Why it matters: Despite the large number of people who are unable to have children, access to fertility treatments remains scarce due to "high costs, social stigma and limited availability," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom in the report.
Federal health officials are rolling out a new "National Cancer Plan" today as a framework for pursuing President Biden's Cancer Moonshot goals — including cutting the cancer death rate in half within 25 years, HHS officials told Axios first.
Why it matters: It offers a glimpse at how the National Cancer Institute will pursue those and other goals under new director Monica Bertagnolli, who took over six months ago.
The Biden administration continues to grapple with an awkward tension when it comes to Medicare Advantage: MA plans typically offer more generous benefits than traditional Medicare does, and they also cost taxpayers more money.
That's despite the fact that privately administered Medicare was created to save the government money.
Why it matters: A fiscal 2024 Medicare Advantage rule released on Friday aims to crack down on what experts say are inappropriate — and at times potentially fraudulent — insurer billing practices, and could force plans to decide between cutting benefits and lowering their own profits.
The inventory of U.S. life sciences laboratories and R&D sites jumped by nearly 50% in five years to 181.7 million square feet as of the fourth quarter of 2022, according to a CBRE report provided first to Axios.
CBRE forecasts the properties will consume 220 million square feet by 2025 as new construction is completed, with nearly a third of the future space already pre-leased, according to the 2023 U.S. Life Sciences Outlook.
Though bank turmoil is likely to slow venture capital funding, initial public offerings, and job growth, there's still a bevy of clinical trials for new drugs, federal funding, and ample cash reserves — at least for biotech's bigger players.
The industry's vacancy rate, which rose to 5.7% in the fourth quarter from 5.1% in the third quarter of 2022, is still low compared to many other sectors.
By the numbers: Boston and Cambridge, Mass. remain hubs with 52.7 million square feet of inventory and 15.3 million square feet of life sciences space under construction.
Only 3% of that space is vacant after booking the largest leases of 2022. Both Takeda and AstraZeneca leased about 600,000 square feet of space, respectively, in Cambridge.
The San Francisco Bay Area, which has about 33.7 million square feet of space, also has among the fastest-growing inventories with 9.3 million square feet under construction.
Chicago, which has less than 2 million square feet of life science inventory also has the most space available with a nearly 30% vacancy rate.
Medicare administrators are cracking down on hospice fraud, releasing a proposal to require physicians who order hospice services to be enrolled in or validly opted out of Medicare in order to get paid.
Why it matters: Lawmakers are concerned about hospice fraud and want to see CMS step up to curb it.
A life-saving opioid overdose treatment could soon be as common as Tylenol on retail store shelves. The question is whether making it more accessible will get it to the people who need it the most.
Why it matters: Wednesday's FDA approval of Narcan for over-the-counter use has a financial cost. And if insurers or governments don't step up, addiction experts fear it could widen health disparities and undercut the FDA’s goals of addressing a "dire public health need."
