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Fewer American families struggled to pay their medical bills in 2021, according to a new report, a sign that efforts to broaden access to health care and insurance are succeeding. About 11% of people belonged to families that had trouble paying medical bills in 2021 — down from 14% in 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, according to a study of thousands of US households by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics. (Meghjani, 1/18)

Researchers said the CARES Act, American Rescue Plan Act, and other pandemic relief legislation may have indirectly softened the blow of medical debt by providing direct monetary payments, increasing the percentage of people covered by insurance using COBRA premium subsidies and expanding eligibility for subsidies in Affordable Care Act markets, among other things. (Bettelheim, 1/18)

A record number of patients delayed medical care because of high costs last year, according to survey results Gallup published Tuesday. Gallup found that 38% of respondents or a family member delayed treatment over costs in 2022, a 12 percentage point increase compared to 2020 and 2021. The upswing coincided with economywide inflation reaching a 40-year high. (Berryman, 1/17)

More than two dozen big buyers of prescription medicines expect that prices will rise by an average of 8% annually over the next three years, a slight uptick from a year ago. And 19% believe that a “substantial portion” of the anticipated increases can be attributed to a shift to newer, pricier therapies, which is up from 8% a year ago, a new survey found. (Silverman, 1/17)

Most of the largest health plans in the U.S. generally provide “fair access” to 19 treatments for a handful of serious diseases, although transparent coverage information is often lacking for some medicines, a new analysis found. (Silverman, 1/17)

The Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co. has simplified things for nearly 2 million customers, Cuban told a packed crowd at the Dallas Regional Chamber’s 2023 annual meeting Tuesday. The only company Cuban has ever put his name on sells drugs at a flat 15% markup, a $3 pharmacist fee and a $5 fee for shipping. “Sometimes disruption is just about simplifying,” he said. “The pharmaceutical industry has just morphed into a very complicated industry.” (Skores, 1/17)

KHN: Numbers Don’t Lie. Biden Kept His Promise On Improving Obamacare

In a speech on Nov. 2, 2020, then-presidential candidate Joe Biden promised, “I’ll not only restore Obamacare; I’ll build on it.” Two years and counting since then, how is he doing in meeting that promise? KHN has teamed up with our partners at PolitiFact to monitor 100 key promises — including this one — made by Biden during the 2020 presidential campaign. The pledges touch on issues related to improving the economy, responding to calls for racial justice, and combating climate change. (Appleby, 1/18)