health care

How Drug Companies Control How Their Drugs Are Covered By Medicaid

7:15am July 19, 2018

by Alison Kodjak

NPR's Alison Kodjak and the Center for Public Integrity have been looking at how the drug industry tries to keep Medicaid money flowing. Here they examine the industry's massive lobbying efforts.

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Drug companies have infiltrated nearly every part of the process that determines how their drugs will be covered by Medicaid.

Health & Safety

Investigation: Patients' Drug Options Under Medicaid Heavily Influenced By Drugmakers

11:18am July 18, 2018

Drug companies have infiltrated nearly every part of the process that determines how their drugs will be covered by Medicaid, an investigation by NPR and the Center for Public Integrity finds.

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Some critically ill patients who received a CAR-T cell treatment have remained cancer-free for as long as five years, researchers say. But the price is high.

Insurers And Government Are Slow To Cover Expensive CAR-T Cancer Therapy

3:36pm July 17, 2018

by Michelle Andrews

Treatment costs for the immunotherapy can run to more than $1 million. Some state Medicaid programs aren't paying for the treatment, and Medicare's complicated payment rates have hospitals worried.

Without scrutiny, insurers and data brokers are predicting your health costs based on public data about things like race, marital status, your TV consumption and even if you buy plus-size clothing.

Health & Safety

Health Insurers Are Vacuuming Up Details About You — And It Could Raise Your Rates

12:15pm July 17, 2018

by Marshall Allen

Without scrutiny, insurers and data brokers are predicting your health costs based on public data about things like race, marital status, your TV consumption and even if you buy plus-size clothing.

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Information that could refine the uses of approved drugs may lie deep inside patients' medical records.

Health & Safety

To Improve Treatments, Researchers Want To Hunt For Clues In Medical Records

7:30am July 15, 2018

by Richard Harris

The vast amount of data held in electronic medical records and insurance bills contains bits that could be useful in refining the use of approved for drugs. But how to find it?

Julien Lavandier, a Colorado State University student, started smoking e-cigarettes as a high school sophomore. He says he's now hooked on Juul and has been unable to quit.

He Started Vaping As A Teen And Now Says Habit Is 'Impossible To Let Go'

5:54pm July 14, 2018

by John Daley

Public health officials worry vaping is an emerging disaster that could reverse years of decline in smoking by young people. What's the latest evidence that e-cigarettes are a gateway to tobacco?

The State Of The Affordable Care Act

8:28am July 14, 2018

by Alison Kodjak

The Trump administration has made more moves that may further destabilize the Affordable Care Act.

Prescription opioids like OxyContin flooded Missouri during the past six years.

Health & Safety

REPORT: 1.6 Billion Opioid Doses Poured Into Missouri Over 6 Years

7:25pm July 12, 2018

by Alison Kodjak

A Senate investigation into prescription opioids in Missouri finds that pharmaceutical wholesalers had different standards for reporting suspicious orders to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Abortion Rights Groups Prepare For Intensified Battle At The State Level

5:09pm July 12, 2018

by Sarah McCammon

Abortion rights advocates are concerned that a conservative-leaning Supreme Court might reverse or substantially erode Roe v. Wade. Under that scenario, states could have free reign to restrict the procedure.

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At safe injection sites like Insite, in Vancouver, Canada, drug users can inject drugs under the watch of trained medical staff who will help in case of overdose.

Cities Planning Supervised Drug Injection Sites Fear Justice Department Reaction

11:41am July 12, 2018

by Bobby Allyn

More than a dozen cities from San Francisco to New York are trying to open safe injection sites for heroin users. But worries about a crackdown from the Justice Department have local leaders on edge.

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