January 24, 2025
(ProPublica) – The probe found widespread noncompliance and violations of federal law in how health plans and insurers cover mental health care, echoing the findings of a recent ProPublica investigation. Health plans, and the companies that administer them, have excluded … Read More
January 22, 2025
Journal of Medical Ethics (vol. 51, no. 1, 2025) is available online by subscription only. Articles include:
January 21, 2025
(KFF Health News) – That evening, the 49-year-old volunteered for a 14-hour shift at the city’s evacuation center, as did colleagues who had also been activated for emergency medical duty. Running on adrenaline and little sleep after finding shelter for … Read More
January 17, 2025
(New York Times) – A law that coaxed companies to lower the price of drugs came with a little-known consequence: smaller discounts for low-income health clinics. The decision to make these medications more affordable for large swaths of patients has … Read More
January 16, 2025
(New York Times) – A private business has helped supercharge a controversial federal drug program. Patients and insurers have been left with big bills. The intention behind the program was for a small number of safety-net providers to have access … Read More
January 16, 2025
The New England Journal of Medicine (vol. 391, no. 22, 2024) is available online by subscription only. Articles include:
January 14, 2025
(Vox) – The Supreme Court announced on Friday that it will hear Becerra v. Braidwood Management, the latest in a long line of lawsuits seeking to undermine the Affordable Care Act, the landmark health reform law that President Barack Obama … Read More
January 13, 2025
(Wall Street Journal) – Healthcare industry leaders gathering in San Francisco for an annual conference typically discuss dealmaking, bestselling drugs and how to entice their next big investor. This year another topic is foremost on their minds: Staying safe. The … Read More
January 13, 2025
Journal of Bioethical Inquiry (vol. 21, no. 3, 2024) is available online by subscription only. Articles include:
January 9, 2025
(NBC News) – The bipartisan investigation of hospital systems purchased by Apollo Global Management and Leonard Green & Partners reinforced the findings of past academic research. A yearlong bipartisan congressional investigation into two private equity-backed U.S. hospital systems found that patient care … Read More
January 7, 2025
(NPR) – The federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday issued new regulations barring medical debts from American credit reports, enacting a major new consumer protection just days before President Joe Biden is set to leave office. The rules ban … Read More
January 7, 2025
The New England Journal of Medicine AI (vol. 2, no. 1, 2024) is available online by subscription only. Articles include:
January 6, 2025
(KFF Health News) – “Insurance covers a knee replacement if it’s covered with skin, but if it’s covered with plastic, it’s not going to cover it,” said Jeffrey Cain, a family physician and former chair of the board of the … Read More
January 6, 2025
(STAT News) – Advocates worry about cuts to long-term care as well as home- and community-based services The changes would dramatically alter states’ budgets and could curtail or end care for millions of people with disabilities. Two expensive programs in … Read More
January 6, 2025
(Axios) – Mounting public anger over health insurance is leading more state legislatures to eye tighter oversight of the industry, starting with its use of AI to screen claims and issue denials. Why it matters: While congressional scrutiny of the … Read More
January 6, 2025
(Axios) – Charging patients to message their doctors through portals could reduce health worker burnout and modestly lightened clinicians’ workloads at the Mayo Clinic, researchers said. Why it matters: More health systems have been charging to answer patient queries since … Read More
January 3, 2025
(Wall Street Journal) – From a humble base, it gobbled up big chunks of the U.S. health system, including doctor practices, pharmacy-benefits managers and medical billing services UnitedHealth recorded $372 billion in revenue last year—making it about the same size … Read More
January 3, 2025
BMC Medical Ethics has new articles available online. Articles include:
December 31, 2024
(ProPublica) – Health insurers frequently review patients’ progress to see if they can be moved down to a lower — and almost always cheaper — level of care. That can cut both ways. They sometimes cite a lack of progress … Read More
December 30, 2024
(The Hill) – A report from the Senate Intelligence Committee offers a critical look at the CIA’s handling of cases of unexplained health incidents, determining its approach hindered its ability to care for staff and alienated employees. The Friday report on … Read More
December 30, 2024
(Wall Street Journal) – The government’s Medicare Advantage system, which uses private insurers to provide health benefits to seniors and disabled people, pays the companies based on how sick patients are, to cover the higher costs of sicker patients. Medicare … Read More
December 27, 2024
(The Guardian) – Drugs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro are an attractive prospect for online businesses and traditional pharmacies as well as the firms that make them It is a trend rooted in profit-making. Adverts featuring prescription-only weight-loss medications are … Read More
December 27, 2024
(Reuters via Yahoo! News) – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday its analysis of samples from the first severe case of bird flu in the country last week showed mutations not seen in samples from … Read More
December 27, 2024
(The Washington Post) – Overdose deaths have reached record levels in the United States in recent years. Despite signs of decline, the number of people dying nationwide from overdoses has eclipsed 100,000 annually between 2020 and 2023, according to national … Read More
December 27, 2024
(New York Times) – Since the late 1990s, drug companies have spent tens of billions of dollars on television ads, drumming up demand for their products with cheerful jingles and scenes of dancing patients. Now, some people up for top … Read More
