Federal Funding
Congress passed a stopgap funding bill that would keep the government open until December 20th. This would open the door for potential healthcare items at the end of the year such as provider funding fixes and Medicare telehealth waiver extensions. House and Senate Democrats unveiled a bill to permanently extend the enhanced premium subsidies that has helped grow the ACA individual market Exchanges. Those subsidies expire at the end of 2025 absent Congressional Action.
Medicaid Enrollment for Kids Drops
Axios flagged that kids enrollment in Medicaid as declined by about 5.5 million since redetermination began. There has not been a comparable increase in CHIP coverage. While data is still being accumulated as to how many of this loss is being absorbed by the ACA Exchanges, preliminary data also points to an increase in uninsured rates for this population
Schizophrenia Drug
The FDA is considering approving first new Schizophrenia drug in decades. The drug KarXt could be potentially useful for up to the 1 in 300 people that suffer from the mental health disorder. The drug is being considered priced at an annual cost of $16,000 to $20,000.
GLP-1 New Use?
Researchers have released findings that GLP-1 drugs may be useful in combating opioid drug overdoses. The finding may open another potential area for the increasingly used drug.
