Hospitals and providers are looking to the future, calling for a permanent emergency fund for hospitals in case of future emergencies, an investment in public health surveillance and medical supplies, and permanent flexibility to offer telehealth services in recent letters to Congress.

HHS officials told senators on Thursday (July 2) that clinical trial data from diverse populations, including racial and ethnic minorities, pregnant and lactating women, and children, will help inform the government’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan and ensure the vaccine is appropriately distributed among those in need.

A bipartisan group of senators on Thursday (July 2) introduced legislation to waive eligibility requirements next year for any previously eligible hospital in the 340B program, citing challenges faced by these hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic that might make them ineligible moving forward.

The medical cost trend for commercial and self-insured employer-sponsored insurance in 2021 will be highly dependent on the pandemic, which is why analysts at PwC are basing estimates on three potential utilization scenarios with outcomes ranging from a 4% to a 10% increase in per capita costs for medical services and drugs.

FDA this year will once again attempt to clarify the types of evidence that should be considered when determining a product’s intended use.

FDA plans to issue a handful of new regulations this year that will clarify new minimum age requirements for purchasing tobacco, amend the agency’s good guidance practices, and set agricultural water standards, according to the agency’s newly issued Spring 2020 Unified Agenda, which was published Tuesday (June 30).

FDA officials detailed the agency’s long-expressed intention to usher in a new food safety era by using emerging tools like artificial intelligence and blockchain to create a more traceable system.

Dexamethasone, an inexpensive generic drug, can’t be substituted for Gilead’s higher-priced remdesivir when treating hospitalized coronavirus patients, doctors and analysts say, because the two drugs treat patients at different stages of COVID-19.