A group of major American hospitals, battered by price spikes on old drugs and long-lasting shortages of critical medicines, has launched a mission-driven, not-for-profit generic drug company, Civica Rx, to take some control over the drug supply.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar on Thursday met with Republican lawmakers on the House Ways and Means Committee to discuss ways to lower drug prices.

When Drew Calver had a heart attack last year, his health plan paid nearly $56,000 for the 44-year-old’s four-day emergency hospital stay at St. David’s Medical Center in Austin, Texas, a hospital that was not in his insurance network. But the hospital charged Calver another $109,000. That sum — a so-called balance bill — was the difference between what the hospital and his insurer thought his care was worth.

Arizona's new senator says he'd vote to repeal the nation's health care law. That's one additional Republican ready to obliterate the statute because his predecessor, the late Sen. John McCain, helped derail the party's drive with his fabled thumbs-down vote last year.

Former President Obama on Friday called "Medicare for all" a "good" idea during a speech in Illinois where he launched his midterm campaign efforts for Democrats. 

After two years of double-digit premium hikes, millions of people covered under the Affordable Care Act will see only modest increases next year, according to an exclusive analysis that highlights the changing politics of health care heading into the midterm elections.