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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...
Hospitals and other healthcare providers have traditionally offered patients interest-free payment plans to help them manage their medical bills. But providers have increasingly been relying on payment plans provided by financing companies, which promise to collect more of the money owed to the providers in exchange for a cut.
The downside for patients is that the financing companies often charge interest, only adding to the patients’ debt, in some cases thousands of dollars over the length of the financing term. One in five adults, roughly 50 million people, are currently on a financing plan for medical or dental services, about a quarter of which are paying interest, according to a poll conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation. (KAISER HEALTH NEWS, KAISER FAMILY FOUNDATION)
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) declared a state of emergency last week due to the overwhelming surge of viral infections, including the flu and Respiratory Syncytial Virus, or RSV, among infants and children. The governor’s office said in a statement that the emergency order would “give hospitals additional flexibility to staff beds for children, allow them to draw on a pool of medical volunteer nurses and doctors, and take other steps to provide care to pediatric patients.” (OREGONIAN [PORTLAND])
A survey of over 9,500 primary care physicians in 10 wealthy countries, including the United States, found that the workload for most physicians has increased since the start of the pandemic, that physicians under the age of 55 are more likely to be experiencing stress and burnout, and that some physicians feel their quality of care has declined. The survey, commissioned by the Commonwealth Fund, also noted that half or more of physicians over 55 indicated that they planned to “stop seeing patients within the next three years, leaving a primary care workforce made up of younger, more stressed, and burned-out physicians.” (STAT, COMMONWEALTH FUND)
-- Compiled by KOREY CLARK