MEDICAL DEBT: Some New Yorkers started seeing medical debt wiped out beginning last week under a city-backed debt forgiveness program, the mayor’s office announced on Friday. Letters will start arriving in the mail informing 35,000 people that at least some of their medical debt – totaling $80 million – has been erased, the administration said. The letters represent the first wave of debt forgiveness under a plan to eliminate $2 billion worth of medical debt from $500,000 New Yorkers living in or near poverty. After months of delay, the city recently granted a $18 million contract to Long Island City-based nonprofit Undue Medical Debt, which buys unpaid debt from providers and third parties at a fraction of its cost and deletes it.
DRUG PRICES: The Biden administration announced the second round of drugs Medicare will focus on in price negotiations with drug companies under the Inflation Reduction Act. The drugs include weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy, and drugs for asthma, diabetes, gastrointestinal disorders, depression, cancer and other diseases. Together the drugs account for $41 billion in Medicare spending over the twelve months ending in October, or 14% of prescription drug costs under Medicare Part D. The negotiated prices will go into effect in 2027.
