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Latest Ryan campaign ad prompts pushback from AAPI community
In staccato repetition, Democratic Senate hopeful Tim Ryan insists the country’s primary challenge boils down to one word: China. But the Youngstown-area congressman’s framing of the issue is raising concerns within the Asian American community. Sharon Kim, from the organization Asian American Midwest Progressives, argued Ryan’s ad conflates legitimate critiques of the Chinese government with […]
With inflation, supply-chain kinks, plight of Ohio food banks grows
For millions of Ohioans, world events are making it harder to fill their pantries and refrigerators, an official who helps oversee the state’s food banks said on Wednesday. Those pressures will only increase pantries’ need for state assistance, she said. The coronavirus pandemic had already put pressure on the state’s food banks as demand increased […]
RNC calls Capitol violence “legitimate.” Do Ohio statewides agree?
The top elected Republican tried this week to give his colleagues cover to disagree with a party claim that the violent attack on Congress on Jan. 1. 2021 was "legitimate political discourse." Most Ohio's statewide elected officials have been less definite.
With big Medicaid changes looming, Ohio pharmacists complain of a lack of details
The Ohio Department of Medicaid plans to radically change the way it does business in July, but a group that helped motivate the reform effort says it hasn't provided some fundamental details. Some members of that group, the state's community pharmacists, say those details could determine whether they can stay in business — and whether some small towns become pharmacy deserts.
Pharmacy middlemen sue to stop rebate transparency
An industry group representing powerful drug middlemen has gone to court to stop a federal rule intended to bring transparency to rebates middlemen get from manufacturers. The middlemen are arguing that the rule, initiated by the Trump administration, will increase drug costs. But the group’s critics say that secretive rebates are a primary driver of […]
More than a year later, no discipline for cop who pepper-sprayed journalists
More than a year later, no discipline for cop who pepper-sprayed journalists. Columbus police union said to be blocking investigation.
Big PBM decision undergoes its first test
The stakes appear to be pretty high. After a unanimous ruling in a related case in December, the U.S. Supreme Court has reopened a case regarding sweeping regulations of powerful middlemen known as pharmacy benefit managers — and 30 state attorneys general and many others are joining the fray. Pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, are […]
VP Harris says DNC will pour $25M into voting rights protection
WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris announced Thursday that the Democratic National Committee will spend $25 million to protect voting rights, in response to a wave of laws pushed by Republican lawmakers in state legislatures that would restrict voting access. The move comes after Democrats have been stymied in their attempts to enact a national […]
U.S. Supreme Court to hear HIV case with implications for Ohio, elsewhere
It’s a practice that’s already been called anti-competitive. Now the U.S. Supreme Court could rule on whether it discriminates against the disabled. The court last week agreed to review a case focused on whether actions of insurers and pharmacy middlemen discriminate against people with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The case is on appeal […]
Budget measure would undermine affordable housing for hundreds of thousands in Ohio, critics say
Scores of Ohio business and social service organizations are voicing opposition to a move by Senate President Matt Huffman to raise taxes on housing for the state’s poor. A spokesman for Huffman didn’t respond to a request for comment. But a measure that Huffman placed in the state budget would require county auditors to value […]
Federal regulator’s oversight of the drug supply chain blasted — by one of the regulators
One of two federal agencies tasked with policing anticompetitive behavior among corporations last week said it has a lot more work to do when it comes to the prescription-drug supply chain. One of the members of the Federal Trade Commission went even further. He suggested the agency has abdicated its responsibility as drug prices have […]
House Republicans pitch $1,000 bonus for cops, EMS, firefighters
Ohio House Republicans announced Wednesday a proposal pay $1,000 bonuses to police, firefighters, and EMS workers. Relief dollars from the American Rescue Plan, President Joe Biden’s signature COVID-19 economic relief package, would pay for the checks. The plan at large would cost about $83 million, the sponsors said. Rep. Craig Riedel, R-Defiance, said at a […]