Author: Scott Welch

California no longer faces a budget deficit, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday, two months after budget officials projected a $2 billion deficit that had left little room for additional government spending.

Buried in the news from last month was an interesting nugget posted by Fierce Pharma: “Following a dinner at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate last week, Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks pointed to raising drug prices in other developed nations as a key strategy to reduce costs in the U.S.

Drugmakers plan to raise U.S. prices on at least 250 branded medications including Pfizer (PFE.N), opens new tab COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid, Bristol Myers Squibb’s (BMY.N), opens new tab cancer cell therapies and vaccines from France’s Sanofi (SASY.PA), opens new tab at the start of 2025, according to data analyzed by healthcare research firm 3 Axis Advisors. Nearly all of the drug ...

Aetna is taking legal action against Pfizer, Novartis, Teva Pharmaceuticals and others, saying the list of drugmakers conspired to overcharge the insurer, consumers and the federal government for generic drugs. The complaint (PDF), filed Dec. 31, claims the drugmakers communicated secretly at trade conferences or through phone calls, beginning in 2012, to determine the market share, prices ...

The federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday issued new regulations barring medical debts from American credit reports, enacting a major new consumer protection just days before President Joe Biden is set to leave office. The rules ban credit agencies from including medical debts on consumers’ credit reports and prohibit lenders from considering medical information ...

A number of different factors are putting stress on the finances of retired and pre-retiree Americans. According to a new report from the Society of Actuaries Research Institute, retirees are less likely to report being “better off than expected” in 2024 than in 2021. The study also shows that pre-retirees are more conscious of unplanned ...

A key cost-saving provision of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) goes into effect in the new year, limiting annual out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs to $2,000 for Medicare beneficiaries. Starting on Jan. 1, 2025, an estimated 19 million Medicare beneficiaries will see their out-of-pocket Medicare Part D spending capped at $2,000 for the year. This ...

As a contract deadline approached on December 31, 2024, negotiations between Sansum Clinic/Sutter Health and Anthem Blue Cross reached a new agreement that could affect more than 129,000 patients. Sansum is the largest nonprofit medical group for outpatient care in the Santa Barbara area. The agreement allows patients to keep their in-network doctors and care ...

All of the commercial prescriptions dispensed at CVS pharmacies will be processed through its CostVantage reimbursement model beginning this year, the healthcare giant announced Monday. Under the model, prescriptions are priced based on the underlying cost with a delineated markup and dispensing fee to cover the services provided by CVS in the transaction. The company says this ...

Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order on Friday attempting to limit access to ultra-processed foods, a directive he cast as a continuation of California’s “nation leading” nutrition and health standards. “The food we eat shouldn’t make us sick with disease or lead to lifelong consequences,” Newsom said in a statement. “California has been a ...