Why it matters: Hospital-acquired infections kill tens of thousands annually, sicken many more and cost billions — and they're often preventable through measures like disinfecting surgical sites.
Pandemic-era policies that made it easier for patients to receive opioid addiction treatmentwill continue permanently, the Biden administration announced this week.
Why it matters: The changesmark the first time in 20 years the federal government has updated rules governing clinics that provide medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder.
A Food and Drug Administration expert panel on Friday is set to resume the pandemic-driven debate over how to make pulse oximeters more accurate for people with darker skin.
Why it matters: There's growing evidence that the devices don't reliably detect low oxygen levels in Black patients, resulting in delayed care, missed diagnoses of hypoxemia and possibly worse outcomes.
Seven years since the term "situationships" was coined in Cosmopolitan, the concept has not only gone mainstream, but turned into a desired outcome among some dating app users — and spawned new merch.
Why it matters: Situationships are a reflection of modern dating culture, in which romance and commitment have been supplanted by convenience, variety and disposability — which suits some people just fine.
Aduhelm — the pricey Alzheimer's drug that sparked congressional scrutiny of the Food and Drug Administration's process for fast-tracking approvals as well as fears of Medicare insolvency — is coming off the market, drugmaker Biogen said Wednesday.
Why it matters: Despite Aduhelm's lackluster performance, its accelerated approval in June 2021 drove urgent conversations about how the health care system can afford a new wave of expensive treatments that for the first time slow Alzheimer's progression, albeit mildly.
Hundreds of thousands of Texans recently have lost Medicaid coverage due to faulty eligibility software from Deloitte, consumer advocacy groups alleged in a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday.
Why it matters: While the filing is focused on Medicaid redeterminations in Texas, where about 1.8 million people have been removed from the rolls since April, the advocates claim the issues are part of recurring problems with eligibility systems Deloitte has provided to state Medicaid programs.
Insurers who administer private Medicare plans would see their base payments cut slightly next year, by 0.16%, under a federal proposal announced Wednesday.
But the insurers still could see $16 billion more in 2025 revenues once payments are adjusted based on how sick their enrollees appear, Medicare officials said.
Why it matters: More than half of Medicare enrollees now get their coverage from Medicare Advantage plans. But experts say the plans are overpaid and that coverage costs taxpayers tens of billions of dollars more than it should.
New Medicare drug pricing negotiations, which kick into high gear Thursday, for the first time will allow the federal government to tie a medicine's price to how well it works compared with similar treatments.
Why it matters: Other countries already make these kind of value assessments, but it's a fundamental shift for the U.S. government to wade into a process that involves making challenging — and sometimes politically sensitive — calculations about how to value the benefits drugs provide.
