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Federal authorities move to close mammoth drug-pricing loophole
The federal agency that oversees Medicaid is moving to close a loophole that likely is worth billions to prescription drug middlemen. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services last week proposed a new rule that it said would help ensure compliance with a requirement under federal law that Medicaid dollars be spent in “proper and […]
Federal regulator expands investigation of prescription drug middlemen
The Federal Trade Commission this week announced it added massive drug-purchasers to an investigation into the practices of powerful drug middlemen. Critics have described those businesses, created since 2019, as another layer of opacity in the already obscure world of drug pricing. The FTC — the federal agency tasked with policing monopolistic practices — was already […]
Centene to pay $215 million to settle allegations it ripped off California Medicaid
Medicaid managed-care giant Centene Corp. has agreed to pay California $215 million to settle a drug-pricing scandal. In a press release last week, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said that two Centene-owned managed-care plans, California Health & Wellness and Health Net, ripped off the state’s Medicaid system. They overcharged the system “by falsely reporting higher […]
Centene agrees to pay Iowa $44 million to settle Medicaid fraud claims
Missouri-based Centene Corp. has agreed to pay Iowa $44.4 million to settle claims that it defrauded the state’s Medicaid system. That makes it the latest state to settle claims that were originally raised in Ohio in 2021. Centene, the nation’s largest Medicaid managed-care company, agreed to pay the money over claims that its subsidiary, Iowa […]
Another state settles Medicaid fraud allegations with Centene
Oregon last week became the latest state to settle fraud claims with Medicaid managed-care giant Centene. The Clayton-based company, the largest Medicaid managed-care provider in the United States, agreed to pay Oregon $17 million, according to a statement from the state’s attorney general and its insurance commissioner. Centene has emphasized that it admits to no […]
Groups hopeful Congress will sign off on federal farm worker bill
It’s vital to pass federal legislation reforming migrant worker visas to bring down food costs and to limit devastating levels of food waste, groups advocating for farmers and agricultural workers said last week. Already passed by the U.S. House, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2021, could reach the floor of the U.S. Senate any day. The […]
Government programs mostly responsible for record low child poverty, report says
Despite all the economic dislocation caused by the coronavirus pandemic, child poverty and uninsurance were at record lows last year, U.S. Census data show. And those lows are largely the result of large government interventions, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said in a statement that was published Tuesday. The percentage of Americans lacking health […]
Experts say drug measures in inflation bill are good for seniors, but there are downsides
The sweeping Inflation Reduction Act passed by Democrats in the U.S. Senate on Sunday takes on an issue that Americans have been screaming about for years: The high cost of prescription drugs. But while it will bring immediate relief to millions of seniors, several experts have said it may dampen development of new drugs and […]
Arrest confirms Indiana abortion for 10-year-old rape survivor from Ohio
Columbus, Ohio, police have arrested a 27-year-old on charges of raping 10-year-old who traveled to Indiana late last month for an abortion, The Columbus Dispatch reported Wednesday. Ohio Republican leaders, who passed and implemented a law making rape victims ineligible for abortions after six weeks, have been trying to raise doubts about the girl’s existence. […]
Deep inside the gun bill: A break for prescription drug middlemen
Many Americans across the political spectrum are clamoring for federal action on guns in the wake of a mass shooting at an Uvalde, Texas, elementary school, a Buffalo, N.Y., grocery store and hundreds of other places. But buried in a bipartisan compromise hashed out by the U.S. Senate on Tuesday is an unrelated provision they might not be […]
Federal regulators launch investigation into drug rebates said to drive up prescription costs
The Federal Trade Commission last week announced what some believe could be a game-changer when it comes to the rising cost of prescription drugs. The agency — which is meant to protect fair competition — said it would look into the murky practice by which drugmakers grant rebates and other fees to insurer-owned pharmacy middlemen […]
Expert: Hard to know if COVID variant will surge in U.S. or how badly
The last thing people want to hear right now is that the coronavirus might have mutated yet again into yet another deadly variant, extending the pain, death and inconvenience of a pandemic that we long hoped would be over. However, whether the subvariant of omicron known as BA.2 will hit the United States as hard […]