Wait, What’s a PBM?
Pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, are companies that negotiate the prices of prescription drugs. Hear about their role in raising drug prices and the ongoing efforts to regulate this complex industry.
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Excessive Drinking During the Pandemic Increased Alcoholic Liver Disease Death Rates
The number of Californians dying from alcoholic liver disease rose dramatically in the last decade, sped by the pandemic.
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Meet the People Deciding How to Spend $50 Billion in Opioid Settlement Cash
As settlement dollars land at the state level, state councils wield significant power in determining how the windfall gets spent. And, though they will likely include the most knowledgeable voices on addiction, these panels also face concerns about conflicts of interest and other issues.
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Patients Squeezed in Fight Over Who Gets to Bill for Pricey Infusion Drugs
To drive down costs, insurers are bypassing hospital system pharmacies and delivering high-priced infusion drugs, including some used in chemotherapy, via third-party pharmacies. Smarting from losing out on billing for those drugs, hospitals and clinics are trying to convince states to limit this practice, known as "white bagging."
Credit Card, Please
Season 9, Episode 8What do you do when a medical provider asks you to provide a credit card upfront? In this episode, we hear advice about your options in this situation.
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Need to Get Plan B or an HIV Test Online? Facebook May Know About It
Twelve of the largest drugstores in the U.S. sent shoppers鈥 sensitive health information to Facebook or other platforms, according to an investigation by The Markup and 51视频 Health News.
A Year Without Roe
Episode 304It鈥檚 been a year since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and, with it, the nationwide right to abortion. The decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women鈥檚 Health Organization set off widespread uncertainty in government and the courts about the legality or illegality of the procedure. But the decision has had other consequences too, including affecting where health professionals choose to locate. In this special episode of 51视频 Health News鈥 鈥淲hat the Health?鈥 Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join 51视频 Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 51视频鈥檚 Alina Salganicoff about the organization鈥檚 research and other work on women鈥檚 health policy over the past year.
Live From Aspen: Three HHS Secretaries on What the Job Is Really Like
Episode 303What does a day in the life of the nation鈥檚 top health official really look like? And how much of their agenda is set by the White House? In this special episode of 51视频 Health News鈥 鈥淲hat the Health?鈥 鈥 taped before a live audience at Aspen Ideas: Health, part of the Aspen Ideas Festival, in Aspen, Colorado 鈥 host and chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner leads a rare conversation with the current and two former U.S. secretaries of Health and Human Services. Secretary Xavier Becerra and former secretaries Kathleen Sebelius and Alex Azar talk candidly about what it takes to run a department with more than 80,000 employees and a budget larger than those of many countries.
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What You Need to Know About the Opioid Settlement Funds
States and localities are receiving more than $54 billion over nearly two decades.
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Find Out How Much Opioid Settlement Cash Your Locality Received
You can use documents obtained by 51视频 Health News to see the exact dollar amounts that local governments in your state have been allocated in 2022 and 2023.
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Opioid Settlement Payouts to Localities Made Public for First Time
51视频 Health News obtained documents showing the exact dollar amounts 鈥 down to the cent 鈥 that local governments have been allocated in 2022 and 2023 to battle the ongoing opioid crisis.
Slow Your Disenroll
Episode 302More than a million Americans have lost Medicaid coverage since pandemic protections ended. The Biden administration is asking states to slow disenrollment, but that does not mean states must listen. Meanwhile, a Supreme Court decision gives Medicaid beneficiaries the right to sue over their care, and a new deal preserves coverage of preventive services nationwide as a Texas court case continues. Rachel Cohrs of Stat, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join 51视频 Health News鈥 Mary Agnes Carey to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, 51视频 Health News鈥 Julie Rovner interviews Dan Mendelson, CEO of Morgan Health, a new unit of JPMorgan Chase, about employers鈥 role in insurance coverage.
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Biden Admin Implores States to Slow Medicaid Cuts After More Than 1M Enrollees Dropped
Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra is asking states to make more of an effort to keep eligible Medicaid recipients enrolled. He particularly fears children losing health insurance coverage.
By Hannah Recht -
What Does a Chatbot Know About Eating Disorders? Users of a Help Line Are About to Find Out
The National Eating Disorders Association鈥檚 help line has seen demand climb to unsustainable levels since the beginning of the covid pandemic, with more people reporting severe mental health problems, the nonprofit says. But staffers worry this chatbot may make things worse.
Debt Deal Leaves Health Programs (Mostly) Intact
Episode 301The bipartisan deal to extend the U.S. government鈥檚 borrowing authority includes future cuts to federal health agencies, but they are smaller than many expected and do not touch Medicare and Medicaid. Meanwhile, Merck & Co. becomes the first drugmaker to sue Medicare officials over the federal health insurance program鈥檚 new authority to negotiate drug prices. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, and Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call join 51视频 Health News鈥 chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 51视频 Health News senior correspondent Sarah Jane Tribble, who reported the latest 51视频 Health News-NPR 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 feature, about the perils of visiting the U.S. with European health insurance.
A ‘Payday Loan’ From a Health Care Behemoth
Season 9, Episode 7UnitedHealth Group is the largest health insurer in the United States. And it keeps growing. This has led some health care experts to call for antitrust regulation of this 鈥渂ehemoth鈥 company.
Our 300th Episode!
Episode 300When 51视频 Health News鈥 鈥淲hat the Health?鈥 podcast launched in 2017, Republicans in Washington were engaged in an (ultimately unsuccessful) campaign to 鈥渞epeal and replace鈥 the Affordable Care Act. The next six years would see a pandemic, increasingly unaffordable care, and a health care workforce experiencing unprecedented burnout. In the podcast鈥檚 300th episode, host and chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner explores the past and possible future of the U.S. health care system with three prominent 鈥渂ig thinkers鈥 in health policy: Ezekiel Emanuel of the University of Pennsylvania, Jeff Goldsmith of Health Futures, and Farzad Mostashari of Aledade.
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Watch: Payback for the Opioid Crisis: How Did the Sackler Family Skirt Liability?
51视频 Health News senior correspondent Aneri Pattani appeared on PBS NewsHour to discuss the ruling surrounding drugmaker Purdue Pharma's role in the opioid crisis and her reporting into the ongoing distribution of opioid settlement funds.
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As Medicaid Purge Begins, 鈥楽taggering Numbers鈥 of Americans Lose Coverage
In what鈥檚 known as the Medicaid 鈥渦nwinding,鈥 states are combing through rolls to decide who stays and who goes. But the overwhelming majority of people who have lost coverage so far were dropped because of technicalities, not because officials determined they are no longer eligible.
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Many People Living in the ‘Diabetes Belt’ Are Plagued With Medical Debt
The 鈥淒iabetes Belt,鈥 as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, comprises 644 mostly Southern counties where diabetes rates are high. Of those counties, 51视频 Health News and NPR found, more than half also have high levels of medical debt.