Trending News Today: Express Scripts to Cover Eli Lilly, Amgen Migraine Drugs

The Trump administration issued a new guidance that loosens restrictions that states face to waive Obamacare requirements, allowing them to promote health plans that don’t require the same level of coverage as the federal health law, The Hill reported. According to the article, states will be allowed to offer plans with much less comprehensive coverage, including plans that charge higher premiums for those with pre-existing conditions. Under the guidance, states will still need to provide Obamacare-compliant plans, but they can now allow policies such as short-term or association health plans.

Express Scripts will cover new migraine drugs from Eli Lilly and Amgen, but will exclude Teva’s treatment, following price negotiations with all 3 manufacturers, Reuters reported. According to the article, Express Scripts is also taking steps to limit use of the Amgen and Lilly migraine drugs to patients it says are most likely to benefit them. The 3 drugs all work similarly and represent an improvement over older treatments, significantly reducing migraine frequency in patients in clinical trials, the article reported.

A new worldwide study found that women with ovarian cancer are not knowledgeable enough about the condition, with only two-thirds of women familiar with the disease prior to diagnosis, NPR reported. According to the article, 86% of survey respondents in the study indicated they knew little or nothing about ovarian cancer and 57% were in stage 3 or 4 when diagnosed. The women’s responses also indicated that diagnosis took a long time and many were not referred to the proper specialists, the article reported.