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reasonsforhope · 1 month

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"The Biden administration on Thursday [August 15, 2024] released prices for the first 10 prescription drugs that were subject to landmark negotiations between drugmakers and Medicare, a milestone in a controversial process that aims to make costly medications more affordable for older Americans.

The government estimates that the new negotiated prices for the medications will lead to around $6 billion in net savings for the Medicare program in 2026 alone when they officially go into effect, or 22% net savings overall. That is based on the estimated savings the prices would have produced if they were in effect in 2023, senior administration officials told reporters Wednesday.

The Biden administration also expects the new prices to save Medicare enrollees $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket costs in 2026 alone.

“For so many people, being able to afford these drugs will mean the difference between debilitating illness and living full lives,” Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, told reporters. “These negotiated prices. They’re not just about costs. They are about helping to make sure that your father, your grandfather or you can live longer, healthier.”

It comes one day before the second anniversary of President Joe Biden’s signature Inflation Reduction Act, which gave Medicare the power to directly hash out drug prices with manufacturers for the first time in the federal program’s nearly 60-year history.

Here are the negotiated prices for a 30-day supply of the 10 drugs, along with their list prices based on 2023 prescription fills, according to a Biden administration fact sheet Thursday.

What Medicare and beneficiaries pay for a drug is often much less than the list price, which is what a wholesaler, distributor or other direct purchaser paid a manufacturer for a medication before any discounts...

The administration unveiled the first set of medications selected for the price talks in August 2023, kicking off a nearly yearlong negotiation period that ended at the beginning of the month.

The final prices give drugmakers, which fiercely oppose the policy, a glimpse of how much revenue they could expect to lose over the next few years. It also sets a precedent for the additional rounds of Medicare drug price negotiations, which will kick off in 2025 and beyond.

First 10 drugs subject to Medicare price negotiations

Eliquis, made by Bristol Myers Squibb, is used to prevent blood clotting to reduce the risk of stroke.

Jardiance, made by Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly, is used to lower blood sugar for people with Type 2 diabetes.

Xarelto, made by Johnson & Johnson, is used to prevent blood clotting, to reduce the risk of stroke.

Januvia, made by Merck, is used to lower blood sugar for people with Type 2 diabetes.

Farxiga, made by AstraZeneca, is used to treat Type 2 diabetes, heart failure and chronic kidney disease.

Entresto, made by Novartis, is used to treat certain types of heart failure.

Enbrel, made by Amgen, is used to treat autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.

Imbruvica, made by AbbVie and J&J, is used to treat different types of blood cancers.

Stelara, made by Janssen, is used to treat autoimmune diseases such as Crohn’s disease.

Fiasp and NovoLog, insulins made by Novo Nordisk.

In a statement Thursday, Biden called the new negotiated prices a “historic milestone” made possible because of the Inflation Reduction Act. He specifically touted Vice President Kamala Harris’ tiebreaking vote for the law in the Senate in 2022.

Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, said in a statement that she was proud to cast that deciding vote, adding there is more work to be done to lower health-care costs for Americans.

“Today’s announcement will be lifechanging for so many of our loved ones across the nation, and we are not stopping here,” Harris said in a statement Thursday, noting that additional prescription drugs will be selected for future rounds of negotiations."

-via CNBC, August 15, 2024

#public health #healthcare #united states #us politics #biden #harris #kamala harris #medicare #medicaid #healthcare accessibility #prescription drugs #big pharma #insulin #good news #hope

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tittyinfinity · 9 months

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everyone wants disabled people to get a job but no one wants to give disabled people the ability to work a job

#.bdo #no one hired me after about 30 job applications and 4 interviews after a whole year in this job program #back in the day i got every job I applied for immediately #and then when you do work a job they don't make it accessible for you #you get fired just for calling in too many times #even people who are able to go back to work don't #because they'd lose their housing assistance/food stamps/medicaid/utility assistance etc #and if they lost another job it means that they have to reapply for everything #my dr. appointments are $400/mo I get $330/mo food stamps I had $420/mo housing assistance $200/mo utility assistance #so that's $1350 a month in assistance plus my $760 a month = $2110 #so if I go back to work I would have the same amount of money or less. I literally can't afford to work. I CAN'T AFFORD TO WORK.#(no longer getting housing or utility assistance now that I'm at my mom's so I'm currently paying more bills than I was)

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kickedin17 · 3 months

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Girl (Tyler Robert Joseph) if I don't get this job this week AND the Paladin MV still isn't out, I'm gonna **** **** * ******* ****** *** * **** ***** ****** ****

#i need one. job is the vastly preferred option but the paladin mv will console me if i dont get it #i barely slept im so stressed about this 🥲 there's a couple co workers im really convinced will get it over me #and if they do ill be happy for them but like. i need. a job that pays enough that i can pay for health insurance.#or a job that comes with health insurance benefits already but that's less feasible rn for a lot of reasons #i have a bit more time before im kicked off my parents and it becomes actually urgent but augh #isnt it so cool that the us healthcare system wholly depends on your income / job to even access services you #require in order to Not Die or at the very least to maintain the aforementioned job you need to afford access. ha ha.#i know there's medicaid and stuff but im pretty sure that would not cover enough of the medication and blood panels i need #like i need private health insurance. unfortunately #this is too real for the silly ohio band blog sorry but im uhhhh a mess ive been anticipating this position for months #and i want it very very very badly :').

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puppiedogs · 5 months

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i called the ssa office to ask something and in the pre-recorded message they say, like it’s not fucking Insane, “if you’re calling with regards to a disability claim, due to a staffing shortage, current processing times for disability claims are between 250 and 300 days, after which it will take three to four weeks for you to receive your decision by mail” as though that’s just something that happens whoopsie sorry about that like die actually. how do these people sleep at night

#*#the welfare system has so many fucking hoops people have to jump through #for No reason #if you actually believe the majority of people on welfare don’t ~need to be #frankly if someone’s willing to go through all this bullshit to get a $200 unemployment check a week #they deserve it. like they make this shit stupid hard #when i informed the medicaid dept i had been put on leave from work #they requested - no exaggeration - Eight separate pieces of documentation #four of them needed to be signed and dated by people who weren’t me #one i didn’t have access to bc it was sent to my work email #which my workplace restricted my access to #and if i succeeded i would have gotten at most 60% of my average weekly paycheck #all of that bullshit. to - Maybe - get a minuscule amount of money #like. this system Exclusively oppresses people who are Already struggling #when you’re going through smth as hard as potentially losing a job #and then in order to have any sense of security at All #you have to do several difficult stressful tasks #in order to make sure you can Survive #life for ppl on welfare is already garbage i hate that these vultures make it even Harder

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dandelionsresilience · 5 months

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Good News - April 15-21

(Sorry it's late, I got sick)

Like these weekly compilations? Support me on Ko-fi! Also, if you tip me on here or Ko-fi, at the end of the month I'll send you a link to all of the articles I found but didn't use each week - almost double the content! (I'm new to taking tips on here; if it doesn't show me your username or if you have DM's turned off, please send me a screenshot of your payment)

1. Restoring an unsung hero

“"We are aiming to restore a significant area of seagrass around Nova Scotia, rebuilding these ecosystems and doing it in a climate-smart way," says Derek Tittensor, head of the FOME research group and a professor of biology at Dalhousie. "Importantly, we are also integrating Indigenous and scientific knowledge of these remarkable ecosystems through a two-eyed seeing approach.””

2. Four super-rare quolls caught sneaking around Australian wildlife sanctuary

““We had a mysterious case of cat-trap tampering whereby the traps were closed, the bait was gone but no culprit inside,” explains AWC Field Ecologist, Erin Barritt. [… T]he opportunistic little mischief-makers were juvenile western quolls, the first to be born on the sanctuary in 100 years.”

3. LGBTQ+ parents are raving about ‘accessible’ gender-neutral children’s book What Makes A Baby

““Overall I think this is a great book and a great representation of what inclusive media can look like. It incorporates a variety of perspectives and experiences to make something that is accessible to everyone.” The LGBTQ+ community – with parents in particular – praised “the accuracy of the terminology”, with one writing: “Human anatomy isn’t too much for children to learn and this book makes it so accessible for them to learn!””

4. Switch to green wastewater infrastructure could reduce emissions and provide huge savings according to new research

“Researchers have shown that a transition to green wastewater-treatment approaches in the U.S. that leverages the potential of carbon-financing could save a staggering $15.6 billion and just under 30 million tons of CO2-equivalent emissions over 40 years.”

5. Millions Offered Up To Create New Disability Employment Models

“[Projects] can focus on increasing access to advanced technology careers, using advanced technology to support youth or adults with disabilities to access competitive integrated employment or helping justice-involved youth with disabilities gain employment. In addition, projects can look at early intervention and workforce reintegration strategies for those with acquired disabilities or efforts to reintegrate disconnected individuals with disabilities into the workforce.”

6. Laser-Treated Cork Absorbs Oil for Carbon-Neutral Ocean Cleanup

“Cork comes from the bark of cork oak trees, which can live for hundreds of years. These trees can be harvested about every seven years, making cork a renewable material. When the bark is removed, the trees amplify their biological activity to replace it and increase their carbon storage, so harvesting cork helps mitigate carbon emissions.”

7. This boat runs on 100% renewables. Can it help clean up bigger ships?

“For the past seven years, Energy Observer has traveled around the world, serving as a floating test bed for zero-emission technologies that can propel boats and ships — without spewing any of the nasty pollution that comes from running diesel engines. […] The project’s leaders say they’re now ready to focus their efforts on cleaning up much larger and dirtier types of vessels, including cargo ships.”

8. 1,000 oceanic manta rays seen in the Maldives

“With 1,000 individuals in its waters, the Maldives is home to the world’s third largest population of giant mantas (it also has the most reef mantas (Mobula alfredi) in the world, with over 5,000 individuals).”

9. Service Finalizes Land Protection Plan for Expanding Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge

“Plan aims to deliver in-perpetuity conservation of up to 700,000 acres of land for benefit of migratory and resident wildlife. […] "These vast grassland landscapes provide essential habitat for wildlife while also providing benefits like clean water filtration and carbon sequestration, which are essential for both the environment and human well-being."”

10. Medicaid Officials Remove Barriers For Those With Disabilities

“In addition [to grace periods for submitting paperwork], states will no longer be allowed to conduct renewals any more than once every 12 months and they will be barred from requiring in-person interviews for people with disabilities, among other changes.”

And a bonus article to make up for posting late: Gay Furry Hackers strike again!

April 8-14 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

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thecroakersisterhood · 2 months

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#like Milton is so young and going through a rough time that they really activate my Gotta Be an Adult instinct from my old job #like buddy do you have access to your basic documents? let’s sign you up for medicaid #i wanna set up a meeting with Kermit’s mom so she can help get him a job or enrolled in community/technical college #while I completely support kj dedicating her whole life to reality shifting to fight god and fuck muppets or whatever

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dontmeantobepoliticalbut · 2 years

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A national physician group this week called for the complete termination of a Medicare privatization scheme that the Biden White House inherited from the Trump administration and later rebranded—while keeping intact its most dangerous components.

Now known as the Accountable Care Organization Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health (ACO REACH) Model, the experiment inserts a for-profit entity between traditional Medicare beneficiaries and healthcare providers. The federal government pays the ACO REACH middlemen to cover patients' care while allowing them to pocket a significant chunk of the fee as profit.

The rebranded pilot program, which was launched without congressional approval and is set to run through at least 2026, officially began this month, and progressive healthcare advocates fear the experiment could be allowed to engulf traditional Medicare.

In a Tuesday letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) argued that ACO REACH "presents a threat to the integrity of traditional Medicare, and an opportunity for corporations to take money from taxpayers while denying care to beneficiaries."

The group, which advocates for a single-payer healthcare system, voiced alarm over the Biden administration's decision to let companies with records of fraud and other abuses take part in the ACO REACH pilot, which automatically assigns traditional Medicare patients to private entities without their consent.

CMS said in a press release Tuesday that "the ACO REACH Model has 132 ACOs with 131,772 healthcare providers and organizations providing care to an estimated 2.1 million beneficiaries" for 2023.

"As we have stated, PNHP believes that the REACH program threatens the integrity of traditional Medicare and should be permanently ended," Dr. Philip Verhoef, the physician group's president, wrote in the new letter. "Whether or not one agrees with this statement, we should all be able to agree that companies found to have violated the rules have no place managing the care of our Medicare beneficiaries."

Among the concerning examples PNHP cited was Clover Health, which has operated so-called Direct Contracting Entities (DCEs)—the name of private middlemen under the Trump-era version of the Medicare pilot—in more than a dozen states, including Arizona, Florida, Georgia, and New York.

PNHP noted that in 2016, CMS fined Clover—a large Medicare Advantage provider—for "using 'marketing and advertising materials that contained inaccurate statements' about coverage for out-of-network providers, after a high volume of complaints from patients who were denied coverage by its MA plan. Clover had failed to correct the materials after repeated requests by CMS."

Humana, another large insurer with its teeth in the Medicare privatization pilot, "improperly collected almost $200 million from Medicare by overstating the sickness of patients," PNHP observed, citing a recent federal audit.

"It appears that in its selection process [for ACO REACH], CMS did not prevent the inclusion of companies with histories of such behavior," Verhoef wrote. "Given these findings, we are concerned that CMS is inappropriately allowing these DCEs to continue unimpeded into ACO REACH in 2023."

While the Medicare pilot garnered little attention from lawmakers when the Trump administration first launched it during its final months in power, progressive members of Congress have recently ramped up scrutiny of the program.

Last month, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) led a group of lawmakers in warning that ACO REACH "provides an opportunity for healthcare insurers with a history of defrauding and abusing Medicare and ripping off taxpayers to further encroach on the Medicare system."

"We have long been concerned about ensuring this model does not give corporate profiteers yet another opportunity to take a chunk out of traditional Medicare," the lawmakers wrote, echoing PNHP's concerns. "The continued participation of corporate actors with a history of fraud and abuse threatens the integrity of the program."

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myownprivatcidaho · 4 months

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cross between das übermensch and nietzsches jester on the tightrope in thus spoke zarathustra call that das gööbermensch

#but the ticktock gorloes who claim to know nietzsche and kafka and dostoevsky lokely dont even know what thus spoke zarathustra IS #i don't hate women i hate tocktock #and lowkey no of fense. you can tell whene someone spends to o much time on the internt.#ik its hypocritical to say this as someone whose been on tumbgle since 11 but like. hey man ive jad my breaks #and also been hospitalized 9 times thank u medicaid #beinf randomly thrown out of ur cycle eith no phone access for a week to a moneth is GOOF for u alright

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princessnijireiki · 8 months

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the antiblackness of having an expensively broken tooth right now is um very gross! and a narrative I would like to be excluded from 😌👍🏽

#anything that inconveniences me in february is antiblack actually #yes including my own black ass decisions lol but we not talking about that right now hello the problem is debtistry #and also more specifically the limitations medicaid has placed upon poor people's ability to acquire & access effective dental care #(me going through literally anything: ''ykw. this is actually ronald reagan's fault'')#(and it's true every time)#health

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boreal-sea · 3 months

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Look.

I have made you a chart. A very simple chart.

People say "You have to draw the line somewhere, and Biden has crossed it-" and my response is "Trump has crossed way more lines than Biden".

These categories are based off of actual policy enacted by both of these men while they were in office.

If the ONLY LINE YOU CARE ABOUT is line 12, you have an incredible amount of privilege, AND YOU DO NOT CARE ABOUT PALESTINIANS. You obviously have nothing to fear from a Trump presidency, and you do not give a fuck if a ceasefire actually occurs. You are obviously fine if your queer, disabled, and marginalized loved ones are hurt. You clearly don't care about the status of American democracy, which Trump has openly stated he plans to destroy on day 1 he is in office.

EDIT:

Ok fine, I spent 3 hours compiling sources for all of these, you can find that below the cut.

I'll give at least one link per subject area. There are of course many more sources to be read on these subject areas and no post could possibly give someone a full education on these subjects.

Biden and trans rights: https://www.hrc.org/resources/president-bidens-pro-lgbtq-timeline

Trump and trans rights: https://www.aclu.org/news/lgbtq-rights/trump-on-lgbtq-rights-rolling-back-protections-and-criminalizing-gender-nonconformity

The two sources above show how Biden has done a lot of work to promote trans rights, and how Trump did a lot of work to hurt trans rights.

Biden on abortion access: https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/08/politics/what-is-in-biden-abortion-executive-order/index.html

Trump on abortion access: https://apnews.com/article/abortion-trump-republican-presidential-election-2024-585faf025a1416d13d2fbc23da8d8637

Biden openly supports access to abortion and has taken steps to protect those rights at a federal level even after Roe v Wade was overturned. Trump, on the other hand, was the man who appointed the judges who helped overturn Roe v Wade and he openly brags about how proud he is of that decision. He also states that he believes individual states should have the final say in whether or not abortion is legal, and that he trusts them to "do the right thing", meaning he supports stronger abortion bans.

Biden on environmental reform: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/10/07/fact-sheet-president-biden-restores-protections-for-three-national-monuments-and-renews-american-leadership-to-steward-lands-waters-and-cultural-resources/

Trump on environmental reform: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/climate/trump-environment-rollbacks-list.html

Biden has made major steps forward for environmental reform. He has restored protections that Trump rolled back. He has enacted many executive orders and more to promote environmental protections, including rejoining the Paris Accords, which Trump withdrew the USA from. Trump is also well known for spreading conspiracy theories and lies about global climate change, calling it a "Chinese hoax".

Biden on healthcare and prescription reform: https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/06/09/biden-administration-announces-savings-43-prescription-drugs-part-cost-saving-measures-president-bidens-inflation-reduction-act.html

Trump on healthcare reform: https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/07/politics/obamacare-health-insurance-ending-trump/index.html

I'm rolling healthcare and prescriptions and vaccines and public health all into one category here since they are related. Biden has lowered drug costs, expanded access to medicaid, and ACA enrollment has risen during his presidency. He has also made it so medical debt no longer applies to a person's credit score. He signed many executive orders during his first few weeks in office in order to get a handle on Trump's grievous mishandling of the COVID pandemic. Trump also wants to end the ACA. Trump is well known for refusing to wear a mask during the pandemic, encouraging the use of hydroxylchloroquine to "treat" COVID, and being openly anti-vaxx.

Biden on student loan forgiveness: https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/biden-harris-administration-announces-additional-77-billion-approved-student-debt-relief-160000-borrowers

Trump on student loan forgiveness: https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamminsky/2024/06/20/trump-knocks-bidens-vile-student-loan-forgiveness-plans-suggests-reversal/

Trump wants to reverse the student loan forgiveness plans Biden has enacted. Biden has already forgiven billions of dollars in loans and continues to work towards forgiving more.

Infrastructure funding:

I'm putting these links next together because they are all about infrastructure.

In general, Trump's "achievements" for infrastructure were to destroy environmental protections to speed up projects. Many of his plans were ineffective due to the fact that he did not clearly outline where the money was going to come from, and he was unwilling to raise taxes to pay for the projects. He was unable (and unwilling) to pass a bipartisan infrastructure bill during his 4 years in office. He did sign a few disaster relief bills. He did not enthusiastically promote renewable energy infrastructure. He created "Infrastructure Weeks" that the federal government then failed to fund. Trump did not do nothing for infrastructure, but his no-tax stance and his dislike for renewable energy means the contributions he made to American infrastructure were not as much as he claimed they were, nor as much as they could have been. Basically, he made a lot of promises, and delivered on very few of them. He is not "against" infrastructure, but he's certainly against funding it.

Biden was able to pass that bipartisan bill after taking office. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Plan that Trump tried to prevent from passing during Biden's term contains concrete funding sources and step by step plans to rebuild America's infrastructure. If you want to read the plan, you can find it here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/build/guidebook/. Biden has done far more for American infrastructure than Trump did, most notably by actually getting the bipartisan bill through congress.

Biden on Racial Equity: https://www.npr.org/sections/president-biden-takes-office/2021/01/26/960725707/biden-aims-to-advance-racial-equity-with-executive-actions

Trump on Racial Equity: https://www.axios.com/2024/04/01/trump-reverse-racism-civil-rights https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-37230916

Trump's racist policies are loud and clear for everyone to hear. We all heard him call Mexicans "Drug dealers, criminals, rapists". We all watched as he enacted travel bans on people from majority-Muslim nations. Biden, on the other hand, has done quite a lot during his term to attempt to reconcile racism in this country, including reversing Trump's "Muslim ban" the first day he was in office.

Biden on DEI: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/06/25/executive-order-on-diversity-equity-inclusion-and-accessibility-in-the-federal-workforce/

Trump on DEI: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-tried-to-crush-the-dei-revolution-heres-how-he-might-finish-the-job/ar-BB1jg3gz

Biden supports DEI and has signed executive orders and passed laws that support DEI on the federal level. Trump absolutely hates DEI and wants to eradicate it.

Biden on criminal justice reform: https://time.com/6155084/biden-criminal-justice-reform/

Trump on criminal justice reform: https://www.vox.com/2020-presidential-election/21418911/donald-trump-crime-criminal-justice-policy-record https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/05/trumps-extreme-plans-crime/678502/

From pardons for non-violent marijuana convictions to reducing the federal government's reliance on private prisons, Biden has done a lot in four years to reform our criminal justice system on the federal level. Meanwhile, Trump has described himself as "tough on crime". He advocates for more policing, including "stop and frisk" activities. Ironically it's actually quite difficult to find sources about what Trump thinks about crime, because almost all of the search results are about his own crimes.

Biden on military support for Israel: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/biden-obama-divide-closely-support-israel-rcna127107

Trump on military support for Israel: https://www.vox.com/politics/353037/trump-gaza-israel-protests-biden-election-2024

Biden supports Israel financially and militarily and promotes holding Israel close. So did Trump. Trump was also very pro-Israel during his time in office and even moved the embassy to Jerusalem and declared Jerusalem the capitol of Israel, a move that inflamed attitudes in the region.

Biden on a ceasefire: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2024/06/05/gaza-israel-hamas-cease-fire-plan-biden/73967659007/

Trump on a ceasefire: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-israel-gaza-finish-problem-rcna141905

Trump has tried to be quiet on the issue but recently said he wants Israel to "finish the problem". He of course claims he could have prevented the whole problem. Trump also openly stated after Oct 7th that he would bar immigrants who support Hamas from the country and send in officers to American protests to arrest anyone supporting Hamas.

Biden meanwhile has been quietly urging Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire deal for months, including the most recent announcement earlier in June, though it seems as though that deal has finally fallen through as well.

#i/p #biden #uspol #election 2024

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reasonsforhope · 1 year

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Thanks to @gardening-tea-lesbian for posting about this and bringing it to my attention!

The Biden-Harris Administration wants to make substance abuse treatment more accessible for all prisoners in the U.S. Addiction is common among people in prison, and treatment helps fight recidivism and reduce overdose rates.

From Federal Prisons To State Prisons

By this summer, all federal prisons will offer addiction treatment, Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said last week.

Federal officials want states to follow suit. Starting this spring, Medicaid funds will be set aside for states to use in their own jails and prisons to provide mental health services, including SUD treatment.

Approximately 25% of all Americans received Medicaid benefits in 2022. For people with low incomes, Medicaid is the largest provider of funds for healthcare services.

The Biden-Harris Administration has shown a commitment to helping underserved communities receive addiction prevention, treatment, and recovery services.

This includes services for rural populations and Tribal populations along with people who are incarcerated.

Addiction In Our Prisons

It’s hard to know precisely how many incarcerated people have an SUD, but the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) estimates that about 65% of all inmates do.

NIDA estimates that another 20%, who didn’t meet the official criteria for an SUD, were under the influence of drugs or alcohol when they committed a crime.

Overall in America, about 40 million people ages 13 and over are living with addiction, or about 12% of the population, according to the 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

How Treatment Helps Prison Populations

Drug abuse treatment is effective. For people in prison, receiving treatment can mean the difference between staying out of jail once released or returning behind bars.

It can also provide them with the mental clarity and tools to meet the challenges of life, improve their mental health, and succeed in their relationships and work.

Aids Long-Term Recovery

The Biden-Harris Administration is focusing on evidence-based treatment methods to help people who are incarcerated get and stay on the path to addiction recovery.

This includes medication-assisted treatment (MAT), which combines the use of medications like buprenorphine with behavioral therapy to treat opioid abuse.

Buprenorphine, the first medication that could be prescribed by physicians to treat opioid use disorders, helps people overcome addiction in a few ways.

Using buprenorphine helps with recovery by:

reducing cravings

diminishing opioid withdrawal symptoms, which include flu-like symptoms and severe anxiety

improving safety, if overdose occurs

lessening the chance of misuse

One study in support of buprenorphine’s effectiveness showed that participants receiving the medication were almost twice as likely to remain in treatment and not relapse.

Prevents Overdose Deaths

According to U.S. News and World Report, the leading cause of death among people newly released from prison is drug overdose.

This is partly due to the fact that their tolerance levels decrease while incarcerated, so they aren’t able to tolerate the same amount of the drug as before they were in prison.

The buprenorphine study mentioned above also revealed that people not receiving the treatment had a 20% mortality rate."

-via Addiction Resources.net, 3/9/23

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thoughtportal · 7 months

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Opinion Here’s how to get free Paxlovid as many times as you need it

When the public health emergency around covid-19 ended, vaccines and treatments became commercial products, meaning companies could charge for them as they do other pharmaceuticals. Paxlovid, the highly effective antiviral pill that can prevent covid from becoming severe, now has a list price of nearly $1,400 for a five-day treatment course.

Thanks to an innovative agreement between the Biden administration and the drug’s manufacturer, Pfizer, Americans can still access the medication free or at very low cost through a program called Paxcess. The problem is that too few people — including pharmacists — are aware of it.

I learned of Paxcess only after readers wrote that pharmacies were charging them hundreds of dollars — or even the full list price — to fill their Paxlovid prescription. This shouldn’t be happening. A representative from Pfizer, which runs the program, explained to me that patients on Medicare and Medicaid or who are uninsured should get free Paxlovid. They need to sign up by going to paxlovid.iassist.com or by calling 877-219-7225. “We wanted to make enrollment as easy and as quick as possible,” the representative said.

Indeed, the process is straightforward. I clicked through the web form myself, and there are only three sets of information required. Patients first enter their name, date of birth and address. They then input their prescriber’s name and address and select their insurance type.

All this should take less than five minutes and can be done at home or at the pharmacy. A physician or pharmacist can fill it out on behalf of the patient, too. Importantly, this form does not ask for medical history, proof of a positive coronavirus test, income verification, citizenship status or other potentially sensitive and time-consuming information.

But there is one key requirement people need to be aware of: Patients must have a prescription for Paxlovid to start the enrollment process. It is not possible to pre-enroll. (Though, in a sense, people on Medicare or Medicaid are already pre-enrolled.)

Once the questionnaire is complete, the website generates a voucher within seconds. People can print it or email it themselves, and then they can exchange it for a free course of Paxlovid at most pharmacies.

Pfizer’s representative tells me that more than 57,000 pharmacies are contracted to participate in this program, including major chain drugstores such as CVS and Walgreens and large retail chains such as Walmart, Kroger and Costco. For those unable to go in person, a mail-order option is available, too.

The program works a little differently for patients with commercial insurance. Some insurance plans already cover Paxlovid without a co-pay. Anyone who is told there will be a charge should sign up for Paxcess, which would further bring down their co-pay and might even cover the entire cost.

Several readers have attested that Paxcess’s process was fast and seamless. I was also glad to learn that there is basically no limit to the number of times someone could use it. A person who contracts the coronavirus three times in a year could access Paxlovid free or at low cost each time.

Unfortunately, readers informed me of one major glitch: Though the Paxcess voucher is honored when presented, some pharmacies are not offering the program proactively. As a result, many patients are still being charged high co-pays even if they could have gotten the medication at no cost.

This is incredibly frustrating. However, after interviewing multiple people involved in the process, including representatives of major pharmacy chains and Biden administration officials, I believe everyone is sincere in trying to make things right. As we saw in the early days of the coronavirus vaccine rollout, it’s hard to get a new program off the ground. Policies that look good on paper run into multiple barriers during implementation.

Those involved are actively identifying and addressing these problems. For instance, a Walgreens representative explained to me that in addition to educating pharmacists and pharmacy techs about the program, the company learned it also had to make system changes to account for a different workflow. Normally, when pharmacists process a prescription, they inform patients of the co-pay and dispense the medication. But with Paxlovid, the system needs to stop them if there is a co-pay, so they can prompt patients to sign up for Paxcess.

Here is where patients and consumers must take a proactive role. That might not feel fair; after all, if someone is ill, people expect that the system will work to help them. But that’s not our reality. While pharmacies work to fix their system glitches, patients need to be their own best advocates. That means signing up for Paxcess as soon as they receive a Paxlovid prescription and helping spread the word so that others can get the antiviral at little or no cost, too.

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