CMS Payment Rule Seen as Bad for Some Patients

MedPage Today, April 10, 2018. New final regulations on the Affordable Care Act health insurance exchanges issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have drawn mixed reactions from health policy experts and others. The changes include expanding the number of “benchmark” plans, adding new “hardship exemptions,” allowing states to adjust the “medical loss ratio,” and increasing the percentage premium increase.

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U.S. FDA Puts Restrictions on Essure Birth Control Implant but No Recall

The Associated Press, April 9, 2018. The Food and Drug Administration announced restrictions on the sale of the Essure contraceptive device. Only women who read and sign a brochure about the risks of the Essure device will be able to receive the implant made by Bayer, but NCHR questions how many patients will read the 22-page booklet.

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Patient Advocacy Groups Take In Millions From Drugmakers. Is There A Payback?

Kaiser Health News, April 6, 2018. Pharmaceutical companies gave at least $116 million to patient advocacy groups in a single year, reveals a new database logging 12,000 donations from large publicly traded drugmakers to such organizations. Even as these patient groups grow in number and political influence, their funding and their relationships to drugmakers are little understood.

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