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Millions will see rise in health insurance premiums if federal subsidies expire
Andrea Deutsch, the mayor of Narberth, Pennsylvania, and the owner of a pet store in town, doesn’t get health care coverage through either of her jobs. Instead, she is enrolled in a plan she purchased on Pennie, Pennsylvania’s health insurance exchange. Deutsch, who has been mayor since 2018, is paid $1 per year for the […]
Under Trump, many states might pursue Medicaid work requirements
Trevor Hawkins, an attorney at Legal Aid of Arkansas, remembers how busy his job got when the state for a time imposed work requirements on Medicaid recipients: His office was swamped with frantic phone calls from people who said they couldn’t comply with the new rule because they weren’t healthy enough to work or had […]
More states ban PFAS, or ‘forever chemicals,’ in more products
Legislative momentum against PFAS has surged this year, as at least 11 states enacted laws to restrict the use of “forever chemicals” in everyday consumer products or professional firefighting foam. The legislation includes bans on PFAS in apparel, cleaning products, cookware, and cosmetic and menstrual products. Meanwhile, lawmakers in some states also passed measures that […]
Need to go to the hospital? Texas and Florida want to know your immigration status.
State Sen. Victor Torres represents predominantly Hispanic Osceola County in central Florida. At Sunday Mass at his local church, immigrants often tell him they are scared to seek health care. “They say, ‘My mother is ill, or my kid is sick, but I don’t have insurance,’’’ the Democrat said in an interview. “And I tell […]
States are making it easier for physician assistants to work across state lines
Mercedes Dodge was raised by first-generation immigrant parents from Peru in a modest home in a rural part of southeastern Texas, where there weren’t many health care providers. Sometimes they had to travel to Houston, over an hour and a half away, to get basic health care. Partly because of that experience, Dodge became a […]
States force drugmakers to keep selling cheaper meds under federal program
In their ongoing quest to lower prescription drug prices, some states are forcing drugmakers to continue to sell cheaper medications to thousands of pharmacies through a federal drug-discount program. Under the 32-year-old 340B program, pharmaceutical companies that participate in Medicaid must sell outpatient drugs at discounted prices to clinics, community health centers and hospitals that […]
To lower prescription drug costs, states head to the courthouse
Last month, the Federal Trade Commission released a scathing report suggesting that pharmacy benefit managers, the middlemen in the drug supply chain known as PBMs, are “profiting by inflating drug costs and squeezing Main Street pharmacies.” The FTC found that because of consolidation in the industry, the three largest PBMs now manage nearly 80% of […]
States want to lower drug prices. A federal law stands in their way.
Oliver Lackey opened a pharmacy in his hometown of Fairview, Oklahoma, so he could “provide the best patient care.” He set up shop a decade ago in the local grocery store with “zero prescriptions.” Before long, business took off — yet he was still struggling. “I was getting more patients and was filling more prescriptions,” […]
In the 10 states that didn’t expand Medicaid, 1.6M can’t afford health insurance
Nearly 1 of every 5 uninsured working-age adults across the 10 states that have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act are, according to a new analysis, stuck in a health care limbo known as a “coverage gap.” That means they earn too much money to receive Medicaid but not enough to qualify for […]
As public health becomes political, state surgeons general play delicate role
When Louisiana Republican state Rep. Brach Myers stood on the House floor this past April to advocate for his bill to create a state surgeon general position, the questions were sparse, and the debate lasted only a few minutes. Democratic Rep. Matthew Willard asked whether the new role “could create chaos or maybe even division” […]
Cooler states now forced to grapple with extreme heat fueled by climate change
NEW YORK — As temperatures soared into the 90s, the heat and humidity hit the concrete in Astoria, Queens, and bounced into the air. People moved along the scorched sidewalk slowly, their clothes drenched with sweat. Elianne Alvarado, 44, who was raised in New York City and has lived here for most of her life, […]
States struggle to help patients navigate insurance hurdle known as ‘step therapy’
Cassidy Yermal, 32, began experiencing debilitating migraines when she was 17 years old. As a teenager growing up in northeastern Pennsylvania, she saw numerous neurologists and tried a variety of medications before finding one that provided relief. In 2022, her new insurer asked her to prove it. Yermal now lives in Marlboro, Maryland, where she’s […]