Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) appointed Eric Cantor, former Republican House majority leader, as its next president and CEO. Cantor brings extensive Washington experience to the pharmaceutical industry's top lobbying position.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation giving the California attorney general oversight authority over Kaiser Permanente's medical arbitration system, addressing patient complaints that the system has favored the healthcare giant over patients seeking to resolve disputes.
The Inflation Reduction Act's Medicare out-of-pocket cap is reducing costs for cancer patients, but community oncology leaders warn that negotiated drug price cuts are creating financial pressures on medical practices.
A new analysis from Covista predicts the national healthcare clinician shortage in the United States will nearly double by 2040, putting the healthcare system on the brink of a workforce crisis. The report suggests it's not too late to address the shortage through intervention.
The 340B drug discount program is under debate as a new report shows participating hospitals lag behind peers in charity care spending, while stakeholders at a conference discuss potential reforms including data clearinghouses and a 2027 rebate model. Critics argue the program has expanded without corresponding patient benefits.
NHS England is expanding Martha's rule, which allows patients, staff, and relatives to request a second opinion or urgent review of care, to all accident and emergency departments across England. The system aims to improve patient safety by enabling concerns about treatment to be escalated.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is preparing to reset Medicare laboratory payments in 2027, citing new private-payer data indicating the program currently pays substantially more than necessary for lab services.
In her first public speaking event as CDC director, Erica Schwartz, MD, JD, MPH, made rebuilding public trust and transparency her top priorities. Schwartz is the first Black woman to lead the CDC.
Nearly $12 billion in Medicaid funding has been restored to Texas hospitals, resolving a nearly year-long dispute with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The hospitals had been slated to lose $27 million per day during the standoff.
Patrick Velliky, HaloMD's chief external affairs officer, maintains the No Surprises Act is reducing out-of-network spending despite contradictory research, while responding to criticisms of both his analysis and the company.
England's NHS will provide AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo's Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan) for aggressive breast cancer after the drug was previously rejected twice. The approval follows an agreement reached with the companies.
The American Association for Cancer Research released its 16th annual Cancer Progress Report highlighting major scientific advances while warning that federal funding cuts threaten future research. Pennsylvania senators are pressing the Trump administration over millions in cuts to health research funding at institutions like the University of Pittsburgh.
The FDA is accepting applications for a pilot program to expedite drug testing in humans, while at least 19 US states have applied for a Medicaid drug-pricing experiment with international benchmarking. Separately, India's government is streamlining its drug approval process by allowing studies to begin after notifying regulators and cutting import license processing times in half.
A bipartisan campaign founded by philanthropists Olivia and Tom Walton announced a $100 million, 5-year commitment to make giving birth in the United States safer and reduce maternal mortality rates by half.
A study by the Urban Institute found that new work requirements and frequent eligibility checks in the Big Beautiful Bill could cause up to 2.3 million young adults to lose Medicaid coverage. The disenrollment risk is particularly high for young adults who move frequently and work in gig economy jobs, making it difficult to prove continued eligibility.
The Trump administration announced it will send $500 payments to nearly 1 million Americans enrolled in Affordable Care Act health insurance plans, describing them as refunds for overcharges. The payments are scheduled for October, just weeks before the midterm elections, raising questions about the legal authority and political timing of the rebates.
The Pentagon has temporarily rescinded recently published clinical guidance that would have required mandatory testosterone deficiency screening for male service members aged 30 and older. The policy was announced by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the summer but the guidance issued Wednesday was quickly pulled back.
UnitedHealthcare announced it is eliminating prior authorization requirements for 1,700 diagnostic and procedure codes starting in October 2026, part of its commitment to reduce utilization management controls by 30%. The move received cautious approval from healthcare experts, though some questioned the practical impact of the changes.
A federal appeals court ruled the Justice Department can proceed with a subpoena against a Washington state provider of gender-affirming care to minors, while the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ended federal Medicaid funding for such treatments. The moves are part of the Trump administration's broader campaign to restrict transgender healthcare for young people.
The Trump administration finalized a rule ending Medicaid and CHIP funding for gender-affirming surgeries and hormone treatments for transgender minors. The policy change, announced Tuesday, is the latest in a series of actions by the administration targeting transgender people.
The UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has authorized orforglipron (brand name Foundayo), a once-daily oral medication from Eli Lilly for treating obesity and type 2 diabetes, making the UK the first country in Europe to approve the drug.
Public Citizen alleges that a little-noticed Medicare rule change will exempt AbbVie's pancreatic insufficiency drug Creon from price negotiations for seven extra years, potentially costing taxpayers billions. The controversy emerges amid broader debates over Medicare drug pricing policies and their fiscal impact.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finalized a 2.3% payment increase for inpatient hospitals in fiscal year 2027 and introduced the first nationwide mandatory payment model for joint replacements starting in 2028. Hospital groups criticized the raise as inadequate and objected to the mandatory nature of the new model.
A class action lawsuit challenges the Trump administration's directive to insurance carriers to strip gender transition care from federal employee health insurance plans, with the Human Rights Campaign calling it discrimination.
A group of U.S. federal employees, supported by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, filed a class-action lawsuit in Washington, D.C. federal court on Monday challenging the Trump administration's ban on health insurance coverage for gender-affirming care under federal employee health plans. The lawsuit alleges the policy violates federal prohibitions on sex discrimination.
The British Columbia Supreme Court has ruled that provincial laws allowing forced psychiatric treatment of involuntary patients without assessing their capacity to consent are unconstitutional, giving the government six months to reform the legislation. The court found B.C. is an outlier among provinces for granting mental health facilities unilateral power to treat people against their will without independent oversight.
The European Commission has approved AstraZeneca's Etcamah (camizestrant) in combination with a CDK4/6 inhibitor for first-line treatment of adults with ER-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer with emergent ESR1 mutations. The approval is based on SERENA-6 Phase III trial results showing a 56% reduction in risk of disease progression or death.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Dexcom as the inaugural manufacturer selected for its Technology-Enabled Meaningful Patient Outcomes (TEMPO) for Digital Health Devices Pilot, which coordinates with CMS's outcomes-based ACCESS model to align device market entry and reimbursement processes.
AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo are nearing a pricing agreement with the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for their breast cancer treatment Enhertu, which could provide access to women in England and Wales with HER2-low breast cancer.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has proposed cutting Medicare payments for drugs purchased under the 340B Drug Pricing Program in its 2027 rule, reigniting a long-standing dispute between safety-net hospitals and federal regulators over the program designed to help vulnerable populations access medications.
The Trump administration has proposed a new regulation through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services targeting hospitals in the 340B Drug Pricing Program, aiming to prevent markups on discounted drugs for Medicare patients and potentially save consumers $1.1 billion next year.
A coalition of 25 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit in federal court in Boston challenging a Trump administration rule that implements new Medicaid work requirements and narrows exemptions for medically vulnerable people.
The FDA and HHS are implementing sweeping reforms to speed up early-stage drug research in the United States, addressing concerns that pharmaceutical companies have increasingly moved clinical trials to countries like China and Australia. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the changes aimed at bringing investment back to the U.S.
Erica Schwartz, President Trump's nominee to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has committed to resigning from UnitedHealth and board positions, selling healthcare-related holdings, and recusing herself from matters involving former employers if confirmed by the Senate.
The U.S. Trade Representative has initiated a formal trade investigation into Germany's plan to reduce spending on pharmaceutical products, examining whether the pricing policies are unreasonable or discriminatory. The probe could result in retaliatory tariffs on German goods.
Medicaid cuts stemming from Republicans' 2025 tax law are now projected to be significantly larger than originally forecast, with estimates reaching $775 billion. This represents a major expansion of expected reductions to the federal health insurance program for low-income Americans.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a proposed rule (CMS-2449-P) addressing Medicaid managed care state directed payments and fee-for-service targeted practitioner payments, representing significant changes to how states can direct Medicaid spending.
ACA Marketplace deductibles hit a record 37% increase in 2026 following the expiration of enhanced tax credits, pushing millions of enrollees toward cheaper, higher-deductible bronze plans. Premium payment rates have also dropped sharply across multiple states.
The National Institutes of Health continues to face a significant leadership gap, with 15 of its 27 institutes currently being led by acting directors rather than permanent appointees, months into the administration.
Multiple states are experiencing significant drops in Affordable Care Act enrollment, with Georgia seeing a 28% decline in premium payments in April compared to the previous year. The trend suggests rising costs from reduced subsidies are causing people to skip payments or drop coverage entirely.
The Trump administration finalized major changes to Affordable Care Act exchanges, including significantly greater access to catastrophic health plans with high deductibles, raising concerns among insurance experts and healthcare stakeholders about coverage adequacy.
New ethics disclosures reveal President Trump purchased stock in Eli Lilly and an injectable device manufacturer while his health agencies implemented policies benefiting these companies' obesity drug products.
Wes Streeting resigned as UK health secretary and confirmed he will run to replace Keir Starmer as Labour leader and prime minister if a leadership contest is triggered. Streeting stepped down earlier this week with a scathing resignation letter urging Starmer to set a timetable for his departure, as the prime minister faces mounting pressure over his leadership.
Multiple hospitals have received federal grand jury subpoenas regarding gender-affirming care for minors, indicating the Department of Justice has begun a criminal investigation into these medical practices.
Hundreds of hospitals nationwide face potential closure following Medicaid cuts from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, prompting state lawmakers to explore emergency loans and financial assistance programs to prevent healthcare access disruptions.
UnitedHealth's insurance unit announced it will eliminate prior approval requirements for 30% of healthcare services, reducing delays and paperwork for patients and doctors. This represents a major policy shift affecting one of the nation's largest health insurers.
France's medicines regulator has imposed fines on Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly for their weight loss drug advertising campaigns, marking a significant regulatory action against the pharmaceutical giants' marketing practices.
Millions of Americans are dropping health insurance coverage after Congress refused to extend federal tax credits for Affordable Care Act plans, resulting in significantly higher premiums that many cannot afford.
The FDA has rejected RP1, a breakthrough melanoma treatment, twice despite its promise in treating skin cancer. The rejections have left medical professionals puzzled and concerned about implications for future drug approvals.
Cigna announced it will exit Affordable Care Act individual insurance markets next year, adding to market instability after Congress failed to extend enhanced subsidies that helped people afford coverage. ACA membership is declining significantly.
The CDC reports measles outbreaks have now spread to 45 states, putting the US at risk of losing its measles elimination status that was declared in 2000. The agency established seven indicators to monitor elimination status.
President Donald Trump announced Thursday he is nominating Dr. Nicole Saphier, a radiologist and former Fox News contributor, for surgeon general after Dr. Casey Means' nomination stalled in the Senate over concerns about her experience and vaccine stance.
The Department of Health and Human Services has filed an appeal against a court ruling that halted many of RFK Jr.'s vaccine policy changes, marking the latest development in the lawsuit filed by the American Association of Pediatrics.
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on a case involving 'skinny labeling' practices that have significant implications for generic drug availability and access, with justices appearing to signal the practice may survive legal challenge.
New research shows rectal cancer mortality rates among older millennials are rising faster than colon cancer deaths, with the disease striking earlier and killing faster, suggesting need for earlier screening in younger patients.
Health Secretary RFK Jr. declared a public health emergency for Hawaii in response to severe weather events, providing federal healthcare providers and suppliers greater flexibility to meet emergency needs of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries in the affected areas.
President Trump has reclassified state-licensed medical marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act, marking a major federal policy change long sought by advocates. This represents the most significant shift in federal marijuana policy in decades.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that could impose tariffs of up to 100% on certain patented pharmaceutical products and ingredients from companies that don't reach pricing deals with his administration. The move, announced on the anniversary of 'Liberation Day,' is framed as an effort to boost U.S. drug manufacturing and lower domestic drug prices using national security justifications under Section 232.
A Public Citizen analysis found 446 hospitals at high risk of closing or cutting services due to roughly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts from the "Big Beautiful Bill." Services most at risk include mental health, maternal care, and rural emergency care, with some major health systems already laying off staff.
A Harvard-backed study found that the Inflation Reduction Act's drug provisions are helping Medicare beneficiaries stay on their medications. However, the reforms have not yet reduced overall healthcare costs or financial anxiety for beneficiaries.
President Trump announced that all 50 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico have agreed to participate in his administration's 'most favored nation' drug pricing initiative for Medicaid programs, which aims to lower prescription drug costs by tying prices to those paid in other countries.
