Health Headlines for Friday, September 16
EpiPen Maker Quietly Steers Effort That Could Protect Its Price
New York Times
Against a growing outcry over the surging price of EpiPens, a chorus of prominent voices has emerged with a smart-sounding solution: Add the EpiPen, the lifesaving allergy treatment, to a federal list of preventive medical services, a move that would eliminate the out-of-pocket costs of the product for millions of families — and mute the protests.
By One Measure, Health Care Law Is a Record Success
New York Times
Included among the many uplifting economic numbers released by the Census Bureau on Tuesday was a remarkable one about health insurance in the United States: Only 9.1 percent of Americans do not have coverage, the lowest level ever recorded by the agency.
Trump Says He’d Use Medicaid to Expand Insurance Coverage
Bloomberg
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said that as president he would use Medicaid to cover poor people who can’t afford private health insurance, and make birth control available without a prescription.
New MVP executive: I want to hear about ‘pain points’ of hospitals, doctors
Albany Business Review
The new chief medical officer at Schenectady nonprofit insurer MVP said she has a mission to change the way health care providers get paid.
State removes bars for hepatitis C patients needing expensive cures
Politico
The state handed an unexpected victory Wednesday to thousands of patients suffering from hepatitis C, removing guidelines that denied Medicaid patients access to expensive, lifesaving medications until they became very ill.
Exclusive: Obama administration to launch new effort on heroin crisis
USA Today
The Justice Department is preparing to launch a renewed strategy to address the unrelenting scourge of heroin and opioid addiction, in part by placing greater emphasis on identifying links between over-prescribing doctors and distribution networks across the country.
Albany Med, Saratoga Hospital deal moves forward
Albany Business Review
The second piece of a network to rival the Albany region’s largest health care system is almost in place.