Trump orders new efforts to lower drug prices
Trump’s order contains proposals to further lower the cost of insulin, importing more low-cost drugs and streamlining the federal approval process for some drugs.
Health Care & Insurance
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Bill targeting high hospital prices passed by Indiana Senate
The legislation threatens to strip large hospital systems of their state nonprofit status if they charge prices exceeding certain averages.
Community, Lifepoint to build behavioral health hospital in Westfield
The hospital is expected to treat conditions including major depression, anxiety disorders, suicidal thoughts, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder and schizophrenia.
Indiana Senate nears vote on bill scrutinizing nonprofit hospital prices
The Senate must still vote to pass the bill out of its chamber by Tuesday. The House will then decide whether it agrees with the Senate’s changes.
What is 340B and how does it impact hospitals’ bottom line?
The somewhat obscure federal program designed to reduce drug prices for health providers is getting scrutiny from lawmakers this year.
Pfizer ends development of potential pill obesity treatment
Pfizer had been hoping the once-daily pill treatment would give it an edge over leading weight-loss treatments like Zepbound from Eli Lilly and Co. and Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy, which are injectable.
Bill targeting nonprofit hospital prices advances, faces more overhaul
An Indiana Senate committee voted to amend a bill targeting the cost of health care at nonprofit hospitals, with the new version freezing prices but not imposing penalties for two years.
Indiana joins growing list of states with 3 or more cases of measles
The United States has experienced more than double the number of measles cases it saw in all of 2024.
Elevance Health faces shareholder proposal on DEI practices
In its response to the proposal, Elevance touted that its “workforce embodies a multitude of dimensions.”
Indiana House GOP overwhelmingly votes to impose Medicaid work requirements
Under Senate Bill 2, those enrolled in the Healthy Indiana Plan will need to either work or volunteer for 20 hours each week, with several exceptions for caregivers, disabled beneficiaries and more.
OrthoIndy merging with Indiana Hand to Shoulder Center
The move is the latest expansion for OrthoIndy, which recently announced mergers with practices in Evansville and Fort Wayne.
Lilly sues Indianapolis clinic for selling split doses of popular weight-loss drugs
The drugmaker accuses Premier Weight Loss of risking patients’ health by selling altered, unsterile versions of its blockbuster drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound.
Trump administration nixes plan to cover anti-obesity drugs through Medicare
President Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, proposed a rule in late November after Trump won re-election that would have extended coverage of drugs like Zepbound and Wegovy.
Franciscan VNS Home Care pays $3.65M to settle overtime claims
Occupational therapists, physical therapists and registered nurses have received payments from the settlement, while almost a third will go toward attorney fees.
European regulators says Lilly Alzheimer’s drug shouldn’t get marketing approval
The European Medicines Agency committee said the benefits of the new drug, Kisunla, did not outweigh the risks, and it recommended refusing marketing authorization for it.
Department of Health and Human Services to lay off 10,000 workers in major restructuring
The plan means cuts at the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Facing high demand and staffing shortages, Eskenazi Health automates some prescription fulfillment
Eskenazi Health officials say the system has seen a 60% increase in the number of prescriptions filled over the past five years—a rate that’s unsustainable, given national staffing shortages.
Trump administration to pull back $11B in COVID funding from local health departments
The Department of Health and Human Services said it would “no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago.”
Proposed legislation could impact Indiana health care mergers
Health care mergers and acquisitions continue to be a hot topic in Indiana, with the Legislature considering a bill this year geared toward creating more transparency and state oversight toward those deals.
Johnson & Johnson plans $55B in United States investments
Aside from building four new plants, Johnson & Johnson said that it will expand several existing sites.