the dollars.
Northwell Health ad campaign urges hospital execs to advocate for gun reform
Steven Ross Johnson, Modern Healthcare
Northwell Health’s leadership is trying to spur the hospital industry to take action on gun violence.
Pharma, Biotech and Devices
Juul leaves vaping industry group amid dispute over FDA lawsuit
Alex Gangitano, The Hill
Juul is leaving the Vapor Technology Association, the advocacy group for the vapor and e-cigarette industry, because of the association’s lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Health Investment Firm OrbiMed Growing Wary of a Tougher FDA
Tatiana Darie, Bloomberg
It’s not an easy environment for health-care investors, with the sector front and center of political debates, but a bigger concern might be stemming from a key regulator: the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The cost of diabetes drugs is causing more Americans to skip their meds
Ed Silverman, Stat News
In response to the rising cost of medicines, a growing number of people with diabetes are spurning prescriptions and asking their physicians for lower-cost options, according to newly released government data.
GSK’s long acting HIV injection gets boost from study
Ludwig Burger and Pushkala Aripaka, Reuters
GlaxoSmithKline’s experimental HIV injection is as effective when given every other month as monthly, according to a study, a convenience that could help the British drugmaker in its battle against a rival drug from Gilead Sciences
Shopping Abroad For Cheaper Medication? Here’s What You Need To Know
Bernard J. Wolfson, Kaiser Health News
In its effort to temper the sky-high prices Americans pay for many vital medications, the Trump administration last month unveiled a plan that would legalize the importation of selected prescription drugs from countries where they sell for far less.
Addiction Clinics Market Unproven Infusion Treatments To Desperate Patients
Jake Harper, NPR News
Emerald and dozens of other companies across the U.S. say NAD therapy can address conditions from anxiety to depression to chronic fatigue and even Alzheimer’s.
Can a new Lyme disease vaccine overcome a history of distrust and failure?
Brittany Flaherty, Stat News
As the threat of Lyme disease grows and fears surrounding it spread faster than the ticks that carry the infection, researchers are developing two vaccine or vaccine-like approaches to prevent this increasingly problematic disease. But don’t expect to get one soon.
Health IT
AI startups are racing into drug development. Here’s 5 burning questions about which will survive
Rebecca Robbins, Stat News
About two years ago, Simon Smith started counting the startups trying to bring artificial intelligence to drug development. Smith, an AI startup executive himself, found about 30 of them. Now? His tally is up to 148.
Google DeepMind Co-Founder Placed on Leave From AI Lab
Giles Turner and Mark Bergen, Bloomberg
The co-founder of DeepMind, the high-profile artificial intelligence lab owned by Google, has been placed on leave after controversy over some of the projects he led.
Rucker: ONC working on app privacy with Congress, White House
Jessica Kim Cohen, Modern Healthcare
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology is working with Congress and the White House on ways to help patients understand when their health data is being used for secondary purposes.
Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives
NICA: Patients Deserve a Better Plan to Afford Drug Costs
Brian Nyquist, Morning Consult
Patients in infusion centers across America have one thing on their minds — getting better. Many of these individuals are there receiving treatment for serious chronic illnesses like Crohn’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, lupus, etc.
Will it Fly? Wyoming Attempts End Run Around High Air Ambulance Prices
Sabrina Corlette, Georgetown University Health Policy Institute’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms
The Wyoming Department of Health has developed an 1115 Medicaid waiver application that would make all Wyoming residents, regardless of income, eligible for Medicaid for air ambulance services only.
Research Reports
Strategies Used by Adults With Diagnosed Diabetes to Reduce Their Prescription Drug Costs, 2017–2018
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
In 2018, 10.1% of adults aged 18 and over had diagnosed diabetes. The majority of those with diabetes take medication for this condition.
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