Social Welfare

Health Insurance Markets Provide Fewer Choices For Enrollees

Private health insurance market concentration generally increased from 2011 through 2024, leaving enrollees with potentially fewer insurer choices and...

Lobbying Activity

Smith & Nephew Lobbying Rises Amid Medicare Wound-Care Changes

Smith & Nephew Inc. is lobbying on the Medicare physician fee schedule and hospital outpatient payment rules governing skin substitutes, wound-care products...

Social Welfare

Medicare Part D Premium Trial Shortened, Prompts Calls To Reverse

The Trump administration terminated the Medicare Part D Premium Stabilization Demonstration in 2026, cutting short a program designed to run through plan...

Health

Compensation for Radiation Victims Faces 2027 Sunset

The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), a nearly four-decade-old program providing one-time cash payments to Americans sickened by atomic weapons...

International Affairs

Faster Expanding 2026 Ebola Outbreak Is Second Largest on Record

The 2026 Ebola outbreak caused by Bundibugyo virus has rapidly become the second-largest Ebola outbreak on record, according to a new Congressional Research...

Health

Most Improper Medicaid Payments Due To Lack Of Documents, Not Fraud

The total amount of Medicaid fraud is unknown, according to a new Congressional Research Service report. However, the research distinguishes fraud from the...

Legislation

FDA Proposal to Require GRAS Notices Raises Legal Questions

Whether the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can require companies to disclose substances they determine are generally recognized as safe (GRAS), without...

Legislation

Health Data Interoperability Still Faces Persistent Barriers

Digital health information interoperability in the United States is a long-term initiative spanning multiple decades, but many obstacles still remain,...

Health

VA Fertility Care Gaps Leave Some Veterans Unaware of Benefits

Around 30,000 veterans had an infertility diagnosis in fiscal year 2025, yet some interested veterans may be unaware of the fertility care available to them...

Health

Federal Watchdog Finds Gaps in DEA, FDA Drug Scheduling Procedures

A recent Government Accountability Office report found that the DEA lacks policies identifying roles, responsibilities, and procedures for scheduling, and...

Social Welfare

Maternal Mortality Reviews Drive Medicaid, Health Equity Changes

State maternal mortality review committees are driving policy changes aimed at preventing pregnancy-related deaths, including expanded postpartum Medicaid...

Health

Federal Review Finds Veterans Dental Eligibility Surged 70%

A recent review of VA dental benefits eligibility found that the number of veterans who qualify for dental care through the Department of Veterans Affairs...

Government Operations

Federal Audit Finds Gaps in Oversight of Medical Device Reviewers

Gaps in the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) policies for auditing outside medical device reviewers could allow organizations to continue reviewing...

Congress

Senate Health Panel Delays Bill as Nominees Await Vote

Chair Bill Cassidy (R-LA) recessed the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee markup on Sept. 24 without a final vote on the No Aid for...

Government Operations

GAO Finds Gaps in Federal Contraceptive Coverage Compliance

A new U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on contraceptive coverage compliance found that federal oversight has identified noncompliance...

Health

VA Moves Slowly on Pacific Veterans' Health Care

Veterans from three Pacific nations who served in the U.S. military are struggling to access the health care benefits they earned, and a new Government...

hearings

Panel Will Weigh Overton’s FDA Public-Health Direction

The Senate will examine Heidi Overton's nomination to lead the Food and Drug Administration on September 24...