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Lauren Clason

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District of Columbia Marijuana Justice holds a rally outside of the Senate office buildings with an inflatable 51-foot joint, calling for legalization of marijuana.

Some Democrats stoked by Biden administration’s marijuana move

By Ryan Tarinelli and Lauren Clason
Posted April 30, 2024 at 9:56pm
FDA Commissioner Robert Califf testifies before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee on April 11.

FDA finalizes rule to increase oversight of lab tests

By Lauren Clason
Posted April 29, 2024 at 1:44pm
The Biden administration on Friday formally dropped a proposal to ban menthol cigarettes amid concerns about a tight campaign between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, as well as concerns about increased policing of the Black community.

White House drops plan to ban menthol cigarettes

By Lauren Clason
Posted April 26, 2024 at 3:17pm
The Biden administration on Friday formally dropped a proposal to ban menthol cigarettes amid concerns about a tight campaign between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, as well as concerns about increased policing of the Black community.

Decades of dallying led to current delay on menthol ban

By Lauren Clason
Posted April 24, 2024 at 6:30am
Packs of menthol-flavored and non-menthol cigarettes are displayed for sale in a smoke shop on April 28, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.

Timeline for menthol ban slips again

By Lauren Clason
Posted April 1, 2024 at 12:38pm
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Bernie Sanders has praised companies' decision to lower inhaler prices, saying that “they’re beginning to catch on to the fact that the American people are sick and tired of paying astronomical prices for the prescription drugs they need to stay alive.”

Experts say Medicaid rebate change is behind inhaler price cuts 

By Lauren Clason
Posted March 26, 2024 at 8:23am
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra testifies during a Senate Finance Committee hearing last week. On Wednesday, he appeared before two House panels to discuss President Joe Biden's fiscal 2025 budget.

With fiscal 2024 funding still in the works, Becerra looks to 2025

By Sandhya Raman and Lauren Clason
Posted March 20, 2024 at 5:59pm
Delta-8 supplements on a shelf inside Hippy Bee Dispensary on July 22, 2023, in Garland, Texas.

Growing teen THC use could further complicate cannabis policy

By Sandhya Raman and Lauren Clason
Posted March 14, 2024 at 7:00am
The coming retirement of House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., is among the factors that could impact the future of health policy priorities during a lame duck session.

Spending debate tees up potential lame-duck health bill

By Lauren Clason
Posted March 7, 2024 at 7:00am, Updated at 12:51pm
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., is seen during Senate votes in the Capitol.

Health package talks break down amid broader spending feud

By Lauren Clason
Posted February 26, 2024 at 2:32pm
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Bernie Sanders announced Friday that two pharmaceutical company CEOs will testify before the committee on Feb. 8 rather than face a subpoena.

Merck, Johnson & Johnson CEOs agree to appear before Senate HELP 

By Lauren Clason
Posted January 26, 2024 at 5:37pm
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said his long COVID makes him feel like “every nerve ending in my body is in an alka seltzer 24/7.” 

Long COVID advocates ask Congress to improve federal response 

By Lauren Clason
Posted January 18, 2024 at 4:39pm
Republican presidential candidate Florida Governor Ron DeSantis greets guests at a campaign rally at the Thunderdome on Dec. 2, 2023 in Newton, Iowa. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis asked the FDA in November 2020 to approve a plan to import drugs to the state from overseas, but delays prompted him to sue the FDA in August 2022 and again in April 2023 over alleged violations of both the Administrative Procedure Act and Freedom of Information Act.

FDA greenlights Florida’s drug importation plan

By Lauren Clason
Posted January 5, 2024 at 11:29am
An Amish horse-and-buggy in Lancaster County, Pa., near the town of Bird-in-Hand. In some parts of Pennsylvania Amish country, mobile health units are helping deliver care to the local Amish population.

Spending fights, supply chain delays slow mobile health boom

By Lauren Clason
Posted December 20, 2023 at 3:28pm
With Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee ranking member Anna G. Eshoo retiring, Rep. Diana DeGette, above, is considered a likely replacement for the slot on the powerful subcommittee.

DeGette in line for key Democratic spot on health panel

By Ariel Cohen and Lauren Clason
Posted December 14, 2023 at 7:00am
The Food and Drug Administration delayed rules that would ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars.

FDA delays menthol ban following lobbying war

By Lauren Clason
Posted December 6, 2023 at 8:33pm
An ongoing ad campaign by PhRMA over the role of pharmacy benefit managers has made its star, Peter Flihan, a familiar and omnipresent face.

The inescapable ad campaign for a wonky drug policy debate

By Lauren Clason
Posted November 17, 2023 at 10:12am
Physician Luke Van Oeveren and nurse Cindy Pirrung respond to a call in Avel eCare's telehealth emergency hub, in Sioux Falls, S.D., where the team fields calls from ambulances and hospitals around the country.

COVID aid fuels telehealth expansion in rural America

By Lauren Clason
Posted November 16, 2023 at 7:00am
Volunteer firefighter and EMT Robert Littlejohn drives the team's ambulance through Philipsburg, Mont. He relaunched the town’s volunteer EMT crew in the wake of a private ambulance’s departure this summer.

Answering the call: Montana volunteers try to fill rural EMT gap

By Lauren Clason
Posted October 26, 2023 at 7:00am
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure is pictured during her nomination hearing in April 2021. CMS is scheduled to hold listening sessions on Medicare drug price negotiations between Oct. 30 and Nov. 15 as part of the implementation of a law allowing Medicare to negotiate prices with drugmakers.

Tensions high as Medicare drug negotiations advance

By Lauren Clason
Posted October 5, 2023 at 7:00am
A compromise reached between Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Bernie Sanders and Sen. Roger Marshall would authorize $26 billion in spending for community health centers and other health programs.

Sanders, Marshall reach deal on health programs, but challenges remain

By Jessie Hellmann and Lauren Clason
Posted September 14, 2023 at 5:29pm
A draft drug shortage bill from House Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers focuses on the economics underpinning low-margin generic drug production.

Partisan divide on drug shortages unresolved after hearing

By Lauren Clason
Posted September 14, 2023 at 4:19pm
Sudafed PE is displayed on a pharmacy shelf. A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel on Tuesday unanimously concluded that oral phenylephrine, the decongestant found in many common cold medications, including Sudafed PE, is ineffective.

FDA advisers reject efficacy of common cold medication

By Lauren Clason
Posted September 12, 2023 at 2:26pm
The Food and Drug Administration approved the boosters one day before a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel is expected to discuss recommendations for who should receive the vaccines and when, with CDC Director Mandy Cohen expected to sign off shortly thereafter.

FDA greenlights new COVID-19 shots for this fall

By Lauren Clason
Posted September 11, 2023 at 3:16pm
Messages of support decorate the windows of Greenwood Leflore Hospital in Greenwood, Miss. The hospital has struggled to stay open since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Medicare pandemic advances deepen debt for some hospitals

By Lauren Clason
Posted September 6, 2023 at 6:00am
Hemant Shahi smokes marijuana during an October 2022 rally with cannabis activists outside the White House.

HHS completes review of rescheduling cannabis

By Lauren Clason
Posted August 30, 2023 at 5:43pm
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said he aims to have bipartisan reauthorization community health center legislation ready by the first week of September. That measure is one of a handful of health programs Congress must pass before the end of this fiscal year.

Health deadlines pile up as Congress adjourns for August

By Lauren Clason, Ariel Cohen, Jessie Hellmann and Sandhya Raman
Posted July 27, 2023 at 6:00am
External advisers recommended the approval of Opill over-the-counter birth control in May, even though the FDA voiced concerns about the company’s data.

FDA approves first OTC birth control pill

By Lauren Clason
Posted July 13, 2023 at 10:47am
The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s allegations mark an escalation in lawmakers’ attacks on former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci and the National Institutes of Health in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the fight over whether risky research helped create the virus.

House committee questions legality of Fauci, NIH appointments 

By Lauren Clason
Posted July 10, 2023 at 2:26pm
The FDA headquarters in White Oak, Md., is pictured on July 20, 2020. The agency approved the Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi on Thursday.

FDA grants full approval to new Alzheimer’s drug

By Lauren Clason
Posted July 6, 2023 at 5:47pm
FDA Commissioner Robert Califf testifies during a Senate Appropriations hearing in April. The agency is expected to decide on Thursday whether to approve a new Alzheimer's drug.

Expected Alzheimer’s drug approval signals new era in treatment

By Lauren Clason
Posted July 6, 2023 at 5:00am
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., pictured here, joined ranking committee member Bill Cassidy, R-La., in releasing draft language on a key pandemic preparedness bill.

Senate releases bipartisan draft of emergency preparedness bill

By Lauren Clason
Posted July 3, 2023 at 4:39pm
A vape shop in Queens, New York City. The CDC on Thursday released new sales data for e-cigarettes.

Disposable vape sales soared after FDA focused efforts elsewhere

By Lauren Clason
Posted June 22, 2023 at 1:58pm, Updated June 23, 2023 at 12:10pm
Mississippi has the worst infant mortality rate, with more than eight babies dying for every 1,000 births.

Mississippi community workers battle maternal mortality crisis

By Lauren Clason
Posted June 15, 2023 at 6:00am
A pediatric hospital room in Greenwood Leflore Hospital sits empty. The hospital closed down its pediatrics unit in Greenwood, Miss., when it closed the maternity ward last August. The 208-bed hospital has hemorrhaged services and staff in the last few years as it fought to stay open, shuttering its ICU, dialysis and rehab units and selling off other specialty services.

Mississippi Delta hospitals battle financial factors to survive

By Lauren Clason
Posted May 24, 2023 at 7:00am
The American Red Cross brought a bloodmobile to Adams Rite Aerospace in Fullerton, Calif. on Jan. 20, 2022.

FDA finalizes new rules on blood donations

By Lauren Clason
Posted May 11, 2023 at 1:40pm
FDA advisers on Wednesday voted 17-0 to recommend the agency approve the nation’s first over-the-counter birth control pill.

FDA weighs potential over-the-counter birth control pill

By Lauren Clason and Sandhya Raman
Posted May 10, 2023 at 6:50pm
Rochelle Walensky, who announced she is leaving her job as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is shown testifying before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in June 2022.

CDC director to depart in June

By Ariel Cohen and Lauren Clason
Posted May 5, 2023 at 3:12pm
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., right, Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., center, and ranking member Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., are seen during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing in March. Sanders and Cassidy this week announced a May 2 markup of a series of bills aimed at addressing drug prices.

House, Senate craft separate health care packages

By Lauren Clason and Jessie Hellmann
Posted April 27, 2023 at 7:00am
Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., chair of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, said the panel will likely hold hearings on the reauthorization bill in late spring.

Legislative themes emerge on upcoming pandemic reauthorization

By Lauren Clason
Posted April 5, 2023 at 6:30am
Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, was critical of a 2018 decision to change how livers used in organ transplants are allocated.

Biden administration plans overhaul of organ transplant system

By Lauren Clason
Posted March 22, 2023 at 4:35pm
Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, testifies during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing titled “Taxpayers Paid Billions For It: So Why Would Moderna Consider Quadrupling the Price of the COVID Vaccine?” on Wednesday.

Moderna CEO grilled by Senate panel over planned price hike

By Lauren Clason
Posted March 22, 2023 at 3:01pm
Sen. Josh Hawley attends a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee markup in the Dirksen Building on Wednesday.

Energy department briefs senators on COVID-19 origins

By Lauren Clason
Posted March 16, 2023 at 4:44pm
House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, is holding a hearing on the origins of COVID-19 Wednesday, with former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield slated to testify.

COVID-19 origins probe plods on with no clear resolution

By Lauren Clason
Posted March 6, 2023 at 3:44pm
A bottle of naloxone with a needle. Naloxone nasal sprays, which are used to counter opioid overdoses, appear headed for over-the-counter use after an FDA advisory committee's recommendation.

FDA could widen path for OTC birth control, statins

By Lauren Clason
Posted March 2, 2023 at 6:00am
FDA Commissioner Robert Califf has reiterated a call for Congress to pass a user fee agreement with the e-cigarette industry to help fund the massive vaping workload the agency has struggled to handle.

FDA plans oversight changes after critical tobacco report

By Lauren Clason
Posted February 24, 2023 at 2:16pm
President Joe Biden delivers his State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday.

Biden mixes doable, aspirational health messages in speech

By Lauren Clason, Sandhya Raman, Jessie Hellmann and Ariel Cohen
Posted February 9, 2023 at 7:01am
Incoming Senate HELP Chairman Bernie Sanders has expressed worry about drug company plans to increase COVID-19 vaccine costs after the public health emergency ends.

End of public health emergency causes cascade of changes

By Sandhya Raman, Lauren Clason, Jessie Hellmann and Ariel Cohen
Posted February 2, 2023 at 6:30am
Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, will lead the panel.

Broad focus planned for revamped COVID panel under GOP majority

By Lauren Clason
Posted January 25, 2023 at 5:27pm
House Oversight and Reform Chair Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., called the report a "wake-up call" and, with Energy and Commerce Chair Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., said the findings "raise serious concerns" about Aduhelm's approval process.

House report questions FDA’s approval of Alzheimer’s drug

By Lauren Clason
Posted December 29, 2022 at 3:56pm
A member of staff disembarks from an Air China flight carrying 500.000 protective masks at Athens International Airport on March 21, 2020.

CDC reinstates COVID-19 testing for flights from China

By Lauren Clason
Posted December 28, 2022 at 5:08pm
Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, earlier this year on Capitol Hill. During an interview with CQ/Roll Call Wednesday, Walensky called for funding and authority to allow the agency to more nimbly respond to public health crises such as COVID-19 and mpox.

CDC head asks for COVID-19 funding, data as Hill interest fades

By Ariel Cohen and Lauren Clason
Posted December 7, 2022 at 4:54pm, Updated at 9:36pm
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who is in line to lead the Energy and Commerce Committee next year, criticized the move to steer funds to the vaccination campaign.

GOP: White House shifts provider funds for COVID-19 campaign

By Lauren Clason
Posted November 23, 2022 at 1:40pm
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks about the coronavirus during the White House press briefing on Tuesday.

New booster shots cut risk of symptomatic COVID-19

By Ariel Cohen and Lauren Clason
Posted November 22, 2022 at 2:38pm
Five states weighed in on abortion-related measures during Tuesday's elections, with voters appearing likely to follow Kansas’ lead in either rejecting measures limiting a woman’s right to an abortion or protecting that right.

Abortion rights backers see big wins in Tuesday results

By Sandhya Raman, Lauren Clason and Jessie Hellmann
Posted November 9, 2022 at 1:40pm
Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., speaks at a campaign rally in Clarkston, Ga., on Thursday.

Warnock pushes insulin cost caps as campaign nears finish line

By Niels Lesniewski and Lauren Clason
Posted November 4, 2022 at 11:47am
President Joe Biden announced that he would revisit the classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug, but states are pushing ahead with legalization efforts.

Biden ponders marijuana moves as states forge ahead

By Lauren Clason and Sandhya Raman
Posted November 2, 2022 at 9:08am
Democrats including House Oversight and Reform Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney, D-N.Y., are calling on the Biden administration to further strengthen guidance related to birth control access. Her panel, in a report Tuesday, highlighted barriers some patients face in accessing certain types of birth control. 

FDA delays key advisory committee meeting on OTC birth control

By Lauren Clason and Sandhya Raman
Posted October 26, 2022 at 12:42pm
Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., a Senate appropriator, led the state's efforts to gather health-related earmarks in fiscal 2022.

Mississippi rebuilds health earmark empire in post-Cochran era

By Lauren Clason
Posted October 26, 2022 at 11:08am
FDA Commissioner Robert Califf will make the final decision on removing the only available drug aimed at lowering the risk of premature births.

FDA advisory committee votes to pull drug for premature births

By Lauren Clason
Posted October 19, 2022 at 2:19pm
Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, are hoping to push their insulin affordability bill through before the end of the year despite a tight legislative window.

Lawmakers eye lame duck for unfinished business on insulin

By Lauren Clason
Posted September 28, 2022 at 8:54am
Sen. Richard M. Burr, R-N.C., had objected to the bill marked up in the Senate HELP Committee because of concerns about policy riders attached to the legislation.

Lawmakers strike deal on ‘practically clean’ FDA user fee bill

By Lauren Clason
Posted September 22, 2022 at 3:16pm
President Joe Biden touted the new drug pricing law as he was promoting his "Cancer Moonshot" in Boston Monday.

Biden touts new drug pricing law amid cancer, biotech push

By Lauren Clason
Posted September 12, 2022 at 7:02pm
FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said the vaccines’ updates are a routine modification.

FDA greenlights new COVID-19 booster despite limited data

By Lauren Clason
Posted August 31, 2022 at 11:51am
A pending FDA ban on menthol cigarettes has left experts and advocates calling on the Biden administration to do more to avoid potential confrontations between police and racial minorities when the ban goes into effect. An estimated 85 percent of Black smokers use menthols, according to the FDA, compared to 30 percent of white smokers. 

Advocates urge FDA action to ease policing fears in menthol ban

By Lauren Clason
Posted August 23, 2022 at 10:15am
Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, announced Monday that he would step down in December after more than 50 years of government service.

Fauci to step down in December

By Lauren Clason and Jessie Hellmann
Posted August 22, 2022 at 2:14pm
Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, earlier this year on Capitol Hill. During an interview with CQ/Roll Call Wednesday, Walensky called for funding and authority to allow the agency to more nimbly respond to public health crises such as COVID-19 and mpox.

CDC eyes reset following external review

By Lauren Clason
Posted August 17, 2022 at 2:06pm
The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday finalized a rule making hearing aids for people with mild to moderate hearing loss available without requiring them to see a doctor. The rule will take effect in 60 days and hearing aids could be available over-the-counter for Americans in early October.

FDA finalizes over-the-counter hearing aid rule

By Lauren Clason
Posted August 16, 2022 at 12:23pm
The Biden administration on Tuesday released the first 10 drugs eligible for Medicare price negotiation.

Senate’s Medicare drug pricing may ripple into private market

By Lauren Clason and Jessie Hellmann
Posted August 10, 2022 at 3:05pm
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., speaks with reporters in between votes during the reconciliation bill "vote-a-rama" in the Capitol on Sunday, Aug. 7.

Thune breaks through Democratic bloc on ‘vote-a-rama’ amendments

By Lindsey McPherson, Lauren Clason and Benjamin J. Hulac
Posted August 7, 2022 at 7:56am, Updated at 5:19pm
The July 11 guidance from Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra directed hospitals to provide abortions when necessary to stabilize or save the life of a patient facing complications of pregnancy loss, severe preeclampsia or other medical conditions when determined necessary by a physician. 

Lobbying ramps up around new health agency headquarters

By Lauren Clason
Posted July 28, 2022 at 6:30am
Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Chair Maria Cantwell holds a semiconductor during a hearing in March.

Microchips and drug pricing

By David Lerman, Aidan Quigley and Lauren Clason
Posted July 22, 2022 at 1:57pm
Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., above, and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., are negotiating a scaled-back reconciliation bill, and health care advocates hope Medicaid expansion and home health care are part of that equation.

Reconciliation talks so far quiet on Medicaid expansion

By Lauren Clason and Jessie Hellmann
Posted July 14, 2022 at 6:30am
Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., above, and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., are negotiating a scaled-back reconciliation bill, and health care advocates hope Medicaid expansion and home health care are part of that equation.

Senate drafts last-ditch drug pricing plan ahead of midterms

By Lauren Clason
Posted June 30, 2022 at 1:49pm
The Food and Drug Administration cited “insufficient and conflicting data” about the potential for leaking chemicals from Juul e-liquid pods in its decision to order Juul to remove its remaining products from the market.

FDA orders Juul to remove all vaping products from the market

By Lauren Clason
Posted June 23, 2022 at 12:17pm
Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, are hoping to push their insulin affordability bill through before the end of the year despite a tight legislative window.

Senators release bill targeting insulin prices

By Lauren Clason
Posted June 22, 2022 at 5:00am
States are increasingly taxing vaping products as smoking rates decline.

Proposed menthol ban highlights debate over ‘sin tax’ revenue

By Lauren Clason
Posted June 2, 2022 at 5:00am
An aerial view of the East Bay Municipal Utility District Wastewater Treatment Plant in Oakland, California. Public health experts hope monitoring wastewater will help not just detect COVID-19 outbreaks but other public health threats such as opioids and the flu.

COVID-19 wastewater efforts confront long-term questions

By Lauren Clason
Posted May 16, 2022 at 6:00am
FDA Commissoner Robert Califf told Senate appropriators Thursday that the menthol cigarette ban proposal would be coming.

FDA proposes ban on menthol cigarettes, flavored cigars

By Lauren Clason
Posted April 28, 2022 at 12:15pm
Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, earlier this year on Capitol Hill. During an interview with CQ/Roll Call Wednesday, Walensky called for funding and authority to allow the agency to more nimbly respond to public health crises such as COVID-19 and mpox.

Outlook poses tough questions for next steps on COVID-19 vaccines

By Lauren Clason and Ariel Cohen
Posted April 13, 2022 at 7:00am
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra has been tasked to lead the interagency look at long-term COVID-19 effects.

White House broadens initiative to address long COVID-19

By Lauren Clason
Posted April 5, 2022 at 2:30pm
Sen. Tim Kaine says keeping $1.5 billion in a COVID-19 supplemental aid bill to pay for testing, vaccinating and treating the uninsured is a priority.

Administration, health experts nervously eye new virus variants

By Ariel Cohen, Lauren Clason, Sandhya Raman and Jessie Hellmann
Posted March 30, 2022 at 6:30am
Acting OMB Director Shalanda D. Young asked Congress last week to provide $22.5 billion in supplemental funding to continue to fight the pandemic.

Protecting the vulnerable comes with added nuance in new COVID-19 phase

By Lauren Clason
Posted March 9, 2022 at 6:00am
President Joe Biden told lawmakers at the State of the Union address Tuesday that "COVID-19 need no longer control our lives."

Biden unveils new strategy to combat COVID-19

By Lauren Clason
Posted March 2, 2022 at 12:23pm
Robert Califf, nominated to be commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, has committed to making confirmatory trials of the drug a top priority following its approval under a fast-track process.

Patients’ groups, progressives square off over Medicare Alzheimer’s decision

By Lauren Clason
Posted February 15, 2022 at 10:30am
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., walks in a light rain to the Capitol for a vote on Sept. 22, 2021.

House panel debates bill to create federal price-gouging policy

By Lauren Clason
Posted February 2, 2022 at 4:30pm
A mobile COVID-19 testing van travels down H Street Northwest near the White House.

Testing shortages reach nursing homes, home health agencies

By Lauren Clason
Posted February 2, 2022 at 5:45am
A masked President Joe Biden talks to reporters after meeting with Senate Democrats last week.

Plan to distribute free N95 masks praised, but some want more done

By Ariel Cohen and Lauren Clason
Posted January 19, 2022 at 12:39pm
Congressional staffers line up at the COVID-19 testing site in the Capitol Visitor Center on Monday.

Shifting virus landscape raises new questions for COVID-19 testing

By Lauren Clason
Posted January 12, 2022 at 5:45am
A man with Type 1 diabetes tests his blood glucose level before injecting insulin. Obesity is a risk factor for diabetes and several other chronic conditions, including heart disease and stroke.

Advocacy blitz targets Medicare coverage of obesity treatment

By Lauren Clason
Posted December 1, 2021 at 6:29am
Bottle of pills sit on shelves at Rock Canyon Pharmacy in Provo, Utah on May 20, 2020. More language affecting pharmacy benefit managers will likely be added to the budget reconciliation bill, according to multiple lobbyists.

Lobbyists, advocates seek to revise budget bill’s drug price changes

By Lauren Clason and Mary Ellen McIntire
Posted November 10, 2021 at 5:31am
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, flanked from left by Sens. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., speaks during a news conference in the Capitol on Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021.

Democrats closer to deal on budget reconciliation package

By Lauren Clason, David Lerman, Mary Ellen McIntire, Lindsey McPherson and Laura Weiss
Posted November 2, 2021 at 2:40pm, Updated at 4:25pm
Sen. Ron Wyden, shown Tuesday, says he is still committed to the issue of allowing Medicare to negotiate prices for some prescription drugs. “We’re staying at it,” Wyden said. “This is too important.”

Democrats vow to continue fight on drug pricing in budget bill

By Mary Ellen McIntire and Lauren Clason
Posted October 28, 2021 at 4:15pm
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders says he’s disappointed drug price negotiation provisions were left out of the reconciliation framework.

Infrastructure vote looks shaky as progressives balk, again

By Lauren Clason, Jennifer Shutt, Laura Weiss and Jessica Wehrman
Posted October 28, 2021 at 2:51pm
House Ways and Means Chairman Richard E. Neal, left, last week said Medicare Advantage adjustments weren’t under discussion in his committee, while Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone Jr. declined to say whether they were on the table.

Democrats eye Medicare Advantage as potential reconciliation offset

By Lauren Clason
Posted October 26, 2021 at 3:02pm
Sen. Bob Casey, center, and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, left, attend the “Care Can’’t Wait” rally with the Service Employees International Union at the Lehigh County Courthouse in Allentown, Pa., on June 2.

Concerns grow over home health care as Democrats debate funding

By Lauren Clason
Posted October 13, 2021 at 6:29am
Marijuana activists hold up a 51-foot inflatable joint during an October 2019 rally outside the Capitol.

House committee advances bill to legalize marijuana

By Lauren Clason
Posted September 30, 2021 at 5:14pm
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during a rally in Washington to protest high prescription drug prices on Sept. 21.

Democrats weigh health care provisions in $3.5 trillion bill

By Lauren Clason and Mary Ellen McIntire
Posted September 30, 2021 at 10:42am
Dr. Thomas Yadegar and nurse Emily Kirk attend to a COVID-19 patient at Providence Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Tarzana, Calif., on Jan. 3.

Provider groups lobby HHS as COVID-19 fund deadlines near

By Lauren Clason
Posted September 8, 2021 at 6:15am
Federal data shows that around 60 percent of nursing home staff are currently vaccinated, although that falls as low as 44 percent in some states. 

Biden ties federal funds to nursing home vaccine mandates

By Lauren Clason
Posted August 18, 2021 at 7:07pm