While the U.S. cracks down on vaping amid a growing number of cases of mysterious lung illnesses, the U.K. has increasingly welcomed and promoted e-cigarettes as an alternative to traditional smoking, AP's Maria Cheng reports from London.
The state of play: The Royal College of Physicians has been telling doctors to promote e-cigarettes "as widely as possible" to people trying to quit tobacco. The CDC recommends that cigarette smokers in the U.S. consider finding an alternative besides e-cigarettes — especially those with THC, the psychoactive component in marijuana.
The CDC announced Friday that THC vape products have been linked to a majority of patients with vaping-related lung injuries, citing to data from 1 local and 1 national study.
Why it matters: While the CDC is not shifting its focus away from nicotine, officials said 77% of those with exposure histories reported using products that contain THC, the psychoactive component in marijuana, or both THC-containing products and nicotine-containing products.
The theory that putting patients on the hook for more of their health care costs would make them better consumers — thus driving down overall costs — hasn't panned out, the LA Times' Noam Levey writes in his latest piece in a series on deductibles.
Why it matters: Health care prices are still rising, and are largely untethered to quality. At the same time, care has become increasingly unaffordable for many Americans.
California's law prohibiting surprise billing has led to an increase in care delivered by in-network providers, according to a new analysis by the USC-Brookings Schaeffer on Health Policy initiative.
The big picture: The leading federal surprise billing solution is similar to the California bill in that it creates a benchmark payment rate for out-of-network care. Providers have lobbied fiercely against the approach.
Washington hasn't yet given up on the prospect of passing a drug pricing bill into law, even as House Democrats move ahead with impeaching President Trump.
Between the lines: Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Trump already have plenty of bad blood, and the impeachment process is another layer of chaos. But people following the debate say both parties have plenty to gain politically from acting on an issue so important to voters.
