Montana’s Small Pharmacies Behind Bill To Corral Pharmacy Benefit Managers
By Mike Dennison
A bill designed to force PBMs to pay higher fees to independent drugstores sailed through the state House, but lobbyists are marshaling their forces to kill the measure in the Senate.
Treatment Tops Housing in Trump Homeless Policy
By Angela Hart
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Daily Edition for Friday, March 28, 2025
Sharp Seeks Prompt Payment From Cash-Strapped Palomar: Palomar Health faces a demand from Sharp HealthCare to immediately repay $26 million — the principal and interest on a loan — or face a lawsuit alleging it violated the terms of an exclusive negotiating agreement. Palomar’s board of trustees met Thursday in closed session to discuss “significant exposure to litigation,” but reported no votes taken. Read more from The San Diego Union Tribune.
He Had Short-Term Health Insurance. His Colonoscopy Bill: $7,000.
By Julie Appleby
After leaving his job to launch his own business, an Illinois man opted for a six-month health insurance plan. When he needed a colonoscopy, he thought it would cover most of the bill. Then he learned his plan’s limited benefits would cost him plenty.
Their Physical Therapy Coverage Ran Out Before They Could Walk Again
By Jordan Rau
Health plans limit physical or occupational therapy sessions to as few as 20 a year, no matter the patient’s infirmities. The limits persist despite federal rules banning insurers from setting annual dollar limits on the care they will provide.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The Ax Falls at HHS
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has announced a proposed reorganization for the department — which, counting those who already have left the agency, amounts to about a 25% cut in its workforce. And its planned “Administration for a Healthy America” will collapse several existing HHS agencies into one. Meanwhile, the department continues to cut billions in health spending while the nation faces measles outbreaks in several states and the continuing possibility of another pandemic, such as bird flu. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Maya Goldman of Axios, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss the news.
Daily Edition for Thursday, March 27, 2025
LA County Sheriff To Retest Thousands Of DNA Samples: The L.A. County Sheriff's Department used DNA testing kits for months without realizing they were faulty. An internal investigation has been launched. “This failure will undoubtedly delay criminal cases,” said Brooke Longuevan, president of the public defenders union. Read more from the Los Angeles Times and ABC News.
With Few Dentists and Fluoride Under Siege, Rural America Risks New Surge of Tooth Decay
By Brett Kelman
The anti-fluoride movement has more momentum than ever. In rural counties with few dentists, tooth decay could surge to levels that have not been seen in decades, experts warn.
Trump Turns Homelessness Response Away From Housing, Toward Forced Treatment
By Angela Hart
The Trump administration is moving to end the “Housing First” approach despite warnings from providers and homelessness experts that the shift won’t work. But with homelessness rising, President Donald Trump could find allies in blue cities and states as the public clamors for streets to be cleaned up.
Plan de Trump para las personas sin hogar: internar a la fuerza y menos fondos para viviendas
By Angela Hart
Es un cambio agresivo en la principal política nacional contra el desamparo, que durante décadas ha dado prioridad al acceso a una vivienda como la forma más eficaz de combatir esta crisis.
