The stalling of Republican efforts to repeal and/or replace the Affordable Care Act has led to renewed talks of short-term measures to keep premiums down and keep insurers from leaving ACA exchanges, but those measures may be coming too late.

The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bill on Aug. 3 which would allow terminally ill patients the “right to try” experimental treatments that haven’t yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but critics say it gives patients false hope without allowing for federal oversight.

Having a strong first line of defense is key in any battle—and the same goes for the fight for cybersecurity. A recent newsletter released by HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) urges healthcare organizations to arm their employees with knowledge in order to prevent cyberattacks.

By an easy vote of 94-1, the Senate passed the FDA Reauthorization Act (FDARA) of 2017, approving the user fee agreements paid by pharmaceutical and medical device companies to the Food and Drug Administration.

CMS has finalized the Medicare Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long Term Acute Care Hospital (LTCH) payment rules, lowering the total increase to $2.4 billion while removing a controversial proposal to require public release of previously confidential hospital inspections by accrediting organizations (AOs).

The Physician Insurers Association of America (PIAA), a group which lobbies for medical liability insurance companies, is claiming a bill passed by the House to limit malpractice damages was largely written by the group, not members of Congress.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has allowed 16 state attorneys general to intervene in a lawsuit surrounding the Affordable Care Act’s cost-sharing reduction subsidies, or CSRs, paid to insurers for lowering deductibles for low-income ACA enrollees.

In response to the opioid epidemic, U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, MA, PhD, R-Pennsylvania, has introduced the Overdose Prevention and Patient Safety (OPPS) Act, which allows physicians to review patient information regarding previous addiction treatment through electronic health records (EHRs).