Health Headlines for Tuesday, June 6
Cuomo’s emergency regs would keep Obamacare intact in N.Y.
Albany Times Union
In the wake of uncertainty over health care reform in Washington, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced emergency regulations signaling that health insurance coverage would continue as New Yorkers have known it for the last several years.
Drug Deaths in America Are Rising Faster Than Ever
New York Times
Drug overdose deaths in 2016 most likely exceeded 59,000, the largest annual jump ever recorded in the United States, according to preliminary data compiled by The New York Times.
Blue Cross Blue Shield insurers are making money on the ACA
AXIOS
We reported earlier this month that the large publicly traded health insurance companies have reaped enormous profits so far in 2017. But the not-for-profit Blue Cross Blue Shield plans — the ones that have been the linchpins of the volatile Affordable Care Act marketplaces — have been doing a lot better than last year, too.
Drug Prices Become Target for FDA as Chief Expands Purview
Bloomberg
The head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is considering using the agency’s powers to bring more price competition to the market for generic drugs, targeting high-priced products by prioritizing the approval of additional competing treatments.
VA taps Cerner for new veterans medical record system
USA Today
The secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs says veterans shouldn’t have to wait for a better medical record system, so he’s citing a public interest exception to federal contracting rules and tapping a private company — without competitive bidding — to build a new system.