Healthcare policy news covering health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, hospital regulations, and healthcare reform legislation.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is reportedly rarely present at HHS headquarters, works six-hour days, and scrolls on his phone during meetings. He has not visited the CDC since August and has not publicly addressed the Ebola outbreak. The department has lost about 17,000 employees since Trump's inauguration.
A record 1.92 million patients in England are waiting for NHS diagnostic tests, with over 400,000 exceeding the six-week maximum. The waiting list has grown by 500,000 since 2022 and is 83% higher than pre-pandemic levels. Areas with the longest waits are nearly six times more likely to miss the 28-day cancer diagnosis target.
An internal memo from Integral Diagnostics shows Apex Radiology at Kalgoorlie Health Campus double-billed Medicare and charged for services not provided. Managing director Ian Kadish denied knowledge. WA Health Minister Meredith Hammat, who previously said there were 'no concerns,' now seeks advice for referrals.
The author argues that Alaska state agencies have delegated their oversight responsibilities for psychiatric patient protections to facility managers, creating a conflict of interest. Using AI legal research, the piece contends that state law allows this delegation, leaving patient rights unenforced and patients vulnerable.
This commentary argues that the SAFE Act, which would provide no-cost fall risk assessments for seniors on Medicare, is a practical and compassionate solution to a serious problem. The author contends that preventive care is better than waiting for accidents, and urges prioritization of the bipartisan bill.
This commentary argues that the Trump administration is quietly advancing a Silicon Valley-backed push to integrate AI into healthcare, including autonomous chatbots for diagnosis and prescription. It contends that officials are leveraging concerns about chronic disease and rural doctor shortages to fast-track regulatory changes, potentially reducing human oversight in medical care.
Dr. Uché Blackstock argues that characterizing Black patients' wariness of the healthcare system as 'medical mistrust' unfairly blames patients, and instead proposes the term 'institutional untrustworthiness' to highlight systemic failures. She cites historical and ongoing abuses, such as the Tuskegee study and recent revelations about unauthorized vaccine trials on Black infants, to support her contention that the healthcare system has earned this distrust.
Nevada Health Authority proposed a six-month moratorium on new hospice and home-health licenses and Medicaid enrollments to investigate potential fraud. Governor Joe Lombardo endorsed the plan, which requires federal approval. The move follows federal actions identifying Nevada as a high-fraud risk.
A federal judge in Denver heard arguments on whether to block Colorado's first-in-the-nation drug price cap on Amgen's Enbrel, a top-selling rheumatoid arthritis drug. The cap, set to take effect next year, is being challenged by Amgen. The judge is expected to issue a written ruling soon.
The author, a US-trained physician, recounts her daughter's medical injury in Scotland to argue that universal health care systems are not inherently superior. She contends that such systems can lack transparency and accountability, complicating her previous idealistic views.