Trending News Today: Bipartisan Senators Seek More Resources for Fight Against Opioid Epidemic

Many Americans may believe that the penalty for not having insurance disappeared when President Donald Trump signed the tax reform bill in December 2017, according to Kaiser Health News. However, the penalty will be in effect through 2019, meaning that many individuals may be facing surprise fines when they file their taxes. The IRS also said that it will reject electronic tax returns that do not address insurance questions and paper returns may be delayed if they do not contain the information, according to the article.

A bipartisan bill was introduced in the senate yesterday to fight the opioid epidemic as a follow-up to the 2016 Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), according to The Hill. The new bill establishes a 3-day prescribing limit on opioids for pain, increased services that promote recovery for opioid use disorder, and increased access to treatment, according to the article. The CARA 2.0 bill also provides support for youths with opioid use disorder. The Hill reported that the new legislation includes similar measures to the original CARA bill.

Patients are still largely not allowed to access their own data from medical devices, according to STAT. Although data outside of clinical trials are generally considered part of a patient’s records, the industry has concerns regarding security and patient privacy, according to the article. Additionally, current laws are unclear on how to treat the data implanted devices collect.