In Mostly Symbolic Gesture, Democrats Introduce Bill To Stop Rollback Of Contraception Mandate
“President Trump wants to make birth control about ideology, but let’s be clear: for women and their families in the 21st century, birth control is about being healthy and financially secure,” said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.).
The Hill:
Dems Introduce Bill To Overrule Trump On Birth Control Mandate
Nineteen Senate Democrats have signed on to a bill that would reverse the Trump administration's new exemption for ObamaCare's birth control mandate. The administration recently announced it will allow most employers to stop providing birth control coverage in their insurance plans if they have moral or religious objections. (Hellmann, 10/19)
In other national health care news —
Politico:
Trump Blindsides Advisers With Promised Opioid Plan
President Donald Trump overrode his own advisers when he promised to deliver an emergency declaration next week to combat the nation’s worsening opioid crisis. “That is a very, very big statement,” he said Monday. “It's a very important step. ... We're going to be doing it in the next week.” (Ehley and Dawsey and Karlin-Smith, 10/20)
Stat:
Cancer Drug Prices Have Been Rising Much, Much Faster Than Inflation
The prices for injectable cancer drugs — including older medicines that face competition — rose over a recent eight-year period at rates that far exceeded inflation, according to a new study. Specifically, the mean price increase for 24 branded cancer medicines that were approved in the U.S. between 1996 and 2012 was a whopping 25 percent. After adjusting for inflation, the increase was 18 percent. Moreover, gradual price increases over the years can result in substantial cumulative increases. In this instance, the mean cumulative price increase for all two dozen drugs was 36.5 percent. (Silverman, 10/19)
The Associated Press:
Study Finds Pollution Is Deadlier Than War, Disaster, Hunger
Environmental pollution — from filthy air to contaminated water — is killing more people every year than all war and violence in the world. More than smoking, hunger or natural disasters. More than AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined. One out of every six premature deaths in the world in 2015 — about 9 million — could be attributed to disease from toxic exposure, according to a major study released Thursday in the Lancet medical journal. The financial cost from pollution-related death, sickness and welfare is equally massive, the report says, costing some $4.6 trillion in annual losses — or about 6.2 percent of the global economy. (Daigle, 10/20)