Policy & Regulations

This channel includes news coverage of healthcare policy and regulations set by Congress, the states, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and medical associations and societies. 

Thumbnail

Experts eye government's role in reducing public health inequalities

A report released earlier this month by CMS predicted healthcare spending will top $10,000 per American in 2016—a lot of money for individual patients and the insurance programs, both public and private, that subsidize them.

FBI gives suggestions on how to prevent healthcare hackers

In recent news, healthcare hackers such as “TheDarkOverlord” have been stealing private patient records and parading their spoils around the internet. He claims to be selling these private documents on the black market is ransom is not paid by the healthcare providers he initially stole the information from. This activity has caught the interest of the FBI, reports Information Management. 

U.S. drug costs can be more than double those in Europe

Some of the most-used drugs in the U.S. are thousands of dollars more expensive in this country than they are in other countries, according to Vox. 

Joint Commission keeping clinician texting ban in place until September

After reversing a five-year-old ban on healthcare organizations sending orders in May, the Joint Commission has changed plans again, announcing in its June newsletter the previous ban won’t be lifted until September.

Prescription monitoring requirements aren’t going away after being left out of opioid bill

The final version of legislation to combat opioid abuse and addiction didn’t include a requirement for prescribers to check their state’s prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP), but a new bill in the U.S. Senate would change that.

3 Next Generation ACOs have left program since January

Three of the 21 participants in CMS’s newest accountable care organization (ACO) model have dropped out in the program’s first year, according to data released by the agency.

Thumbnail

State news: Conn. may create health ‘super-agency,' Mich. hospital bans Pokémon Go

Here’s a roundup of the state healthcare news, including: a proposal in Connecticut to consolidate health agencies, a Michigan hospital telling Pokémon Go players to stay away, a patient-dumping lawsuit in California, a $2.7 million settlement over patient data breaches in Oregon and the end of a Colorado court case involving a surgery tech who could have exposed thousands to HIV.

Zika update: Congress doesn’t approve funding, first female-to-male transmission recorded

Members of Congress left Washington, D.C., for a seven-week recess without settling disputes over emergency funding to combat the Zika virus, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said has been documented spreading from a woman to a man for the first time.

Around the web

The tirzepatide shortage that first began in 2022 has been resolved. Drug companies distributing compounded versions of the popular drug now have two to three more months to distribute their remaining supply.

The 24 members of the House Task Force on AI—12 reps from each party—have posted a 253-page report detailing their bipartisan vision for encouraging innovation while minimizing risks. 

Merck sent Hansoh Pharma, a Chinese biopharmaceutical company, an upfront payment of $112 million to license a new investigational GLP-1 receptor agonist. There could be many more payments to come if certain milestones are met.