Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: Obama Administration OKs Calif.'s Health Plan Tax Swap; N.Y. Advances Effort To Eliminate The Tampon Tax
The Obama administration has signed off on California鈥檚 expansion of a tax on health plans that contributes hundreds of millions of dollars to Medi-Cal and other programs, with plans receiving offsetting breaks on other state taxes. (Miller, 5/17)
Feminine products are having a moment. With some calling for a red wave to take the taboo out of menstruation, politicians across the country are trying to make tampons and sanitary pads as affordable and accessible as possible. Five states have eliminated sales taxes on pads and tampons: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maryland and Minnesota. In New York, a bill awaits the governor's signature, and other efforts to improve access to sanitary products are underway. (Mogul, 5/18)
Biogen Inc. announced a research collaboration on gene therapy and gene editing with the University of Pennsylvania that will pay the West Philadelphia institution $20 million upfront, with an additional $62.5 million committed over the next three to five years for research and development costs. (Brubaker, 5/17)
Connecticut is one of four sites for a five-year demonstration program designed to identify high-cost, high-need patients 鈥 鈥渟uper users,鈥 as they鈥檙e commonly called in health care 鈥 who are also homeless, and match them with both a place to live and a team to help with things like making sure they pay rent, get a primary care doctor, and get care. (Levin Becker, 5/18)
Milwaukee's teen birthrate dropped 54.4% in the past decade, beating the nation average of 40%. (Stephenson, 5/17)
What happens when you want a test that your doctor thinks won鈥檛 help? Has a national campaign against high-cost, low-value care helped physicians have these tough conversations? And what drives doctors to provide care that they don鈥檛 think a patient needs? (Poorman, 5/18)
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Tuesday signed a bill to open the state鈥檚 medical marijuana program to minors with certain medical conditions. The measure takes effect Oct. 1 and would apply to minors with one of five conditions: a terminal illness requiring end-of-life care; cystic fibrosis; cerebral palsy; severe epilepsy or uncontrolled intractable seizure disorder; or an irreversible spinal cord injury with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity. (Levin Becker, 5/17)
The Senate is expected to make a handful of changes on Wednesday to a House-passed medical marijuana bill, including who is responsible for crafting the rules and regulations. (Siegel, 5/18)
