health costs

In a year already marked by a wide variety of congressional health care legislation, Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., on Thursday released the details of a plan they hope will help bring down health costs and eliminate surprise medical bills for patients.

Senators called pharmaceutical industry leaders to account for the high costs of medicine during a Senate hearing. The executives deflected blame to insurance companies and middlemen.

In a new study, researchers found that doctors are better at explaining the benefits of a common cancer screening that its potential downsides. But overtesting comes with risks and costs of its own.