Tom Howell Jr.
Articles by Tom Howell Jr.
Susan Collins: Congress ready to forbid drug price ‘gag clauses’ against pharmacies
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine on Monday said Congress is ready and able to forbid "gag clauses" that bar pharmacies from telling customers they could pay less by using cash for certain drugs instead of ponying up the copayment under their insurance policy. Published July 16, 2018
Tom Price, Wilbur Ross under fire for ethical lapses, travel costs, business holdings
Watchdogs fired a double-barrel shot at the Trump administration for ethical lapses last week, ruling the Health and Human Services Department should have stopped its former secretary's lavish travel plans, and that current Commerce Secretary Wilbur L. Ross Jr. is financially entangled with businesses he shouldn't be. Published July 15, 2018
Tom Price’s chartered trips wasted more than $340K: IG report
The Health and Human Services Department flouted federal regulations when it let former secretary Tom Price use chartered planes instead of looking for cheaper options, squandering $341,000 in federal funds, an agency watchdog reported Friday. Published July 13, 2018
Jeff Sessions launches operation to crack down on fentanyl crimes
Saying there's "no such thing as a small case," Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered lieutenants in areas with the highest overdose rates to doggedly prosecute every case involving fentanyl or another synthetic opioid, saying too many lives are being lost to the potent drugs. Published July 12, 2018
House GOP debates Obamacare subsidies
With their Obama repeal efforts failed and with customers howling over rising costs, House Republicans went back to the drawing board Wednesday looking to come up with new solutions to boost consumer choices and free businesses from the 2010 law's punishments. Published July 11, 2018
Pfizer says it will delay planned prices hikes; decision pressures Trump to implement plan
Pfizer Inc. said Tuesday it will defer planned price increases on a slate of its medicines until Jan. 1 or avoid the hikes altogether if President Trump's blueprint for slashing drug prices takes effect, effectively daring the White House to implement its proposal after Mr. Trump called out the company out on Twitter. Published July 10, 2018
Obamacare ‘navigator’ program cut further by Trump administration
The Trump administration announced Tuesday it is making further cuts to the "navigator" program that provides in-person assistance to people seeking coverage on Obamacare's web-based marketplace. Published July 10, 2018
Hundreds of Ohio Medicaid enrollees at risk of opioid overdose: HHS IG
Rogue prescribers and Medicaid "doctor shoppers" are using taxpayer-funded insurance to fuel the deadly opioid epidemic, according to a new audit Tuesday that found 1 in 6 people on Ohio's government-run health program for the poor were prescribed opioids and hundreds of them were at "serious risk" of overdosing. Published July 10, 2018
VA, NIH strike deal to expand cancer care for veterans
Veterans with cancer will get a shot at receiving innovative treatments under a deal announced Tuesday that will bolster clinical trials at a dozen VA facilities across the country. Published July 10, 2018
Donald Trump lashes out at drug company for price hikes
President Trump, who recently predicted "voluntary, massive drops" in drug costs, accused a leading pharmaceutical company Monday of jacking up prices "for no reason" and taking advantage of American consumers. Published July 9, 2018
Robert Redfield, CDC director: Opioid epidemic worse than AIDS
The federal government's top disease fighter, who built his career battling the emergence of HIV/AIDS in the 1980s, says the opioid epidemic will be even worse. Published July 8, 2018
Trump administration freezes Obamacare payments, citing court decision
The Trump administration says it has been forced to freeze critical Obamacare payments due to a federal court decision in New Mexico, potentially causing more instability in the program's fragile markets. Published July 7, 2018
FDA eases blood-screening rules for Zika, citing drop in cases
The Food and Drug Administration said Friday it will no longer require U.S. blood banks to test individual donations for the Zika virus, citing a sharp decrease in reported cases. Published July 6, 2018
In Nebraska, Medicaid expansion will be on ballot in 2018 midterm vote
A Nebraska coalition said Thursday it submitted more than enough signatures to get Medicaid expansion on the ballot in November, making it the latest Republican-led state to seek ways around governors and legislators who oppose the key plank of Obamacare. Published July 5, 2018
Nebraska coalition submits Medicaid-expansion petitions
A Nebraska coalition said Thursday it submitted more than enough signatures to get Medicaid expansion on the ballot in November, making it the latest GOP-led state to seek a way around governors and legislators who oppose Obamacare. Published July 5, 2018
Ebola outbreak in Congo ‘contained’ thanks to trial vaccines, lessons of 2014
The Ebola outbreak in Congo has "largely been contained," the World Health Organization says, leaving scientists optimistic that a mix of conventional disease-fighting tactics and trial vaccines was able to avert another global panic. Published July 4, 2018
Pro-Obamacare groups: Supreme Court nominee may gut 2010 law
Democrats say Americans' access to Obamacare is at risk with the next Supreme Court justice, though some legal experts say they're exaggerating the issue to try to defeat President Trump's eventual nominee. Published July 2, 2018
DOJ announces biggest health-fraud takedown ‘in history’
Federal agents carried out the biggest health care fraud takedown "in history" on Thursday, the Department of Justice said, charging more than 600 people across the country with bilking taxpayers for $2 billion through fake medical claims and prescriptions for unneeded opioids. Published June 28, 2018
Susan Collins to Jeff Sessions: ‘Reconsider’ stance on Obamacare suit
Sen. Susan Collins implored Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday to reconsider his hands-off approach to a lawsuit that seeks to gut Obamacare, saying nearly half of her state suffers from a pre-existing medical condition and would be at risk if the challenge strikes protections within the 2010 law. Published June 27, 2018
Senate panel: CMS must detail its Medicaid anti-fraud campaign
A Senate panel scrutinizing Medicaid overpayments says the administration's push to audit states more closely is good news but that it needs to hear more from Seema Verma, who oversees the program but did not testify alongside government watchdogs on Wednesday. Published June 27, 2018
