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Medicaid plans to audit the prices of costliest drugs

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:53 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Tuesday it is planning to conduct a yearly audit to verify the prices drug makers charge on a handful of the costliest prescriptions covered by Medicaid. Under the proposal, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services would require as many as 10 drug makers every year to furnish the government with proprietary and non-proprietary information as evidence to support the price it charges states, which administer Medicaid. Drugs that cost Medicaid the most money — some as much as $2 million per treatment — will be selected for the survey. The proposal was prompted by rising drug prices and complaints from states leaders who say they are having trouble negotiating those costs with manufacturers, said Dan Tsai, director of Center for Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program Services. “We’ve got very high cost drugs, who have no competition,” Tsai said Tuesday. More than 90 million people are enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP, wh...

Police: Woman arrested, charged after punching student at middle school

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:53 GMT

WAUKEGAN, Ill. — A woman from the northern suburbs was arrested and charged Tuesday after police allege she entered a middle school with another male and punched a student.Angel Terry, 29.The Waukegan Police Department said 29-year-old Angel S. Terry, a Waukegan resident, went to John Lewis Middle School Tuesday around 7 a.m. — along with another man — to confront a student about a previous altercation with her niece.According to police, Terry and the male subject made it to the school, where staff tried to stop them from entering and were battered in the process.Terry then made it inside the school, where she found the student and punched him in the face. The male subject battered a staff member and a teacher before both fled the school in a blue Nissan, police said.After responding to a location in Waukegan where the duo's vehicle was found, police were able to identify Terry as the offender in the incident at John Lewis Middle School and arrested her at the scene. Pritzker anno...

Jimmy Carter aware of tributes, enjoying ice cream, 3 months into hospice: grandson

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:53 GMT

NORCROSS, Ga. (AP) — Three months after entering end-of-life care at home, former President Jimmy Carter remains in good spirits as he visits with family, follows public discussion of his legacy and receives updates on The Carter Center's humanitarian work around the world, his grandson says. He's even enjoying regular servings of ice cream.“They’re just meeting with family right now, but they’re doing it in the best possible way: the two of them together at home,” Jason Carter said of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, now 98 and 95 years old.“They’ve been together 70-plus years. They also know that they’re not in charge,” the younger Carter said Tuesday in a brief interview. “Their faith is really grounding in this moment. In that way, it’s as good as it can be.”The longest-lived U.S. president, Jimmy Carter announced in February that after a series of brief hospital stays, he would forgo further medical intervention and spend the remainder of his life in the same modest, one-story h...

MedWatch Daily Digest: Doctors confirm link between Covid and diabetes diagnosis — and more

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:53 GMT

For Tuesday, May 23, WGN’s Medical Reporter Dina Bair has the latest on new information, including the following: More Coverage: WGN's Medical Watch Covid, diabetes link in childrenDuring the pandemic, doctors noticed a relationship between people who tested positive for Covid and were later given a diabetes diagnosis. Delving further into the link, doctors writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association found children were most impacted. The incidence of type 1 diabetes in children between 2 and 12 was 50% greater from 2020-21 compared to the diagnosis from 2018-19. Children with a Covid-19 infection were 57% more likely to develop diabetes than those who did not have covid. Researchers suggest Covid promotes an underlying autoimmune problem accelerating the progression of the disease. Automated insulin dosing pump approved A new device may help manage diabetes. The Food and Drug Administration just approved a bionic pancreas for people with type 1 diabetes. It's a wea...

Boebert claims birth control too expensive in drug price hearing: 'It's cheaper to have a kid'

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:53 GMT

(The Hill) – Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) said during a hearing on drug pricing that she once declined to pay for birth control medicine when she saw how high the price was at the pharmacy.Boebert recalled thinking at the time that “it’s cheaper to have a kid."In a House Oversight and Accountability hearing on the role of pharmacy benefit managers in prescription drug prices, lawmakers questioned the lack of transparency and the high prices of prescription drugs. Boebert asked a witness — pharmacist owner Kevin J. Duane — whether he frequently sees people leaving prescriptions at the counter because they can’t afford them.  The 100 best burger spots in the U.S., according to Yelp “I left a prescription at a pharmacy once. I went to get birth control," she said. "And I was there at the counter and went to pay for it, and the price was very, very high. I said, ‘Wow, is this a three-, six-month prescription?’ ‘No ma’am this is one month' And I said, 'It’s cheaper to have a...

Several local cities are among the fastest-growing in the country, new population estimates show

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:53 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Suburban growth continued to lead the way in population growth last year, according to new census estimates for cities across the country.Estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau show between July 1, 2021, and July 1, 2022, Texas’ population increased by 470,708, surpassing a total of 30 million. More than 30 million people now call Texas home, U.S. census estimates show Georgetown was revealed as the fastest-growing city in the nation with a population greater than 50,000, for the second year in a row. The city grew by 14.4%, adding almost 11,000 new residents.Kyle and Leander both grew at more than 10%, ranking as third- and fourth-fastest growing cities nationwide. Santa Cruz, California, ranked second, with 12.5% growth.Where did population change happen quickest?Smaller cities grew at an even faster pace. Jarrell is the fastest-growing city in Texas, up 60.9% in 2022. The city added more than 1,600 residents, bringing the total population up to 3,410.Nearby Liber...

Westlake holds off Lake Travis surge, wins 6th consecutive UIL boys golf championship

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:53 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Lake Travis surged up the leaderboard on the final day of the UIL Class 6A boys golf tournament, but it was the steady Westlake Chaparrals who claimed their sixth consecutive state title Tuesday at Legacy Hills Golf Club in Georgetown.The Chaps shot under par in both rounds of the tournament to finish with a 3-under-par 573 to win in coach Callan Nokes' final season at the helm as he takes over as the school's athletic director. Westlake shot 286 on the tournament's first day Monday, then followed it up with a 287 to win by five shots over the Cavaliers.MORE THAN THE SCORE: Stay up to date on sports stories like these, and sign up for our More than the Score sports newsletter at kxan.com/newslettersWestlake sophomore Adam Villanueva fired a pair of 6-under rounds to claim the individual title at 12-under, winning by four shots over Plano West's Ethan Fang. Villanueva was tied for the lead heading into Tuesday with Houston Memorial's Charlie Wylie, but Wylie fell off ...

Family of murdered Huston-Tillotson student gets law passed for domestic violence victims

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:53 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN)— Domestic violence victims may now have more protection, thanks to a new law.It's called the Natalia Cox Act. It was named after a Huston-Tillotson college student who was killed by someone she barely knew.It became a law in May 2023. It requires police and doctors to give family or dating violence victims a list of resources and legal options like filing criminal charges or getting an emergency protective order. Natalia's laugh and smile haven't brightened up the world in two years now."She was the light the spark plug of family," Natalia's father, Lester Cox said. Cox's family wishes they had more time with her, but they feel a lack domestic violence resources, led to them losing her."She met a young man...within just a couple of days of meeting him, she saw some red flags, and attempted to kind of pull away from him coming over to the house," Natalia's mother, LaKeisha Cox said. "He came over to her apartment threatened her...a week after that, he came over and bro...

Hays County former corrections officer pleads not guilty in hospital shooting

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:53 GMT

HAYS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) - Not guilty. That's how Isaiah Garcia, the former Hays County corrections officer who shot and killed inmate Joshua Wright, pled today. He's charged with deadly conduct for firing his gun in a hospital. KXAN reached out to Garcia's attorney but have not heard back yet. The Hays County Sheriff's Office previously said Garcia no longer works for them. Grassroots publication the Caldwell/Hays Examiner sent the waiver of arraignment to KXAN. (Photo: Caldwell/Hays Examiner)His attorney waived his arraignment so he wasn't at the court in person to enter his plea. But the Wright family was there. They said the charge is not enough. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Hays County corrections officer indicted in deadly shooting of inmate 'The closure is what I'm after'Beverly Wright said she hasn't been able to properly grieve the death of her son. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Hays County corrections officer on leave after fatal officer-involved shooting at hospital in Kyle While await...

Inaugural Longhorn 100 awards honor fast-growing UT alumni businesses

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:53 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Longhorn entrepreneurs were honored Thursday for having some of the fastest-growing businesses among University of Texas at Austin alumni. The Longhorn 100 awards honored the fastest-growing Longhorn businesses, according to the Texas Exes alumni association. The inaugural winners were announced Thursday in Austin. Among the businesses are Austin-based Rambler Sparkling Water, Austin's El Arroyo, Austin influencer A Taste of Koko, Garrison Brothers Distillery and Austin-based Beatbox beverages.The 100 businesses awarded are Longhorn founded, owned or led; have been in continuous operation for at least five years; and have an annual revenue more than $250,000 since 2019. Texas Exes announced the awards, and current UT students presented the honors to alumni. The inaugural Longhorn 100 winners were announced Thursday. (Courtesy Matt Wright Steel)The inaugural Longhorn 100 winners were announced Thursday. (Courtesy Matt Wright Steel)The inaugural Longhorn 100 winners w...