Category: health

As the Senate takes up the House-passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), some lawmakers are considering a slate of Medicare reforms aimed at reducing waste, fraud, and abuse within the program, which analysts say can be achieved through specific reforms that are not tied to partisan agendas.

Two California members of Congress, Ami Bera, M.D. (D-CA-06) and Young Kim (R-CA-40), introduced a bill Wednesday with Republican Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick aimed at bolstering the US's global role in the battle against Alzheimer’s disease. 

A new federal enforcement deadline is set to reshape access to some of the country’s most in-demand weight-loss drugs. Starting May 22, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will prohibit most pharmacies and providers from producing or distributing compounded versions of GLP-1 medications semaglutide and tirzepatide, active ingredients in blockbuster drugs including Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound.

Last week, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) officials announced the sudden passing of Annie Covarrubias, a correctional officer at the Correctional Training Facility (CTF) in Soledad. She was 35 years old. In the words of her colleagues, Annie was a “dependable, professional, and kind” officer, known for her dedication to both her peers and the incarcerated individuals she worked with every day.

IVN recently examined AB 955, by Assemblymember David Alvarez. The bill seeks to expand a healthcare service program I created in 1998 as the author of SB1658.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is reviving efforts to regulate the powerful and often opaque intermediaries at the center of the prescription drug supply chain. In a proposal unveiled as part of his revised May budget, Newsom calls for stringent oversight of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), companies he says are driving up patient costs.

In less than a month, President Donald Trump has signed two major executive orders to overhaul the nation’s prescription drug pricing system. These orders have placed Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) at the center of the president’s ire and revived a controversial “Most Favored Nation” pricing policy that ties US drug prices to those abroad.

While healthcare in California has seen massive investments in coverage and access, these gains often mean little to border residents who split time, family, or even residency across two countries