Congress is back in session, but covid diagnoses for Vice President Kamala Harris and two Democratic senators have temporarily left the Senate without a working majority to approve continued covid funding. Meanwhile, opponents of the Affordable Care Act have filed yet another lawsuit challenging a portion of the law, and we say goodbye to the late Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, who left a long legacy of health laws. Rachel Cohrs of STAT News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, and Rebecca Adams of KHN join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
A Texas federal judge, who previously ruled the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional, has signaled his openness to ending the law’s popular coverage requirement for preventive services.
The National Cancer Institute plans to launch a multisite study next year involving roughly 5,000 women to assess whether self-sampling at home for the human papillomavirus that causes cervical cancer is comparable to screening in a doctor’s office.
Companies are aggressively touting 3D mammograms, although there’s no evidence they save lives.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended that people who are at high risk of contracting HIV take PrEP, a preventive treatment. The decision means most health plans will be required to cover the drugs without charging patients. But the recommendation doesn’t apply to the other clinical and lab services people need.