The Health 202: Here are three big ways the Trump administration could put its mark on Medicaid

May 16, 2018 News

I interviewed Seema Verma yesterday.

The Uber economy is actually just the low-wage economy

May 16, 2018 News

The question of how much Uber drivers make per hour is always ripe for discussion. The number is hard to pin down for many reasons, including:

Uber pays different rates in different markets

A lot of driver income is tied up in limited-time promotions a...

A remapped Pennsylvania spells serious trouble for Keith Rothfus

May 15, 2018 Activism, News, politics

WEXFORD, PENNSYLVANIA — In the days following President Donald Trump’s inauguration, western Pennsylvania resident Linda Bishop was scouring Facebook to find progressives, like herself, who felt lost and were eager to take action.

“I didn’t know what to do after the election. So I just started going to all kinds of [progressive] meetings … I just was trying to find a home,” said Bishop.

Bishop recalled attending a meeting organized by a group of progressives from Frank...

Here is Trump’s alternative to Medicare drug negotiation after breaking populist promise

May 15, 2018 Donald Trump, health, Medicare, News

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar is doing damage control, pushing back against criticism that President Donald Trump broke a key campaign pledge to have the federal government directly negotiate Medicare drug prices.

On Friday, Trump gave an underwhelming speech that spared drug companies and also released an ‘American Patients First’ blueprint that prompted more questions than answers — 135 questions to be exact. And on Monday, Azar defended him...

Drug prices can be cut without Medicare bargaining, Health and Human Services chief Azar says

May 14, 2018May 14, 2018 News

Azar, a former executive with drugmaker Eli Lilly, also took pains to distance himself from the pharmaceutical industry his new boss pilloried Friday.

USA Today

Read More

Tom Price: Everyone should have health care coverage

May 14, 2018 News

Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price continues to oppose the Affordable Care Act -- also known as Obamacare -- but he also says he believes everyone should have access to health care.

CNN

Read More

Trump blames “global freeloading” for costly US drugs. That’s not the problem

May 11, 2018 "America First", Donald Trump, healthcare, News, pharma, politics, US HEalth Care

Introducing his plan to reduce prescription drug prices in America today, Donald Trump said his government would focus on “tougher negotiation, more competition, and much lower prices.”

The president criticized drug makers and insurance companies for failing to put...

Trump’s Plan to Lower Drug Prices Diverges From Campaign Promise

May 11, 2018May 12, 2018 Health Insurance and Managed Care, Medicare, News, Trump, Donald J, United States Politics and Government

The president said he would promote more competition among pharmaceutical companies, but didn’t call for Medicare to directly negotiate lower prices or consumers to be able to import low-cost drugs.

Trump breaks key populist campaign promise to negotiate Medicare drug prices

May 11, 2018 Donald Trump, health, health care, Medicare, News, politics, trump-promises

On the campaign trail, candidate Trump promised to save hundreds of billions of dollars standing up to the pharmaceutical industry, and said he’d “negotiate like crazy” to bring down Medicare prescription drug prices.

Allowing Medicare to negotiate directly with drug companies for better prices has long been a goal for progressives, and when voters heard Trump stray from the Republican party orthodoxy, railing against Big Pharma as he asked for their support, many ...

Trump sells out to the drug companies, according to Trump

May 11, 2018 News

Trump once said lawmakers didn't negotiate Medicare drug prices because they were afraid of drug companies. Now, he's backing off his promise to negotiate Medicare prices.