Bill Would Limit Insulin Costs At $35 For Patients With Private Insurance
About 57% of people with private health insurance plans don't get any relief from state measures to cap costs. The bipartisan bill also calls for a program to provide more affordable insulin to uninsured Americans in 10 states, AP reported. Previous attempts to cap insulin costs have failed in Congress.
Two-year-old Bain Brandon has Type 1 diabetes and needs insulin to live. But even with health insurance, the price tag isn鈥檛 cheap. A one-month supply of insulin vials and a three-month supply of backup pens for the Mississippi toddler cost his parents $194 last week, according to his mom, 29-year-old Marlee Brandon. They can afford it right now 鈥 but she worries about the future. 鈥淥ne day, Bain will be an adult, and he won鈥檛 be able to be on our insurance anymore,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 feel like a lot of people don鈥檛 realize how much and how expensive it is.鈥 (Swenson, 4/2)
Hospital associations have laid out their policy wish list for Congress regarding long-term care hospitals (LTCH), calling for refinements to various requirements around patient criteria and stay length that affect payments. The changes outlined by the lobbying groups, including the American Hospital Association, would relieve the 鈥渟evere stress鈥 the subsector is facing and head off facility closures that have mounted in recent years, they said. Failing to stem the loss of LTCH beds 鈥渨ill exacerbate growing hospital and post-acute capacity concerns in markets throughout the country,鈥 they said. (Muoio, 4/1)
Democratic Sen. Cory Booker filed a legal brief with the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday backing cancer patients in a high-stakes case that could determine whether thousands of lawsuits over the weedkiller Roundup can proceed 鈥 and drawing a direct contrast with the Trump administration's position. The filing, known as an amicus brief, supports a plaintiff who alleges Monsanto failed to warn consumers about cancer risks tied to Roundup, one of the most widely used herbicides in the world. (Maguire, 4/1)
A year after staffing cuts, leadership disruptions and communication restrictions slowed the World Trade Center Health Program, decisions on whether to add new conditions remain unresolved, with no clear timeline, advocates told ABC News. The program serves roughly 140,000 responders and survivors with cancers, respiratory illness, and other conditions linked to 9/11 exposure. It is currently staffed well below capacity with about 83 employees, down from 93 a year ago and far short of the 120 positions authorized by the federal Office of Management and Budget, according to Ben Chevat, executive director of 9/11 Health Watch. (Neporent, 3/31)
