Mothers and their babies face starvation in Gaza, where hospitals are overwhelmed
This isn't the first time Mayar has been in a Gaza hospital battling malnutrition, yet this 17-day stint is the longest. She has celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that means she can't eat gluten and requires special food. But there's little left for her to eat in the embattled enclave after 19 months of war and Israel's punishing blockade , and she can't digest what's available.
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Forbes
33 minutes ago
- Forbes
Trump Is Making Healthcare A Winning '80/20' Political Issue For GOP
Cell lines are prepared in the laboratory of Dr. John Tisdale, a Senior Investigator at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics Laboratory, at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images President Trump has pledged to provide Americans with a vastly reformed healthcare system that's affordable, innovative and elevates patient care above anywhere else in the world. Despite the political shell games being played by liberal Democrats, the media and even some Republicans, much of President Trump's policy agenda has broad public support and is largely on track to succeed if enacted. For example, recent polling from McLaughlin & Associates shows well over 85% of likely voters favor his policy to bypass costly middlemen fees by allowing direct sales of medicines to patients. Across the board, his policies—from requiring foreign countries to pay their fair share for U.S. medical innovations, to securing unprecedented domestic drug manufacturing investments in the face of emerging threats from China, to ensuring Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) corporations can't pocket large drug discounts meant for patients—have approval ratings of 80% or more. Who would've thought Donald Trump could make healthcare an '80/20' political issue for conservatives? The bigger question, however, is whether congressional Republicans, long considered disadvantaged among voters on the issue, will embrace his agenda and help pass it. Make no mistake, the opportunity is directly in front of them. Most Americans would probably agree that no one would design a healthcare system that looks anything like the one we have. It's confusing, rife with red tape, waste, fraud and abuse, manipulated by corporate middlemen and is far too expensive for patients, employers and taxpayers to sustain. At the same time, however, the U.S. system develops, manufactures and delivers the most cutting-edge medical treatments in the world. It doesn't add up that America can be at the forefront of innovation and investment, while drowning in antiquated systems that bankrupt families and fleece taxpayers of billions of dollars. These are complicated problems that too often have led to overly complicated and often self-serving politically directed policies that have made problems far worse for patients and families. President Joe Biden's changes to Medicare—part of the Democrats' ridiculously named Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) spending bill—are a perfect recent example. In addition to raiding billions of dollars in so-called Medicare savings to fund unrelated subsidies for big insurers, electric vehicle buyers and other special interests, the IRA's drug-price control measures led to massive premium spikes, kicked countless seniors off their Part D drug plans and stifled needed R&D investments in new cures and cutting-edge medicines. To be fair, President Trump has also threatened the use of heavy-handed price controls on prescription drugs. However, his aggregate policy proposals, which call for greater accountability, competition and transparency in healthcare—along with the force of nature he brings to the negotiating process—are set to achieve even greater results, to the point of making such price controls unnecessary. We should assume he knows this because during his first four years in office increases in drug prices remained at historic lows. Only eight months into his second term, President Trump has already applied unprecedented pressure on foreign governments to pay their fair share for U.S. drug innovations, worked to expose and rein in costly insurer middlemen and helped secure a record $300 billion in new domestic pharmaceutical R&D manufacturing and workforce investments. In short, President Trump is proving to be the ultimate price control in healthcare. And he's doing it without actually implementing such unnecessary measures—and he shouldn't—thus avoiding the negative access and innovation-killing impacts they'd have on patients, families, innovators and workers. Additionally, there are several other Trump-aligned policies being considered to help move America forward. They include requiring other countries to set NATO-like investment thresholds to ensure the U.S. doesn't bear the world's costs for medical innovation, expediting FDA reviews for lower-cost prescription drug and leveraging AI to power accelerated innovation discoveries and root out waste fraud and abuse. Taken together, these '80/20' healthcare proposals and other free-market reforms serve as the foundation of the 'Most Favored Patient' project (I'm one of the principals) [ a Trump-aligned agenda made up of commonsense solutions and innovative policies to address the everyday healthcare problems and costs impacting nearly every family. Now, thanks to President Trump, Republicans in Congress have a unique opportunity and platform to turn an issue that has historically been viewed as a primary weakness into a winning agenda that appeals to all American patients, taxpayers and voters. Here's some advice: Don't hesitate.
Forbes
an hour ago
- Forbes
Plan For Increases, Perhaps Big Increases, In Medicare Part D Premiums For 2026
The final numbers aren't in yet, but it looks like premiums for Medicare Part D prescription drug insurance policies will increase for 2026, and they could increase substantially. Part D policies are insurance policies issued by private sector companies and overseen and regulated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The program has been in existence since 2006 and is partly subsidized by the federal government. There were substantial premium increases and reductions in benefits for 2025. Several factors caused those changes, such as higher use of prescription drugs and price increases for some drugs. Another reason Part D premiums increased from 2024-2025 was the change in Medicare's coverage of catastrophic prescription drug expenses. Previously, there was a coverage gap, also known as the doughnut hole. The coverage gap began after a beneficiary's prescription medication spending exceeded a certain level for the year. Then, the beneficiary paid all prescription drug expenses until out-of-pocket spending for the year hit a certain level. After that, the beneficiary paid only 5% of costs for the rest of the year. The Inflation Reduction Act eliminated the coverage gap and phased in a change. For 2025 and later years, a Part D policyholder's out-of-pocket prescription drug spending is capped at $2,000 per year. The law required the insurance companies to pick up most of the cost after a beneficiary's spending exceeded the $2,000 limit. That pushed Part D premiums higher for 2025, despite a $6.2 billion increase in the federal government's subsidies to the insurers for the year. The subsidy is expected to be decreased by about 40% in 2026. Insurers still are developing their plans for 2026 and submitting bids to CMS. But insurers told The Wall Street Journal that premiums are likely to increase significantly for 2026 because of higher costs (due to tariffs and higher claims), regulatory changes and the subsidy reduction. CMS officials told the Journal that premiums are expected to rise about $10 per month solely because of the reduced subsidy. They expect the total increase in the average premium for 2026 to be no more than $50 per month. The increases will vary between policies and insurers. Details of Part D policies won't be known until the Open Enrollment season begins on October 7. But beneficiaries should begin preparing now. Beneficiaries should expect that some current policies won't be available in 2026. They also should expect to pay higher Part D premiums in 2026 and beyond for all policies. CMS said in a Fact Sheet on July 28 that it took unprecedented action to avoid significant year-to-year price increases. Actions it took included negotiating with insurers on their bid terms for 2026 Part D policies and denying bids it considered unacceptable. CMS hasn't published data on the range of 2026 premiums and plan terms. It said data such as average premiums will be released in mid- to late of original Medicare should plan to pay higher Part D premiums in 2026 and beyond. Some beneficiaries might think they can avoid the premium increases and reduced benefits by enrolling in a Medicare Advantage plan. Prescription drugs are a component in those plans instead of a separate benefit. But Medicare Advantage plans face the same rules and conditions on their prescription drug benefits as do insurers who offer standalone Part D policies. The changes can't be avoided by enrolling in a Medicare Advantage plan.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Many people using OTC birth control pills previously used nothing, study finds
Two years after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill, new research is looking at who's switching to it and why. In the study, published Monday in JAMA Network Open, researchers used survey data from 986 people, ages 15 to 45, in 44 states who obtained the over-the-counter pill either online or at a pharmacy. They found that a significant portion of users shifted to the over-the-counter pill from a less-effective method of birth control or from using no contraception at all. Of those surveyed, they found a 31.8 percentage point increase in use by people who previously used no contraceptive method. A 41 percentage point increase was seen in those who switched from a less-effective method, like condoms or emergency contraception. Opill, the over-the-counter, progestin-only pill from drugmaker Perrigo, provides an option for obtaining oral contraceptives without needing to first see a health care provider. Allowing people to access the pill without a prescription was done in hopes of reducing barriers to access, according to the FDA's news release at the time of approval, which noted that almost half of the 6.1 million pregnancies in the U.S. each year are unintended. The new research "is one of the first studies to show that over-the-counter birth control pills are reaching the very people they're meant to help — those who face the greatest barriers to care," lead author Dr. Maria Rodriguez, professor of obstetrics and gynecology in the Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine, said in a news release. Those accessing the over-the-counter pill were more likely than prescription users to be uninsured, younger (ages 15-20) and living in rural areas, according to the study. The most common reason people gave in the survey for choosing the OTC pill was that it didn't require an appointment, followed by those who said they didn't have a regular physician. "At a time when pregnancy is becoming even more dangerous in the United States — especially for people of color, those with low incomes, and those living in rural communities — our findings underscore that OTC contraception is a powerful tool for reproductive autonomy," Rodriguez said. Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan on the Trump-Putin summit, sanctions and more Laufey on creating her own sound A robotics activist's remarkable crusade Solve the daily Crossword
