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Latest Morning Briefing Stories

States Watching as Massachusetts Takes Aim at Hospital Building Boom and Costs

A Massachusetts health care cost watchdog agency helped block plans of the state’s largest hospital system to expand into the suburbs. Now, other states are looking at whether Massachusetts’ decade-old model of controlling health costs is worth emulating.

Despite Losing Federal Money, State Is Still Testing Uninsured Residents for Covid — For Now

Federal funding that paid for covid testing, treatment, and vaccines for uninsured people has run out. While some states struggle to make up the difference, California is relying on other state and local programs to continue free testing.

Is My Drug Copay Coupon a Form of Charity — Or a Bribe?

Drug copayment assistance is a form of profitable charity — and, yes, that’s an oxymoron. Amid skyrocketing drug prices, it’s understandable that patients desperately need help affording medicine, especially when their health is on the line. But these programs create a mirage that perpetuates our health care system’s reckless spending.