Delaware is using funding from last year's Republican budget law to launch a first-of-its-kind effort to standardize and streamline insurer pre-treatment claims reviews, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The effort is aimed at cutting down the burden of so-called prior authorizations — and among the early announced uses of the $50 billion rural health transformation fund that lawmakers included in the law.
Democratic socialist and progressives' successin this year's primaries is evidence of new enthusiasm for Medicare for All plans that many centrists have long dismissed as costly pipe dreams.
Why it matters: The health affordability crisis and widespread frustration with the medical system are fueling a new appetite for big-government solutions to address drug prices, insurance premiums and long-term care costs.
Extreme heat gripping much of the U.S. has killed at least two dozen people over the past week, as about 40 million people remained under heat alerts Sunday.
Why it matters: Extreme heat is the nation's deadliest weather hazard, and the rising death toll underscores how dangerous prolonged heat can be.
Data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Chart: Danielle Alberti/Axios
Americans are spending less time hanging out than they were 20 years ago — and the trend cuts across every generation, Axios' Erica Pandey writes from new American Time Use Survey data.
Why it matters: It's a fundamental shift in the way we live our lives that has implications for everything from what we believe to how long we live.
