Congress is trying to chart a path forward on health reform. Some are pushing to expand Medicare’s benefits to include dental, vision, and hearing care. Others want to make generous subsidies for coverage sold through the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges permanent. And recently, several congressional Democrats announced plans to draft a bill that would create ...

The Supreme Court case in which the Justices consider whether the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional without the Individual Mandate will see a judicial decision any day now. If the court decides to strike down the law, nearly 30 million Americans will lose healthcare coverage and nearly 1.2 million would lose their jobs, according to data from ...

It took covid-19 to give millions of Americans the option of telling their doctor about their aches and pains by phone. But now that more doctors and patients are returning to in-person appointments, policymakers across the country are divided over how much taxpayer money to keep spending on phone appointments. Although they were a lifeline ...

The pandemic shackles on California’s economy will have officially lasted 452 days — from a full lockdown starting in March 2020 to an all-but-reopened business world after June 15. The economic toll of strict mandates to slow the spread of COVID-19 was high. For years to come, there will be grand debates over the government’s ...

Most hospitals aren’t fully complying with a new federal rule requiring them to make their prices available, according to a new study in JAMA Internal Medicine. Why it matters: The goal of the regulation is to allow price shopping and, thus lower costs, although it’s unclear whether it’d have this effect. The big picture: Hospital prices can vary ...

Democrats are committed to passing legislation this year to curb prescription drug prices, but they’re still disagreeing on how to cut costs for patients and taxpayers while preserving profits that lure investors to back potentially promising treatments. It boils down to finding a balance: How big a stick should Medicare have to negotiate prices with ...