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Chart showing the percentage cut the committee would make to each area of government spending to balance the budget over 10 years. 8 8 8 Deficit 6 6 6 4 4 4 Spending Spending Spending Revenue Revenue Revenue 2 2 2 2023 2033 2023 2033 2023 2033 Current projections Deficits are projected to grow to $2.7 trillion by 2033. 8 8 8 Deficit 6 6 6 4 4 4 Spending Spending Spending Revenue Revenue Revenue 2 2 2 2023 2033 2023 2033 2023 2033 Eliminate by increasing taxes Current projections Eliminate by cutting spending Deficits are projected to grow to $2.7 trillion by 2033. plan to balance budget 50% Projections 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 Current trajectory 200% of G.D.P. plan to balance budget 50% Projections 1930 1960 1990 2020 2050 Sources: Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget; Congressional Budget Office; Republican Study Committee Note: Both plans were released in 2022 and are based on outdated baseline projections; their debt reduction may differ modestly.

☆ Lilly to cut insulin prices by 70%, cap prices at $35 per month for people with private insurance
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Inflation Reduction Act capped insulin prices for Medicare beneficiaries at $35 per month but did not protect people with private insurance or who don't have coverage from higher prices. In President Joe Biden's State of the Union speech, he called on Congress to cap insulin prices at $35 a month for everyone. Lilly said it will cap out-of-pocket costs at $35 per month effectively immediately at certain retail pharmacies for people with private insurance. One in five people with diabetes who have private insurance pay more than $35 per month for insulin, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Democrats in Congress had pushed to cap insulin at $35 per month last summer for people with private insurance, but Senate Republicans killed the measure.

☆ These cofounders are giving parents-to-be an alternative option to traditional hospital care by addressing the system inadequacies for people of color
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Alexandra York | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Allegra Hill and Kimberly Durdin launched Kindred Space LA, a birth-support center, in 2018. They shared their experiences launching Kindred Space LA and their hopes for the future. Today, Kindred Space LA offers in-clinic births, home births, support groups, sessions with mental-health professionals, and collaborative care with ob-gyns and midwives who work in hospitals. Insider spoke with Hill and Durdin about their experiences launching Kindred Space LA and their hopes for the future. Kindred Space LA ultimately raised around $50,000, enough to open the birth clinic that year.

☆ Virginia blocks a bill that would have stopped police from viewing period app data, raising fears it could be used to prosecute abortions
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Virginia bill that would have prohibited police search warrants on menstrual cycle data was shelved. Glenn Youngkin announced his opposition to the bill this week, resulting in it being tabled. The White House has warned women against using period-tracking apps, citing privacy concerns. Around a third of menstruating adults use period-tracking apps, according to a 2019 survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Abortion rights activists have raised alarm at the idea that period-tracking apps could be used to prosecute abortion-law violations, following the overturning of Roe v. Wade last year.

☆ Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel will testify before Senate next month on Covid vaccine price hike
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Moderna CEO, Stephane Bancel attends 2019 Forbes Healthcare Summit at the Jazz at Lincoln Center on December 05, 2019 in New York City. Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel will testify before the Senate health committee in March over the company's plans to hike the price of its Covid-19 vaccine. Sanders, in a letter to Bancel last month, slammed the proposed price hike as "outrageous" given that the vaccine was developed in cooperation with the National Institutes of Health using taxpayer money. When the federal supply runs out, uninsured adults may have to pay the full price for the shots. There is a federal free vaccine program for children whose families or caretakers can't afford the shots.

☆ 4 tips to save money with brands like Nike and Starbucks from a TikToker who paid off $200,000 in student debt in 2 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

She said these tips could save people money on a laptop, coffee, deliveries, and medical bills. Her most popular content features her "reading the fine print" of companies' terms and conditions to help people save money. Insider compiled a list of four of Kullberg's other top tips for how "reading the fine print" can save you money. Here's how Starbucks officially puts it:"At participating stores, you can use your registered Starbucks Card or Starbucks app to purchase a beverage and then present that same Starbucks Card or Starbucks account in the app to get free refills." Last year, the Kaiser Family Foundation found that three million Americans owe over $10,000 in medical debt.

☆ How small-business owners can address pay equity, according to a startup founder trying to build generational wealth for employees of color
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Alexandra York | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Yemi Rose is the founder of OfColor, a startup helping workers of color build generational wealth. Rose shared his insights on how small businesses could reach pay equity for employees of color. Before starting OfColor, Rose spent 16 years workings for financial and consulting firms like Thomson Financial and KPMG. In a conversation with Insider, Rose shared his thoughts on how small-business owners could reach pay equity for their employees of color. Before launching OfColor, Rose wanted to become an expert on the systems dictating wealth across America.

Around 8.4 million of the 37 million people in the United States with diabetes use insulin, according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA). They tried, and failed, to extend the benefit to everyone with health insurance when they were voting on the IRA. Without Congressional approval, the Biden administration cannot impose the cap on private insurance plans and is unlikely able to create a subsidy for the uninsured, experts said. Some Medicaid plans for low-income individuals and private insurance plans also cap the monthly cost of insulin at $35. It is unclear if his proposal would include those without health insurance, who often have to pay the full price for the life-sustaining drug.

☆ U.S. plans to stop buying Covid shots for the public this fall. Here's what that means
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

There is a federal program to provide free vaccines to children whose families or caretakers can't afford the shots. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., slammed the vaccine price hike in a letter to Moderna's CEO last month. Under the ACA, private health insurance is required to cover all immunizations recommended by the CDC at no cost to the consumer. There may be a small number of legacy private health insurance plans from before the ACA that are not required to cover Covid vaccines, Cox said. Consumers could also see their health insurance premiums increase if Pfizer and Moderna hike the price of the shots, Cox said.

☆ The era of health insurance disruptors is over
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Today, they're mostly the poster children of just how challenging it is to break into the insurance industry. Clover Health; Bright Health; Oscar Health; Olivia Reaney/Business InsiderOscar, founded in 2012, and Bright, in 2015, set out to sell health plans to people buying coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. Elevance Health, the parent company of Anthem health plans, is No. Health insurance remains overly complex and mind-numbingly frustrating. Established health insurers haven't been able to stem the rise in health costs, which are mostly determined by the prices for medical care.

A provision in the Inflation Reduction Act that allows Medicare to negotiate prices on the costliest prescription drugs each year will likely save the U.S. billions of dollars — as long as the drug industry doesn't interfere, according to a study published Friday in JAMA Health Forum. They identified 40 drugs that would have been selected by Medicare for drug pricing negotiation under the Inflation Reduction Act's provision. The researchers simulated negotiated prices by using a so-called ceiling price, which is at least 25% off the average price drug manufacturers charge to nongovernment entities, like private health insurance providers. The researchers found that the Medicare drug negotiation provision would have saved the U.S. $26.5 billion, or 5% of all drug spending, during those three years. It plans to release a list of the first 10 drugs it will target for drug pricing negotiation by September.

☆ House GOP study group is proposing changes to Medicare. Here's what you need to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Sarah O'Brien | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

There also is Part D (prescription drug coverage) and Part C (Medicare Advantage Plans), both of which are offered by private insurers. The stakes in a debate like this are high, given the importance of Medicare. Tricia Neuman executive director for the Kaiser Family Foundation's program on Medicare policyRight now, Neuman said, the savings proposals are being described at a fairly high level. "The policy debate starts to get real when the specifics are laid out," she said. "The stakes in a debate like this are high, given the importance of Medicare [for] seniors and younger people with disabilities."

☆ Record high share in U.S. report delaying medical treatments due to costs — here's how you can save on health care
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Annie Nova | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Iona Studio | Istock | Getty ImagesMore people in the U.S. are deciding to hold off on medical care for financial reasons. That percentage is the highest since the polling organization began taking the measurement in 2001, at which point 19% of people answered they'd postponed health care because of money. Sometimes, doctors leave a network, McClanahan said, so you want to check this again if you haven't seen a provider in some time. Your deductible is the amount you have to pay for your health care before your coverage kicks in. If you reach your deductible, you might want to squeeze in other care or treatments within the same year to cut costs, McClanahan said.

The only HIV vaccine in a late-stage trial has failed, researchers announced Wednesday, dealing a significant blow to the effort to control the global HIV epidemic and adding to a decadeslong roster of failed attempts. “I don’t think that people should give up on the field of the HIV vaccine,” Fauci said. Fauci said that a critical limitation of the Mosaico vaccine was that it elicited what are known as non-neutralizing — as opposed to neutralizing — antibodies against HIV. As with the Thai trial, the hope is to channel research findings into future HIV vaccine development. To prove a vaccine works, researchers must recruit participants who remain at substantial risk of HIV over time.

Childhood vaccinations across the U.S fallen for a second year in a row, leaving hundreds of thousands of kids vulnerable to otherwise preventable illnesses. But fears stoked by vaccine misinformation have also been a growing problem, O'Leary said. "We're still trying to understand the extent to which misinformation around Covid vaccines has spread to misinformation about other childhood vaccines," he said. In a December interview, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC's director, told NBC News that vaccine misinformation is one of the biggest threats to public health. About a third of kids ages 5 through 11 have had two doses of a Covid vaccine.

☆ The Biden administration just made it easier for Trump to keep a key promise on prescription drugs if he wins in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

The Biden administration presented a plan on Wednesday to let the government negotiate drug prices. Trump, who once accused Big Pharma of "getting away with murder," could be president when drug prices fall. Gutting the prescription drug provision would come at a cost to the federal government. President Trump signed a series of four executive orders aimed at lowering prices that for prescription drugs in the United States. "There has been no bigger champion of lowering prescription costs and putting Americans first than President Trump," Steven Cheung, Trump's 2024 campaign spokesman, told Insider.

☆ Most Alzheimer’s patients would pay up to $26,500 per year for new treatment Leqembi
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Few seniors with early Alzheimer's disease will have access to the new treatment Leqembi due to its high cost and very limited coverage by Medicare. "Even with Medicare coverage, beneficiaries would still be responsible for 20% coinsurance, and that's not a trivial amount." An investigation by lawmakers in the House concluded that the FDA approval process for Aduhelm was "rife with irregularities." "It's not going to be widely available even to people who are potentially eligible based on whether or not they have mild cognitive impairment related to Alzheimer's disease," Neuman said. CMS plans to provide broader coverage for Leqembi if the treatment receives full FDA approval under the traditional process, according to an agency statement.

☆ Successfully applying for Social Security disability is difficult. Applying as a long Covid patient is even trickier
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Social Security disability benefits are generally available to workers who have earned enough credits through payroll taxes — typically 40 credits, though younger workers may qualify with less. Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, is a federal benefit available to disabled individuals who may not qualify for Social Security disability based on their work records. Allsup, which works with NASA, helped Perry get his Social Security disability benefits application approved. "That can really make or break a Social Security disability case," he said. Social Security disability benefits are aimed at long-term conditions.

☆ How health insurance may have made health care more expensive
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( Charlotte Morabito | In Charlottemorabito | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Roughly 40% of U.S. adults have at least $250 in medical debt, according to a survey conducted by Kaiser Family Foundation. There are many complicated reasons for the rise in the cost of care such as not prioritizing preventive care or a lack of price transparency, but one of the biggest catalysts for inflation was the rise of health insurance. In the early 2000s, federal legislation led to a major restructuring of how insurance plans shared costs, with the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act spurring a boom in high-deductible health insurance plans. A deductible is the amount a policyholder has to pay upfront before their health insurance plan kicks in. Watch the video above to learn more about how medical debt became so common in the U.S. health care system and what we can do to change it.

The problem was the Neris had switched to a new, high-deductible health insurance plan to save money. The 2010 Affordable Care Act expanded access to health insurance, so companies were faced with covering more people than ever before. But the epinephrine auto-injectors — which deliver a shot of epinephrine and are the only emergency medicine available for life-threatening allergic reactions — usually are not. But AHIP (formerly known as America’s Health Insurance Plans), a group that represents such companies, said drug manufacturers are to blame. Fight it with your health care provider, fight it with your insurance company.”“No almost never means no in health insurance,” he said.

☆ Moving to Florida could save you on taxes — but cost more overall
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Many Americans have seen the lack of a state income tax as a way to get ahead financially. Many have also been drawn there because it's one of nine states with no state income tax, which could potentially save them thousands of dollars per year. Despite the lack of an income tax, Florida has higher sales and property taxes than some of its peers, and due to Florida law, newcomers are seeing higher property tax increases than longstanding residents. Before moving to the Sunshine State, it's worth considering how Florida's cost of living compares to where you live now, and to your potential employment opportunities. Indeed, the lack of an income tax is a major financial perk for Floridians.

The rule will make medication abortion, which accounts for more than half of U.S. abortions, more accessible in states where abortion remains legal, but its impact in states that have banned abortion will be limited. Most significantly, the FDA's new regulation will not help patients get abortion pills in states that have banned abortion, said Amanda Allen of the Lawyering Project, a legal group that defends abortion rights. Nonetheless, Allen said, the rule could make it easier to travel out of state for a medication abortion. Currently, a patient seeking a medication abortion in another state must both obtain the prescription and the pill in that state. Some conservative policy groups and lawmakers have proposed laws that would make it a crime to help someone travel to another state for abortion or mail them abortion pills.

☆ Fact Check-Deaths among COVID-vaccinated not a reflection of vaccine effectiveness
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Social media users continue to share the misleading suggestion that numbers of COVID-19 deaths among vaccinated people reflect the ineffectiveness of vaccines. In fact, experts say that one reason the majority of deaths from COVID-19 in the United States is among vaccinated adults is that most adults are vaccinated. Data show that the rate of deaths and severe COVID illness is lower among vaccinated adults than those who are unvaccinated. A graphic in the video is labeled “vaccine effectiveness” and the post contains the text, “A present from me to you. Data collected by the CDC showing that a majority of people dying from COVID-19 in the U.S. had been vaccinated does not reflect vaccine effectiveness.

How much does insulin cost? People with Type 1 diabetes need, on average, one to three vials of insulin per month, according to the American Diabetes Association. Patients with Type 2 diabetes don't always need to take insulin, but those who do can sometimes require more than people with Type 1 diabetes. Even people with what's considered good health insurance coverage can face steep costs in certain situations. In addition to insulin and insurance premiums, Gibson also must spend $550 every three months for glucose monitors and $1,100 for insulin pumps.

☆ Millions at risk of losing Medicaid in the spring under provision tucked inside $1.7 trillion federal spending bill
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Tucked inside a more than 4,000-page, $1.7 trillion bill that funds the federal government through September is a provision that would eliminate the Medicaid coverage protections from the public health emergency. "Whereas right now since the Covid-19 public health emergency started, states were not allowed to terminate Medicaid coverage." The public health emergencyi, first declared in January 2020 by the Trump administration, has been renewed every 90 days since the pandemic began. People generally lose Medicaid coverage if their income rises and falls outside the program's parameters. HHS estimates that about a third of those who will lose Medicaid coverage will qualify for tax credits for marketplace insurance.

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