FDA website to post names of drug makers blocking development of cheaper generics

May 17, 2018
The FDA plans to unveil a website today naming pharmaceutical companies that have blocked the development of generic drugs by failing to provide samples to competitors. This public posting is part of FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb’s larger crackdown to, as he says, “end the shenanigans” by brand name drug companies. Click the audio player above […]

Patients in a mental health crisis often end up in ERs, which are ill-equipped to help

May 15, 2018
Emergency rooms are often the first places people end up during a mental health crisis. But many ERs aren’t really equipped to help. After they check in, patients can end up staying in emergency rooms for days just waiting for in-patient psychiatric treatment elsewhere. As emergency rooms see a growing number of behavioral health patients, […]

In the midst of a massive opioid crisis, hospitals are experiencing an opioid shortage

May 14, 2018
Drug shortages are nothing new in U.S. hospitals.
Illustration by Emily Judem/WGBH News. Photos courtesy of Benjamin Pennell and Massachusetts General Hospital.

Trump unveils plan for cutting drug prices. Will it work?

May 11, 2018
President Donald Trump on Friday took the wraps off his long-awaited plan for cutting drug prices. In a speech, the president announced measures to increase competition and pricing transparency as ways to drive down costs, which have been spiraling. He did not put forward any plan to use the huge buying power of the federal […]

Where are Affordable Care Act premiums headed?

May 4, 2018
Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of the Republican-controlled House voting to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has said the vote would increase the number of uninsured Americans by more than 20 million. Well, Obamacare is still standing, but as part of the tax overhaul, the Trump administration and congressional Republicans […]

Some health care firms focus on empathy to keep people healthier

May 2, 2018
One reason for the interest in a more empathetic clinical staff stems from the fact that hospitals and physicians, increasingly, have financial incentives to keep patients out of the hospital.
A nurse tends to recovering patients on a general ward at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital on March 16, 2010 in Birmingham, England.
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Capping out-of-pocket drug costs for Medicare patients wouldn't lower drug prices

Apr 30, 2018
Several health economists and policy experts argue until Washington forces drug companies to lower their overall prices, an out-of-pocket Medicare cap is just dabbling at the edges.
A pharmacy technician counts out a prescription of antibiotic pills.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

What happens when a hospital sells its debt?

Apr 9, 2018
More hospitals across the country are selling debt from unpaid medical bills to collection agencies.
Joe Raedle / Getty Images

As hospitals increasingly close in rural areas, communities consider a hybrid health center model

Mar 28, 2018
Without enough patients with health insurance, hospitals are closing in rural parts of the country. Some communities have turned to hybrid health centers — shy of a hospital but more than a clinic — to try to meet their community's health needs.
A sign lets Lewis County residents know the hours and offerings. Another sign on the building instructs patients to call 911 if the facility is closed for the night. 
Blake Farmer/ for Marketplace

Key health care measure left out of federal spending bill

Mar 23, 2018
Congress jammed a lot into its $1.3 trillion spending bill, and we’ll be going through the bill’s 2,000-plus pages for some time. But there was one thing noticeably left out: a last-ditch compromise amendment on health care sponsored by Republican senators Susan Collins and Lamar Alexander. The so-called “stabilization” package was designed to keep health insurance […]