The blood-thinners Eliquis and Xarelto are among the 10 prescription medicines the Biden administration will seek lower Medicare prices for under a new program allowing the government to negotiate drug prices for America's seniors.
Why it matters: The administration's landmark announcement Tuesday detailed the first-ever set of drugs subject to Medicare price negotiations, a longtime Democratic priority included in last year's Inflation Reduction Act over drug companies' fervent objections.
Uruguay is tackling its staggering suicide rates by offering free antidepressants and establishing youth social and mental health centers as part of a national plan to promote wellbeing.
The big picture: The country's average suicide rate last year was more than double that in all of Latin America. There were 23 suicides per 100,000 people in 2022, up from 20 in 2019. The regional average last year was 9 per 100,000 people.
Danaher, a Washington, D.C.-based life sciences conglomerate, agreed to buy Abcam, a British provider of biological reagents for $5.7 billion in cash (including debt assumption).
Why it matters: Abcam is often called the "Amazon of antibodies," and will allow Danaher to provide its lab equipment customers with a broad range of consumables.
Hospitals' financial performance worsened in July due to a summertime drop in outpatient business and ongoing Medicaid redeterminations in more than 30 states, the consultancy Kaufman Hall said in its latest industry report.
The big picture: While there was some improvement in operating margins compared to last year, bad debt and charity care as a percentage of hospitals' gross operating revenue rose 7% from June to July.
Schools across the country are missing out on millions of dollars from an unlikely federal source — Medicaid — because of longstanding bureaucratic hurdles that the Biden administration is now trying to address.
That's according to an investigation by NPR freelance reporter Shasta Kearns Moore and Axios' Emily Harris (who began the investigation while at NPR).
In the year since the passage of Democrats' drug pricing law, pharmaceutical companies and venture capitalists have shifted their priorities and placed less emphasis on developing synthetic drugs that will be subject to price negotiations faster than biologics.
The big picture: Pharmaceutical interests say it's proof that Democrats' signature health policy achievement is driving investment away from some mainstays of modern medicine.
Back-t0-school seasonis sparking renewed concern about the long-running shortage of Adderall and other medicines prescribed for ADHD.
Why it matters: It's hard to predict how long drug shortages may last due to limited transparency in the supply chain, but experts note that prescriptions for Adderall historically pick up as students head back to the classroom.
American spending on mental health with private insurance surged during the pandemic, according to a new study published in the scientific journal JAMA Health Forum.
More than 8 in 10 health care leaders in a new survey say hiring and keeping talent is a top risk for their business — a reflection of the labor issues continuing to roil health care and other high-stakes industries.
Why it matters: Health care executives (82%) were more likely than those from most industries (71%) to indicate concern about talent retention in this inflationary environment, according to a PwC August Pulse Survey.
