AARP noted that the woman was seeking an appointment with her allergist but was told that Medicare wasn't paying for virtual appointments. To avoid an out-of-pocket cost of $145, she was required to make an in-person visit. Although the cost of gas, a ferry ticket from her island home and other travel expenses were less than $145, the situation might not have been resolved so easily if she were unable to drive.
Democrats want to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies that millions rely on and undo health spending cuts from President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Warnock told Morning Edition that Georgians in rural areas have expressed concerns about losing access to health care. He said a small business owner told him she decided to close her business because paying for health insurance would be too expensive without ACA subsidies. The senator told NPR's Leila Fadel that the White House should "stop acting like these are pieces on a chessboard. These are people's lives."
"A lot of our research, including that for this grant, is looking at why so few people are getting evidence-based treatments for substance use disorder," said Huskamp, Henry J. Kaiser Professor of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School. "Medications for opioid use disorder are highly efficacious. They reduce opioid use; they reduce overdose risk and other negative outcomes. These medications save lives."