Health Headlines for Tuesday, August 30
In Expansion, New York’s Medical Marijuana Program Will Offer Home Delivery
New York Times
Moving to address complaints about New York’s new medical marijuana program, the state’s Health Department is making substantial changes to expand access to the drug, including allowing home delivery, quite likely by the end of September.
Obamacare Marketplaces Are in Trouble. What Can Be Done?
New York Times
It has been a hard couple of weeks for Obamacare.
How the generic EpiPen could actually be more profitable for Mylan
Stat News
In the latest twist on the EpiPen saga, drug maker Mylan appears to have figured out a way to make more money on the product — while chopping the price in half.
Clinton Proposes Plan to Address Mental Health Treatment
ABC News
Hillary Clinton rolled out a comprehensive plan to address millions of Americans coping with mental illness, pointing to the need to fully integrate mental health services into the nation’s health care system.
Doctors Will Play a Critical Role in the Opioid Epidemic
New York Times/Editorial
About half of opioid overdose deaths involve prescription drugs. With that stark fact in mind, the surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, sent an unusually direct plea last week to 2.3 million doctors and other health care workers to help fight the opioid epidemic by treating pain “safely and effectively.”
Audits Of Some Medicare Advantage Plans Reveal Pervasive Overcharging
NPR
More than three dozen just-released audits reveal how some private Medicare plans overcharged the government for the majority of elderly patients they treated, often by overstating the severity of certain medical conditions, such as diabetes and depression.
Pediatricians urge states to get tough on parents who don’t want to vaccinate their kids
LA Times
The nation’s pediatricians are pushing back against parents who resist having their children vaccinated against a broad range of dangerous diseases by calling on states to stop offering waivers to those with non-medical objections to the practice.
Full list of witnesses for Tuesday’s Senate hearings in Hoosick Falls
Albany Times Union/Blog
The Times Union reported Friday on the marquee players expected for Tuesday’s hearing on statewide water quality in Hoosick Falls, but the state Senate on Monday released the full list of attendees for the session, which begins at 10:30.