Maine bill would allow doctors to keep their names off prescription labels for abortion pill
Lawmakers held a public hearing Wednesday on a bill that would permit doctors who prescribe mifepristone, misoprostol and their generic alternatives to use the name of the health care facility they work for on the prescription label rather than their own name, as is currently required by state law.
Mifepristone and misoprostol are medications used to manage miscarriages and abortions within the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.
Rep. Sally Cluchey, D-Bowdoinham, the bill's sponsor, told the Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services Committee that the change would offer additional protection for abortion providers amid increasing threats of violence and attacks after the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade.
It follows legislation that Maine passed last year to provide legal protections for doctors who provide abortions and gender-affirming care that has been banned in a patient's home state.
"This bill, LD 538, builds on those protections, ensuring that health care providers can continue to serve patients without fear of harassment or harm," Cluchey said. "Without this additional protection, medical professionals in Maine, who are already being targeted by states seeking to criminalize care, remain vulnerable to legal intimidation."
Maine is not the only state to consider changes to its requirements around prescription labeling to protect abortion providers. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation last month allowing prescribers of medical abortion to request that pharmacies print the name of their practice rather than their personal name on prescription labels.
Washington state passed a similar law last year, and a proposal is also being considered in Illinois.
The New York legislation came after a doctor there was criminally charged in Louisiana for prescribing an abortion pill that was taken by a Louisiana teenager. The same doctor is also facing a civil lawsuit in Texas for allegedly providing a Texas woman with abortion pills via telemedicine.
In the aftermath of the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022, some states, like Maine, have taken steps to ensure abortion remains legal while others have rolled back protections or enacted abortion bans. Twelve states currently ban abortion, according to the health policy organization KFF.
"In this tumultuous national landscape, Maine has remained a safe harbor for those seeking access to vitally needed sexual and reproductive health care," said Lisa Margulies, vice president of public affairs Maine for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England.
Margulies said the bill would protect the privacy and safety of Maine clinicians who might be targeted for their work.
"This would deter abortion opponents from out of state from weaponizing a discarded or otherwise obtained pill bottle," she said.
According to the National Abortion Federation's 2022 Violence & Disruption Statistics report, stalking incidents targeting abortion clinic staff and patients rose 229% from 2021 to 2022 while threats of harm and death threats to abortion providers rose 20%.
Cluchey cited that report as well as examples of harassment and acts of intimidation at abortion clinics in Maine Wednesday. In one case last year, two men followed a patient into Maine Family Planning's Lewiston clinic and tried to gain access to the patient waiting room, she said. And in another case, protestors blockaded a clinic entrance in Waterville.
"These are only a fraction of the harassment providers are experiencing," Cluchey said.
Most of the testimony the committee heard Wednesday was in support, although the Retail Association of Maine testified against the proposal on behalf of pharmacies.
President and CEO Curtis Picard told the committee that pharmacies are concerned the bill would conflict with labeling requirements in federal law.
In response to a committee member's question about how New York and Washington have been able to enact similar laws, Picard said the retail association has received conflicting information and he is still looking into the issue.
"(Our pharmacies) had an attorney say they think it can be done and Washington has done it, but then I've had my pharmacy corporate counsel say, 'No, we still think it violates federal rules,'" Picard said.
Picard also told the committee it would be difficult for pharmacies to "delete" the prescriber's name in the technological systems they use.
"Each system is different technology-wise, and the ability to modify that system would be costly and very difficult," he said.
Picard said in an interview after the hearing that the association has no problems with the intent of the bill.
"We're happy to keep talking with the committee and see if there's a way forward," he said.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland also submitted testimony against the bill.
"This prescription should not be treated any differently than other prescribed drugs," the diocese said in written testimony. "The proponents of abortion consider it healthcare so it should be treated as such and held to the same standards."
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Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Miami Herald
Why young Americans dread turning 26 as they face health insurance chaos
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The erosion of the law has now created an 'insurance cliff' for Americans who are turning 26 and don't have a job that provides medical coverage. Some, scared off by the complexity of picking a policy and by the price tags, tumble over the edge and go without insurance in a health system where the rate for an emergency room visit can be thousands, if not tens of thousands, of dollars. Today, an estimated 15% of 26-year-olds go uninsured, which, according to a KFF analysis, is the highest rate among Americans of any age. If they qualify, young adults can sign up for Medicaid, the federal-state program for Americans with low incomes or disabilities, in most but not all states. Otherwise, many buy cheap subpar insurance that leaves them with insurmountable debt following a medical crisis. Others choose plans with extremely limited networks, losing access to longtime doctors and medicines. They often find those policies online, in what has become a dizzyingly complicated system of government-regulated insurance marketplaces created by the ACA. The marketplaces vary in quality from state to state; some are far better than others. But they generally offer few easily identifiable, affordable, and workable choices. 'The good news is that the ACA gave young people more options,' said Karen Pollitz, who directed consumer information and insurance oversight at the Department of Health and Human Services during the Obama administration. 'The bad news is the good stuff is hidden in a minefield of really bad options that'll leave you broke if you get sick.' Publicly funded counselors called 'navigators' or 'assisters' can help insurance seekers choose a plan. But those programs vary by state, and often customers don't realize that the help is available. The Trump administration has cut funding to publicize and operate those navigator programs. 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Maxwell Frost, a Florida Democrat and the first Gen Z member of Congress, was able to quit his job and run for office at 25 only because he could stay on his mother's plan until he turned 26, he said. Now 28, he is insured through his federal job. 'The ACA was groundbreaking legislation, including the idea that every American needs health care,' he said. 'But there are pitfalls, and one of them is that when young adults turn 26, they fall into this abyss.' Back in 2010, the decision to make 26 the cutoff age for staying on a parent's insurance was 'kind of arbitrary,' recalled Nancy-Ann DeParle, deputy chief of staff for policy in the Obama White House. 'My kids were young , and I was trying to imagine when my child would be an adult.' Before that time, children were often kicked off family plans at much younger ages, typically 18. The Obama administration's idea was that young adults were most likely settling into careers and jobs with insurance by 26. 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Experts agree that the marketplaces need stronger regulation. In 2023, the federal government defined clearer standards for what plans in each tier of insurance should offer, such as better prescription drug benefits, defined copays for X-rays, or coverage for emergency room visits. Certain types of basic care, such as primary care, should require just a small copay for at least a small number of initial visits. Each insurer must offer at least one plan that complies with these new standards for every level, known as an 'easy pricing' option or a 'standard plan.' Most plans on the marketplaces don't meet these criteria. Federal and state regulators had long planned to cull such 'noncompliant' plans, gradually — fearing that doing so too quickly would scare insurers away from participating. But with the priorities of the new Trump administration now in focus, and a Republican majority in Congress, it's far from clear what course President Donald Trump, who sought to repeal the ACA outright in his first term, will take. There are hints: Subsidies to help Americans buy insurance, adopted during the Biden administration, are set to expire at the end of 2025 unless the Republican-led Congress extends them. If the subsidies expire, premiums are likely to rise sharply for plans sold on the marketplaces, leaving insurance out of reach for many more young adults. KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism.
Miami Herald
a day ago
- Miami Herald
Even in states that fought Obamacare, Trump's new law poses health consequences
GOP lawmakers in the 10 states that refused the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion for over a decade have argued their conservative approach to growing government programs would pay off in the long run. Instead, the Republican-passed budget law that includes many of President Donald Trump's priorities will pose at least as big a burden on patients and hospitals in the expansion holdout states as in the 40 states that have extended Medicaid coverage to more low-income adults, hospital executives and other officials warn. For instance, Georgia, with a population of just over 11 million, will see as many people lose insurance coverage sold through ACA marketplaces as will California, with more than triple the population, according to estimates by KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News. The new law imposes additional paperwork requirements on Obamacare enrollees, slashes the time they have each year to sign up, and cuts funding for navigators who help them shop for plans. Those changes, all of which will erode enrollment, are expected to have far more impact in states like Florida and Texas than in California because a higher proportion of residents in non-expansion states are enrolled in ACA plans. The budget law, which Republicans called the 'One Big Beautiful Bill,' will cause sweeping changes to health care across the country as it trims federal spending on Medicaid by more than $1 trillion over the next decade. The program covers more than 71 million people with low incomes and disabilities. Ten million people will lose coverage over the next decade due to the law, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Many of its provisions are focused on the 40 states that expanded Medicaid under the ACA, which added millions more low-income adults to the rolls. But the consequences are not confined to those states. A proposal from conservatives to cut more generous federal payments for people added to Medicaid by the ACA expansion didn't make it into the law. 'Politicians in non-expansion states should be furious about that,' said Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. The number of people losing coverage could accelerate in non-expansion states if enhanced federal subsidies for Obamacare plans expire at the end of the year, driving up premiums as early as January and adding to the rolls of uninsured. KFF estimates as many as 2.2 million people could become uninsured just in Florida, a state where lawmakers refused to expand Medicaid and, partly as a result, now leads the nation in ACA enrollment. For people like Francoise Cham of Miami, who has Obamacare coverage, the Republican policy changes could be life-altering. Before she had insurance, the 62-year-old single mom said she would donate blood just to get her cholesterol checked. Once a year, she'd splurge for a wellness exam at Planned Parenthood. She expects to make about $28,000 this year and currently pays about $100 a month for an ACA plan to cover herself and her daughter, and even that strains her budget. Cham choked up describing the 'safety net' that health insurance has afforded her — and at the prospect of being unable to afford coverage if premiums spike at the end of the year. 'Obamacare has been my lifesaver,' she said. If the enhanced ACA subsidies aren't extended, 'everyone will be hit hard,' said Cindy Mann, a health policy expert with Manatt Health, a consulting and legal firm, and a former deputy administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. 'But a state that hasn't expanded Medicaid will have marketplace people enrolling at lower income levels,' she said. 'So, a greater share of residents are reliant on the marketplace.' Though GOP lawmakers may try to cut Medicaid even more this year, for now the states that expanded Medicaid largely appear to have made a smart decision, while states that haven't are facing similar financial pressures without any upside, said health policy experts and hospital industry observers. KFF Health News reached out to the governors of the 10 states that have not fully expanded Medicaid to see if the budget legislation made them regret that decision or made them more open to expansion. Spokespeople for Republican Gov. Henry McMaster of South Carolina and Republican Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia did not indicate whether their states are considering Medicaid expansion. Brandon Charochak, a spokesperson for McMaster's office, said South Carolina's Medicaid program focuses on 'low-income children and families and disabled individuals,' adding, 'The state's Medicaid program does not anticipate a large impact on the agency's Medicaid population.' Enrollment in ACA marketplace plans nationwide has more than doubled since 2020 to 24.3 million. If enhanced subsidies expire, premiums for Obamacare coverage would rise by more than 75% on average, according to an analysis by KFF. Some insurers are already signaling they plan to charge more. The CBO estimates that allowing enhanced subsidies to expire will increase the number of people without health insurance by 4.2 million by 2034, compared with a permanent extension. That would come on top of the coverage losses caused by Trump's budget law. 'That is problematic and scary for us,' said Eric Boley, president of the Wyoming Hospital Association. He said his state, which did not expand Medicaid, has a relatively small population and hasn't been the most attractive for insurance providers — few companies currently offer plans on the ACA exchange — and he worried any increase in the uninsured rate would 'collapse the insurance market.' As the uninsured rate rises in non-expansion states and the budget law's Medicaid cuts loom, lawmakers say state funds will not backfill the loss of federal dollars, including in states that have refused to expand Medicaid. Those states got slightly favorable treatment under the law, but it's not enough, said Grace Hoge, press secretary for Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat who favors Medicaid expansion but who has been rebuffed by GOP state legislators. 'Kansans' ability to access affordable healthcare will be harmed,' Hoge said in an email. 'Kansas, nor our rural hospitals, will not be able to make up for these cuts.' For hospital leaders in other states that have refused full Medicaid expansion, the budget law poses another test by limiting financing arrangements states leveraged to make higher Medicaid payments to doctors and hospitals. Beginning in 2028, the law will reduce those payments by 10 percentage points each year until they are closer to what Medicare pays. Richard Roberson, president of the Mississippi Hospital Association, said the state's use of what's called directed payments in 2023 helped raise its Medicaid reimbursements to hospitals and other health institutions from $500 million a year to $1.5 billion a year. He said higher rates helped Mississippi's rural hospitals stay open. 'That payment program has just been a lifeline,' Roberson said. The budget law includes a $50 billion fund intended to insulate rural hospitals and clinics from its changes to Medicaid and the ACA. But a KFF analysis found it would offset only about one-third of the cuts to Medicaid in rural areas. Trump encouraged Florida, Tennessee, and Texas to continue refusing Medicaid expansion in his first term, when his administration gave them an unusual 10-year extension for financing programs known as uncompensated care pools, which generate billions of dollars to pay hospitals for treating the uninsured, said Allison Orris, director of Medicaid policy for the left-leaning think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. 'Those were very clearly a decision from the first Trump administration to say, 'You get a lot of money for an uncompensated care pool instead of expanding Medicaid,'' she said. Those funds are not affected by Trump's new tax-and-spending law. But they do not help patients the way insurance coverage would, Orris said. 'This is paying hospitals, but it's not giving people health care,' she said. 'It's not giving people prevention.' States such as Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi have not only turned down the additional federal funding that Medicaid expansion brings, but most of the remaining non-expansion states spend less than the national average per Medicaid enrollee, provide fewer or less generous benefits, and cover fewer categories of low-income Americans. Mary Mayhew, president of the Florida Hospital Association, said the state's Medicaid program does not adequately cover children, older people, and people with disabilities because reimbursement rates are too low. 'Children don't have timely access to dentists,' she said. 'Expectant moms don't have access nearby to an OB-GYN. We've had labor and delivery units close in Florida.' She said the law will cost states more in the long run. 'The health care outcomes for the individuals we serve will deteriorate,' Mayhew said. 'That's going to lead to higher cost, more spending, more dependency on the emergency department.' KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism.
New York Post
2 days ago
- New York Post
Ozempic users aged backwards by more than 3 years in new trial
An astonishing new trial suggests that Ozempic may help users not only drop pounds but also turn back time. In the first trial to directly measure the impact of semaglutide on aging, half of the participants were given a weekly injection of Ozempic while the other half received a placebo for 32 weeks. 'Those on semaglutide drug became, on average, 3.1 years biologically younger by the end of the study,' diagnostic researcher Varun Dwaraka reported. The placebo group showed no significant change in biological age over the same period. Researchers believe these powerful anti-aging qualities are related to Ozempic's effect on fat distribution and metabolic health. millaf – While everyone knows their chronological age, medical experts often speak in terms of biological or 'phenotypic' age, which measures factors like metabolism, inflammation, and organ function. Researchers note that the anti-aging effects of GLP-1 varied across the body's systems. The most dramatic improvements were to the brain and inflammatory system, where the drug, originally developed to treat diabetes, appeared to delay biological aging by nearly 5 years. The teams also noted significant improvement in the heart and kidneys. 'The drug may not only slow the rate of aging, but in some individuals partially reverse it,' Dwaraka said. Researchers believe these powerful anti-aging qualities are related to Ozempic's effect on fat distribution and metabolic health. In essence, excess fat around the body's organs promotes the release of pro-aging molecules. Obesity causes low-grade chronic inflammation, which is when the body's natural chemical response to an irritant or injury remains active long after the threat has passed. GLP-1 drugs indirectly reduce inflammation through weight loss. The meds can also activate specific T cells — white blood cells key to the immune system — which can have anti-inflammatory effects. 'The drug may not only slow the rate of aging, but in some individuals partially reverse it,' a researcher on the study said. Ilzer/ – By reducing excess fat and inflammation, two hallmarks of epigenetic aging, the drug effectively slows the cruel march of deterioration. The use of GLP-1 medications has proliferated in recent years. A recent KFF health poll revealed that 12% of US adults have taken an Ozempic-like drug at some point. Despite the promising results, Dwaraka said caution and patience are called for. 'Prescribing it more broadly as an anti-ageing therapy is premature,' he said. However, he and his team are hopeful their research will inspire further studies and support the repurposing of existing drugs to treat age-related problems, as these established medications are more likely to be fast-tracked for approval and come without the risk of unforeseen side effects. 'Semaglutide may well emerge as one of the most promising candidates in this space,' Dwaraka concluded. GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy have been linked to a host of benefits beyond diabetes management and weight loss, from reduced dementia risk and decreased cancer risk to addiction treatment.
