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States Target School Cell Phone Use At least four states have banned or severely restricted the use of smart phones in schools in the current legislative biennium. Florida became the first state to do...
Compounded Weight-Loss Drugs Creating Headaches for State Regulators With popular weight-loss drugs like Mounjaro, Ozempic and Wegovy in short supply, many doctors, pharmacies and other providers have...
In their seminal book on the American health care system, legendary investigative reporters Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele offered a disturbing metaphor for the illogical nature of medical pricing...
PA Lawmakers Pass Bill Regulating PBMs The Pennsylvania legislature passed a bill ( HB 1993 ) aimed at increasing oversight of pharmacy benefit managers. If signed by Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), the measure...
In a sign of the times, states have begun pursuing bills that require disclosure of the use of artificial intelligence. In March, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) signed SB 149 , making the state the first...
A bill (SB 410) debated in the Michigan Senate last week would allow residents and state and local governments to sue drug manufacturers and sellers if their products cause injury. In 1995 the state passed the strongest drug immunity law in the nation, shielding drugmakers and sellers almost entirely from such suits. (BRIDGE MICHIGAN)
This year at least 24 states have enacted legislation dealing with health system consolidation and competition, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Among many other things the measures address the review and approval of health system mergers, reforms of health system contracting and certificate of need review. (NCSL)
California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill (SB 90) that would have prohibited insurers from charging consumers more than $35 out of pocket for a 30-day supply of insulin. Earlier this year the governor announced the state would be partnering with the nonprofit pharmaceutical company Civica Rx to produce its own insulin, which it plans to sell for $30. (ASSOCIATED PRESS, STATE NET)
American taxpayers are overpaying for Medicare Advantage, or Medicare Part C—under which insurance companies are paid by the federal government to manage patient care—by at least $88 billion per year and possibly as much as $140 billion per year, according to a report published by Physicians for a National Health Program. “Various elements of MA, either by design or by consequence, result in a much higher level of government spending than is necessary to provide Medicare benefits, with much of this money going toward corporate profits,” the report states. (MEDICAL ECONOMICS)
—Compiled by SNCJ Managing Editor KOREY CLARK