New Code WACK! episode
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Coverage Denied:
A Doctor’s Fight to Save
Her Own Baby
Featuring Eunice Stallman, MD
Breaking News in Healthcare Reform
Snippets of news & commentary with a special focus on
health policy, Medicare for All & California
Like Weekly News Roundup? Then you’ll love our popular podcast Code WACK! where we shine a light on the outrageous hassles patients face when dealing with America’s callous healthcare system. Subscribe below!
“Across the country, about 2 million adults 65 and older are completely or mostly homebound, while an additional 5.5 million seniors can get out only with significant difficulty or assistance. This is almost surely an undercount….”
Homebound Seniors Living Alone Often Slip Through Health System’s Cracks
KFF | Judith Graham | December 2, 2024
“…they are pushing to delay the timeline under which medications become eligible for price negotiations by four years for small molecule drugs….”
Big Pharma Pushes Trump Team to Ease Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Rules
Reuters | Michael Erman, Patrick Wingrove, Maggie Fick | November 27, 2024
“[Medicare Advantage] has grown to cover more than half of Medicare seniors, but has faced scrutiny about coverage quality and access that’s been amplified by recent reports of algorithms used for utilization management and claims reviews contributing to sky-high levels of denials.”
CMS Proposes New Guardrails on Medicare Advantage Prior Authorizations, Marketing
Healthcare Dive | Rebecca Pifer | November 27, 2024
“Privately run Medicare Advantage plans now enroll more than half of America’s seniors, costing the federal government an estimated $83 billion more per year than the traditional Medicare program would for the same enrollees.”
A Medicare Minefield Awaits Oz
Axios | Maya Goldman | November 27, 2024
“Medicare Advantage, also known as Part C, was supposed to save the government money.”
Taxpayers Spend 22% More Per Patient to Support Medicare Advantage – The Private Alternative to Medicare That Promised to Cost Less
The Conversation | Grace McCormack, Erin Duffy | November 26, 2024
“Much of the story, it turns out, comes down to a small network of medical providers who found ways to prescribe and ship abortion pills around the country from places where they’re still legal.”
Why Abortions Rose After Roe Was Overturned
NBC News | Aria Bendix | November 26, 2024
“If President-elect Donald Trump goes forward with Project 2025, California could lose out on at least $300 million a year in funding for abortions, family planning and contraception for millions of low-income residents.”
The Price Tag on Project 2025’s Abortion Plan: $300 Million Cut to Medi-Cal
CalMatters | Monique O. Madan | November 26, 2024
“The Biden administration is proposing to reinterpret the law barring coverage by classifying obesity drugs as treatment for a ‘chronic disease,’ rather than as weight loss medications.”
Biden Proposes Weight Loss Drug Coverage for People on Medicare and Medicaid
NBC News | Berkeley Lovelace Jr., Evan Bush | November 26, 2024
“Approximately 59 million Americans currently participate in the gig economy…. But gig workers are not employees, and they face significant challenges in accessing affordable health care.”
Reforming HSAs to Expand Gig Workers’ Access to Affordable Health Care
Health Affairs | Joel White, David A. Hyman, Ge Bai | November 25, 2024
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Shining a light on ongoing inequities in health care
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