Writing

Washington Post • 8th February 2024

A conservative talks health-care priorities for a GOP White House

The South Carolina primary is still two weeks away, and Super Tuesday isn’t until next month, yet strategists are already drawing up their health policy wish lists in anticipation of a Republican return to the White House in 2025.

Washington Post • 31st January 2024

PhRMA CEO: Medicare price negotiations are a ‘black box’

Get ready. Tomorrow is the deadline for Medicare to send initial offers to manufacturers of the 10 prescription drugs selected for the first round of price negotiations. The companies have 30 days to accept or make a counteroffer.

Washington Post • 26th January 2024

Why the House Budget Committee needed a health-care task force

Forty-seven members of Congress have announced plans to retire, resign or run for other offices at the end of this term, setting the stage for major turnover in the next election. Among those departing are four members of the GOP Doctors Caucus, including its co-chair, Rep. Michael Burgess (Tex.).

Washington Post • 17th January 2024

The American Hospital Association on 2024 priorities

I spoke with Rick Pollack, president of the American Hospital Association, about legislation in Congress that would affect the nation’s hospitals and what the industry needs from Washington in 2024. This interview has been edited lightly for brevity and clarity.

Washington Post • 5th January 2024

Leslie Dach, on 2024 health-care politics

2024 is officially in full swing — and it’s crunch time in Washington.

Washington Post • 14th December 2023

Behind a bipartisan push to make insulin affordable for even more Americans

A growing share of the more than 7 million Americans with diabetes is enjoying lower out-of-pocket costs for insulin as states, Medicare and drug companies have moved to cap prices.

Washington Post • 27th November 2023

SCOTUS is under pressure to weigh gender-affirming care bans for minors

Pressure is building on the Supreme Court to weigh in on gender transition care for minors, as judges across the nation deliver clashing decisions on whether states can restrict it.

Washington Post • 16th November 2023

Cassidy says he thinks ‘carefully’ while Sanders thinks ‘expansively’

In years past, the leaders of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee often cooperated in a bipartisan fashion to address tricky problems including surprise medical billing and drug prices. But the dynamic between the committee’s current leadership duo — Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and its top Republican, Sen. Bill Cassidy (La.) — has been cloaked in tension.

Washington Post • 14th November 2023

Bernie says holding up Bertagnolli’s nomination sent ‘a message’

It took the Senate 175 days to confirm Monica Bertagnolli as the next leader of the National Institutes of Health after President Biden first nominated her for the role — largely because of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who blocked her nomination until he was able to extract a White House commitment to lower drug prices.

Washington Post • 2nd November 2023

Michigan Dems pass pared-back abortion rights package

Today, we’re diving into the results of last night’s races with implications for health care — and what the outcomes mean for hot-button issues including abortion rights, Medicaid expansion and marijuana legalization.

Washington Post • 23rd October 2023

Rural emergency hospitals try to find their footing

Of the 15 hospitals that converted this year, all but two are located in the South. Texas and Mississippi lead the pack with five and two rural hospital conversions, respectively; while Sturgis Hospital in Michigan and South Central Kansas Medical Center in Kansas are the only facilities in the Midwest to make the switch.

Washington Post • 26th September 2023

Appeals spike during the Medicaid unwinding

Here’s another consequence of the Medicaid unwinding: The complicated legal mess left in its wake.

Washington Post • 14th September 2023

Insurance coverage lags demand for new weight-loss drugs

The exploding market is dominated by Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro and Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Ozempic, with several drug candidates in the pipeline.

Washington Post • 27th July 2023

What blue and red states alike achieved this legislative season

The spending bill includes a provision to reinstate tighter restrictions around mifepristone, one of two drugs commonly used in a medication abortion, such as halting the mail delivery of the drug.

Washington Post • 17th July 2023

What blue states focused on this legislative season

They passed measures on transgender care, data protection and drug overdose.

Washington Post • 5th July 2023

What red states focused on this legislative season

We’ve spent a lot of time in this newsletter looking at abortion restrictions in GOP-led states. But Republican state lawmakers have also taken up some of America’s other most complex social issues over the last six months.

Washington Post • 14th June 2023

CDC director weathers lawmakers’ covid criticism one final time

Rochelle Walensky got one last chance to defend her legacy to skeptical House Republicans yesterday.

Washington Post • 6th June 2023

Analysis | States find there’s more than one way to unwind Medicaid

For example, Arkansas is “moving swiftly” through its entire Medicaid roll, starting by disenrolling not just people who earn too much to qualify but also those who haven’t responded to renewal requests. But in Virginia, officials are waiting to determine each individual’s eligibility until their plan renewal date comes up.

So far, they’re seeing vastly different results. In Arkansas, more than 50 percent of people whose eligibility has been checked since redeterminations began in April have si

Washington Post • 19th May 2023

Analysis | States are getting billions from opioid settlements. Now what?

Public health advocates said the lack of transparency into how 85 percent of the settlement money is spent should raise alarms. “Public accountability is critical in order to ensure that the funds are well spent,” Myers said. “Otherwise, there's a serious risk that the money either gets spent on pet projects that have no evidence base or get diverted off entirely,” he added.

The Washington Post • 9th May 2023

DEA extends telemedicine option for prescribing controlled medications

The extension was announced after the DEA received tens of thousands of complaints about its proposal to reinstate stricter rules governing the prescribing of controlled substances that had been loosened at the dawn of the pandemic.

Washington Post • 3rd May 2023

DEA seeks to temporarily extend virtual prescribing for controlled substances

Under the draft rules, doctors would be able to remotely prescribe an initial 30-day supply of some controlled medications, such as buprenorphine for opioid addiction, but patients looking to get refills beyond that would need to see a physician in-person.

Washington Post • 21st April 2023

Analysis | Medicaid is paying for housing, food in more states

The legislation would limit out-of-pocket costs for at least one type and dosage form of insulin for those with private insurance to no more than $35 per month or 25 percent of the list price per month.

Washington Post • 30th March 2023

States are moving to cap insulin prices, too

The bills are among a rising trend that started in 2019, when Colorado became the first state to pass an insulin cap. In the years since, 22 states and D.C. have passed cost-sharing limits on the drug, which range from $25 to $100 per 30-day supply.

Photo by Kevin Bidwell on Pexels

Washington Post • 22nd February 2023

Analysis | Three kinds of health measures blue states are pursuing this year

The 2023 legislative session is moving full steam ahead.

We recently wrote about legislation red states are pursuing. In today’s edition, we take a look at blue states, where lawmakers are moving to ban flavored tobacco products, curb prescription drug prices and expand health coverage for residents.