Last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule that included changes to the physician fee schedule (PFS) and changes to payments for Medicare Part B. The agency also announced an increase in Part B beneficiary premiums due in part to the authorization of the controversial Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm,...
On Wednesday, Arizona reported 2,180 new cases of COVID-19 and 124 deaths related to COVID-19. This brings the total of COVID-19 related deaths to 21,273. There were 20,976 vaccine doses administered in Arizona on Wednesday, including booster shots. 59% of the state is vaccinated. The number of intensive care unit beds in use also rose,...
Nationwide, community transmission of COVID-19 remains high and 77.8% of Americans over the age of 12 have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Over 190 million people have been fully vaccinated and 14.4 million have received a booster dose. In Arizona, over 8 million vaccine doses have been administered with 58.9% of...
On October 19, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a landmark proposal to improve access to and reduce the cost of hearing aid technology for millions of Americans.
The proposed rule aims to address barriers to use, including cost, access, social stigma, perceived value of the devices, and certain state and federal...National News
This week, Congressional Democrats are sparring amongst themselves to bring President Joe Biden's infrastructure bill to a vote and the most public figure against the package as it stands now is Arizona's own Senator Kyrsten Sinema. What she wants is unclear, but what's in the balance includes closing a Medicaid loop hole and expansion...
On Monday, August 23, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave full approval for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine will now be marketed under the name Comirnaty and will be available to prevent the disease in individuals 16 years and older. For now, the vaccine will remain under emergency use authorization (EUA) for...
Last week President Joe Biden called on U.S. lawmakers to enact legislation aimed at lowering drug prices, including allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices and imposing penalties on drugmakers that hike prices faster than inflation.
Biden said that U.S. prescription drug costs were higher than any other nation in the world by two to...Open
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United States as a whole is currently at a community transmission level of “high”. 71.3% of adults have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The seven-day moving average deaths from COVID-19 is currently 452 per day with 664 deaths reported to the...Arizona News
There were 769 new cases of COVID-19 in Arizona on Wednesday, bringing the state total to 894,875. There were six new deaths, the total is now 17,936. Almost 46% of Arizona residents are vaccinated against COVID-19. Only 8% of intensive care unit beds are in use by COVID-19 patients and 15% of ICU beds are available.
This...Open
On Wednesday, June 16, the Arizona Department of Health Services logged 436 new cases of COVID-19 and 12 new deaths. The cases total is now at 888,005 and deaths are now at 17,791 total. The percent positives for COVID-19 tests is 9.9%. Statewide, there are 554 inpatient COVID-19 patients and 120 intensive care unit beds in use by...
On Wednesday, Arizona reported 433 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 885,042 since recording cases began. There were two new deaths, creating a pandemic total to date of 17,715. Nearly half (47.5%) of eligible Arizonans are now fully vaccinated and 42.8% of Americans nationwide. Intensive care unit beds in Arizona are 9%...
Last Monday, the Food and Drug Administration approved a breakthrough new treatment for Alzheimer's disease. The treatment is the first of its kind in decades but many in the scientific community remain skeptical of the new drug's effectiveness.
Aduhelm -- the brand name of aducanumab -- is designed to eliminate clumps of a toxic...Open
There were 915 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Arizona on Wednesday and 20 new COVID-19 related deaths. The total number of deaths is now 17,648. Nine percent of intensive care unit beds are occupied by COVID-19 patients statewide and 18% of ICU beds are available. 46.5% of eligible Arizonans have received at least one dose of the...Arizona News
There were 540 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Arizona today, bringing the state total to 874,605. There were 17 new COVID-19 related deaths, the state total is at 17,497. 44.1% of Arizonans have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
This information comes from the Arizona Department of Health Services COVID-19 data...CMS Rules
Medicare's older adults still like their coverage and report fewer cost-related problems than privately insured adults ages 50 to 64, despite receiving similar care to that age bracket.
The study from Kaiser Family Foundation said that rapidly growing healthcare spending is of concern for consumers and the relatively high prices from...
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that Arizona has administered 5,408,077 doses of vaccine and 3,076,913 people have received at least one dose of vaccine. This means that 42.8% of the state has now been vaccinated. Nationally, 46.4% of people have been vaccinated and 35.4% of people are fully...
President Joe Biden gave a public address to Congress last Wednesday and highlighted a number of items in his healthcare agenda, including the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and drug prices. The Biden administration has also signaled that it intends to begin work on banning menthol cigarettes.
One major highlight of the president's speech...National News
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Farxiga (dapagliflozin) oral tablets to reduce the risk of kidney function decline, kidney failure, cardiovascular death and hospitalization for heart failure in adults with chronic kidney disease (CKD) who are at risk of disease progression.
The efficacy of Farxiga to improve kidney...Arizona News
There were 603 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Arizona today, bringing the state total to 860,772. There were six new COVID-19-related deaths, for a total of 17,282. There are 11% of intensive care unit beds currently in use by COVID-19 patients and 14% of ICU beds remain available.
This information comes from the Arizona Department...Arizona News
There were 649 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Arizona Wednesday, bringing the state total to 855,804. Six new deaths were reported, and will be retroactively reassigned to the dates on which the deaths took place. COVID-19 patients occupy 10% of intensive care unit beds and 14% of available hospital beds.
This information comes...