About health insurance
Brigham Young University-Idaho reverses decision to reject Medicaid coverage for students: Bowing to public pressure, the BYU-Idaho campus reversed its policy to reject Medicaid coverage as evidence of health insurance for students. See yesterday’s story.
Proposed Rule Would Require Health Plans to Disclose Out-of-Pocket Costs by Providers: “In a proposed regulation to be published Nov. 27 in the Federal Register, federal agencies suggest a rule that would require employer-sponsored group health plans to provide plan enrollees with estimates of their out-of-pocket expenses for services from different health care providers. Plans would make this information available through an online self-service tool so enrollees could shop and compare costs for services before receiving care.
Comments are due by Jan. 14, 2020, on the transparency-in-coverage rule issued by the departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and the Treasury.”
About the public’s health
CDC recommended that migrants receive flu vaccine, but CBP rejected the idea (Washington Post, subscription may be required): Customs and Border Protection refused to administer flu shots to immigrants. They obviously forgot the issue is not providing free care to non-citizens, but protecting the health of citizens.
About pharma
Trump draws ire after retreat on drug prices pledge: “President Trump is backing off his 2016 campaign pledge to negotiate drug prices for Medicare with pharmaceutical companies, drawing fire from Democrats after months of talks on the issue with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).”
Generic drugmakers in talks to end long-running US antitrust probe: The headline speaks for itself.