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From NCE to NICE: the role of Pharmacoeconomics

What Is the Price Benchmark to Replace Average Wholesale Price (AWP)?

NICE announces development of further Quality Standards

Avastin patient access scheme too complicated, says NICE

Comparative Effectiveness—of What? Evaluating Strategies to Improve Population Health

Market access and patient access schemes

Market access: Risk sharing and alternative pricing schemes

US breast cancer drug decision 'marks start of death panels'

Medical Affairs at the centre of life sciences innovation

Rising Burden of Diseases Drives the Pharmaceutical Industry in East Africa Says Frost & Sullivan

Is Health Care Special?

CRD international register of ongoing systematic reviews

Hospitals Should Plan Now for Value-Based Purchasing, Which May Be a Game-Changer

Comparative Effectiveness Research

Health care and revenue competition in Britain

Literature Review Examines Value of Managed Care Pharmacy Tools

Compelling Evidence Regarding Effectiveness Of Managed Care Pharmacy Tools In Achieving Intended Outcomes

IBM, Aetna roll out cloud-based clinical decision support system

Health Economics Spending Increases 45% in Emerging Markets, 8% in the US

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley announces new NHS ‘quality standards’

PharmaNet, Abacus ally on ‘real world' research

The Impact of Employer Health and Productivity Management Practices

NICE ‘yes’ in 80% of treatment appraisals

Providers Have Won Majority of RAC Claims Denials They Have Appealed

Study examines UK’s NICE as model producer of HTA

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley announces new NHS ‘quality standards’

Government kicks off consultation on outcomes framework

Will More Insurers Control Health Care Costs Better?

Will Janssen-Cilag's ADHD YouTube Video Go Viral and Win an Award?

Reimbursement by Distributors

Growing application of pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research in health-care decision-making in the Asia-Pacific region.Yang BM, Lee K. Value Health. 2009 Nov-Dec;12 Suppl 3:S1-2.

Value-based Pricing to be Introduced to the UK Pharma Industry by 2014

Disclosing Industry Relationships — Toward an Improved Federal Research Policy

Pharmacoeconomics: friend or foe?

NHS reform – a bold vision or a dangerous gamble?

GSK's Coverup of Avandia's Heart Risk Data: Is This How the Entire Industry Views Its Repsonsibility to Patients?

Oncology drug price cuts announced in Italy related to perfomance based schemes

US And European Prices Aren’t So Different After All

Grand challenges in pharmacoeconomics and health outcomes

White Paper: An Economic Assessment of the Relationship between Price Regulation and Incentives to Innovate in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Clarifying Sources of Geographic Differences in Medicare Spending

Is The Impact of Comparative Effectiveness Reports Being Evaluated? by Rebecca Singer Cohen Rebecca Singer Cohen View Author Bio and Bryan Luce

Biosimilars’ Price Dynamic in Europe, Dr Matthias Liefner of Simon Kucher and Partners.

AQoL Website - Centre for Health Economics, Monash University

“How To Negotiate Salary”, a submitted article by Bill Cebak - Founder / Headhunter Global HEOR, Market Access and Medical Communications Practice since 1993

AMCP eDossier System: A Partnership that Works! AMCP News June 2010

Dartmouth Atlas: A Response to Its Researchers

D2 Review : APHA and AMCP introduce MTM Connections a fantastic site for new professional opportunities

Including Pregnant Women in Clinical Research Called ‘Imperative’

Selecting Quality and Resource Use Measures A Decision Guide for Community Quality Collaboratives

Spending More on Drugs Doesn’t Mean Spending Less On Other Care

Trendspotter: Consumer Survey Shows Opposition to Evidence-Based Medicine

Patient Reported Outcomes version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (PRO-CTCAE)

Former CMS Official’s Off-Label Work May Help Reform Law’s CER Center

Patient-reported outcome measures in the NHS: new methods for analysing and reporting EQ-5D data

Integrated Health Ecosystem Key to Creating Better Health Outcomes and Managing Costs for Employers and Health Plans

The Health Care Economy: New Questions About Costs, Quality And Care

The Amazing Maze of US Health Care

Universal Healthcare Myths | New Health Care Bill Facts

Pricing, profits and pharmacoeconomics - for whose benefit?

Symposium on Research Methods for Clinical and Comparative Effectiveness Studies – Part II

France, Italy announce drug pricing cuts

"AMCP Launches Health Care Reform Implementation Web Page"

2010 Lecture: US Health Care Reform

Biosimilars: Issues Overview

AZ's fixed-price deal on Iressa gets NICE nod

Transforming Trial Results Into Practice Change: The Final Translational Hurdle

Obama’s New Health Rationer-in-Chief

NICE to move to value-based pricing?

Reimbursement of New High Cost Drugs – Deal or No Deal! by:Michael Barry MD, PhD, FRCPI, 2009-2010 ISPOR President and Clinical Director National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics, St. James’s Hospital, Dublin, Ireland

UK Government Wants To Revamp Drug Watch Dog NICE

New FDA Campaign Targets Detailing, Trade Shows

Advances in technology highlight need of Pharmacoeconomics in managing healthcare: Dr Rajesh Balakrishnan

RFP for 2011 IBI/NBCH Health & Productivity Forum

Funny Pharmacy Videos. These are Hysterical! Particularly "The PharmG's - Boom Intervention" Rap

Job Title Company

Health Economics Modeling Associate Director Analytica International

VP Research & Analysis Express Scripts

Mapi Values recruits Development Director Market Access - Europe Mapi Values

Senior and Principal Consultants Bridgehead International Limited

Program Director, Applied Health Economics and Outcomes Research Jefferson School of Population Health

A Prescription for Change: How the Medicare Act Revises Hatch-Waxman to Speed Market Entry of Generic Drugs

The author reviews the pharmaceutical industry's patenting process as it has been impacted by the Hatch-Waxman and Medicare legislation which expedite review and approval for generic follow-on drugs. (Source: Stephanie Greene, Journal of Corporation Law, Winter 2005, last revised Oct 2009)

Ad Audit: How Close Is The Message To The Truth About Pending Health Bills And Medicare?

Kaiser Health News staff writer Jordan Rau examines a new ad by a conservative advocacy group that warns that the health care bills now before Congress would hurt Medicare. He finds that the ad uses older Americans to exaggerate the impact of proposed Medicare cuts and ignores some improvements (11/4).

After Reform Passes

So, how well will health reform work after it passes? (Source: Paul Krugman, NYT, Oct 25, 2009)

AHRQ 2009 Annual Conference

To help advance its goal of improving health care for all Americans, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) held its third annual conference on September 13-16, 2009, in Bethesda, MD. This conference was designed to showcase the best of the Agency's research and provide examples of how that research is being implemented at all levels in health care delivery. Entitled "Promoting Quality... Partnering for Change," the conference featured presentations in seven major themes. Click for some relevant presentations.

AMCP Quality Corner

The new law, for example, requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop national priorities for quality performance improvements and to develop new quality measures and metrics for providers of health care services. The law also requires stakeholders—including insurers and managed care organizations—to compile, report and receive payment adjustments related to quality metrics.

AMCP Quality Corner: Health Care Reform Law Focuses on 'Quality'

AMCP Releases Summary Of Proposed Medicare Part D Rule

In the Oct. 22nd Federal Register, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule calling for a significant number of policy and technical changes to Medicare Advantage and stand-alone Part D prescription drug plans.

AMCP Review of Health Care Reform Legislation (Part 1)

Part 1 of the video explains provisions related to the Medicare Part D drug benefit, while Part 2 explains other provisions relevant to managed care pharmacy.

AMCP Review of Health Care Reform Legislation (Part 2)

Part 1 of the video explains provisions related to the Medicare Part D drug benefit, while Part 2 explains other provisions relevant to managed care pharmacy.

Baucus Bill Gives Industry Larger Role in CE Research

Each of the three major health care reform bills now before Congress contains a major section establishing the U.S.'s first comparative effectiveness research agency. (Source: GoozNews ~ 28 Sep 2009)

Baucus’s Bill and the Long Road to Reform

"...the administration considers Baucus’s bill the most promising vehicle for crafting a compromise, because it is less costly than the alternatives approved by four other congressional committees and is the most palatable to influential private stakeholders." (Source: John K. Iglehart, NEJM, September 23, 2009)

Characteristics of Published Comparative Effectiveness Studies of Medications

Only 32% of medication studies published in top medical journals compared the effectiveness of existing treatments, and active-comparator trials were less likely than trials with inactive controls to report positive results. (Source: Michael Hochman, MD; Danny McCormick, MD, MPH, JAMA, 2010;303(10):951-958)

Comparative-Effectiveness Research Could Find New Uses for Drugs

Comparative-effectiveness research (CER), provided for in congressional healthcare overhaul legislation, can fill in the gaps left by standard clinical trials by pinpointing subpopulations that respond to a particular drug, an expert says. (source: FDANews, Nov. 16, 2009)

Congressional Budget Expert Says Preventive Care Will Raise -- Not Cut -- Costs

Douglas W. Elmendorf, director of the Congressional Budget Office, offered a skeptical view Friday of the cost savings that could result from preventive care. (Source: Jake Tapper, ABC News, Aug. 9, 2009)

Direct-to-consumer communication by pharmaceutical companies ? Europeans deserve better

Supporting the right choice in health information: In his hearing with the European Parliament, John Dalli promised the reassessment of the "Information to Patients" proposal. At the same time, the proposals are continuing to move through the political process in the Parliament. In this context, a group of 29 organisations released a set of five recommendation to protect public health and prevent direct-to-consumer advertising. (Source: Epha.org, March 15, 2010)

Drug Makers Raise Prices in Face of Health Care Reform

Critics say the industry is trying to establish a higher price base before Congress passes legislation that tries to curb drug spending in coming years. (Source: Duff Wilson, NYT, Nov. 15, 2009)

EFFECTIVENESS OF CLINICAL GUIDELINES AS A MEANS FOR CHANGING BEHAVIOR

Clinical guidelines are designed with the major aim of improving quality of health care. This is reflected in the utilisation of evidence based practices and the employment of a series of models. The paper shall look at some of the intended impacts of clinical guidelines as a method of changing behaviour and the actual impacts caused by them.

Ensuring Progress in Primary Care — What Can Health Care Reform Realistically Accomplish?

Dave A. Chokshi, M.D. In the current political environment, forging consensus on health care reform has proven challenging. Yet the value of a strengthened primary care infrastructure is one apparent zone of agreement among policymakers. Read more

Expert Panels Won't Improve Health Care

Dr. Norbert Gleicher in The Wall Street Journal roundly criticizes the proposed role of expert panels that would make determinations about what treatments to cover by using comparative-effectiveness research. (Source: Gleicher,Wall Street Journal, Oct. 18, 2009)

Expert Reviews - Expert Review of Pharmacoeconomics & Outcomes

This editorial focuses on recent changes to the pharmacoeconomic process in Ireland as a result of the changing economic environment

FDA Final Guidance on Patient-Reported Outcome (PRO) Measures: Use in Medical Product Development to Support Labeling Claims

FDA released the Final Guidance for Industry Patient-Reported Outcome Measures: Use in Medical Product Development to Support Labeling Claims. This guidance represents the FDA’s current thinking on use of PROs to support labeling claims. (Source: United BioSource Corp. Dec. 11. 2009)

Federal Register Pubs Final Rules on EHRs: CMS, ONC, July 28, 2010

This final rule implements the provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (Pub. L. 111-5) that provide incentive payments to eligible professionals (EPs), eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs) participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs that adopt and successfully demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health record (EHR) technology.

Filling the Information Needs for Healthcare Reform

To help meet the information needs of health care reform, and to inform our own work, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) convened a small group of policymakers, researchers, and producers of health care data. The purpose of the meeting was to begin developing a strategy to optimize the availability of information and data for enactment and implementation of health care reform. (Source: AHRQ, July 2009)

Filling the Information Needs for Healthcare Reform

Filling the Information Needs for Healthcare Reform: Expert Meeting Summary and Identification of Next Steps. (Source: AHRQ, July 2009)

Four Health Care Reforms for 2009

Prospects for the enactment of some reform look good, but comprehensive, sustainable reform of the health care system must wait for another day. (Source: Victor Fuchs, NEJM, oct 2009)

Four Health Care Reforms for 2009 (NEJM article)

Prospects for the enactment of some reform look good, but comprehensive, sustainable reform of the health care system must wait for another day. Republican support for President Barack Obama’s ambitious agenda is fading fast, if it ever existed. An imaginative, truly bipartisan approach that moves the system away from employer-sponsored insurance — the Wyden–Bennett plan — has failed to gain any traction. Read more

Funding Health Care: Options for Europe (European Observatory

The question of how to generate sufficient revenue to pay for health care has become a serious concern for nearly all European policy-makers. This book examines the advantages and disadvantages of funding arrangements currently in use across Europe. Adopting a cross-national, cross-disciplinary perspective, it assesses the relative merits of the main methods of raising resources including taxation; social, voluntary and supplemental forms of insurance; and self-pay including co-payments.

Getting to the Real Issues in Health Care Reform

This article offers a discussion on the public option being debated in health care legislation. (Source: Ginburg, NEJM, Nov. 11. 2009)

Getting to the Real Issues in Health Care Reform

Getting to the Real Issues in Health Care Reform (Source: Paul B. Ginsburg, Ph.D, NEJM • November 11th, 2009)

GPs would get new incentives to treat diabetes under Nice proposals

GPs would get new incentives to treat diabetes under NICE proposals. (Source: TheTimesOnline, Aug. 10, 2009)

Grassley Votes Against Motion to Proceed with Health Care Bill

Grassley's opposition to the health care reform bill are provided in summary, and in full text of his floor speech. (Source: The Iowa Republican, Nov. 22, 2009)

Has the influence of managed care waned? Evidence from the market for physician services

This study examines the evolving nature of managed care and its restrictive effects on the provision of physician services. (Source: International Journal of Health Care Finance and Economics, Sept. 16, 2009)

Health Bill Backs Evidence-Based Medicine, New Drug Studies

Buried within the 2400 pages of the landmark health care reform bill passed by the House of Representatives this week and signed by President Barack Obama are several provisions that touch on clinical research. Two are aimed at determining which therapies work best and identifying researchers' financial conflicts. A third, which has flown under the radar until now, would fund a new push in drug development at the National Institutes of Health. (Source: Science 26 March 2010)

Health Care Cartoons

As the health reform debate has heated up, editorial cartoonists have sharpened their pencils and gotten to work. Click thumbnails to enlarge.

Health Care Reform — A Republican View

Health Care Reform — A Republican View. (Source: Charles Grassley, NEJM, Nov. 18, 2009)

Health Care Reform — Where Do We Go from Here?

The use of the budget-reconciliation process continues to be raised as a possibility. The attraction of this approach is that if a reform package were cast as a budget bill, it would require only a simple majority for passage in the Senate, the time allowed for debate would be limited, and the bill would not be subject to filibuster. (Source: NEJM, March 3rd, 2010)

Health Care Reform 2009

NEJM edition dedicated to covering the Health Care Reform debate. (Source: NEJM, 2009)

Health Care Reform and the Need for Comparative-Effectiveness Research

Health care reform will eventually pit the goal of expanding health insurance coverage against strong pressure to reduce the growth in health care costs. If left to measures in the proposed reform legislation, cost containment will be driven primarily by marketplace incentives, programmatic initiatives, and organizational changes that would partially offset the costs of expanding coverage. These proposed economic policy changes and incentives, however, are not guaranteed to lead either to individual clinical decisions that will be in patients’ best interests or to enhancement of the public’s health. (Source: Alvin I. Mushlin, M.D., and Hassan Ghomrawi, Ph.D., M.P.H., NEJM, Jan. 6, 2010)

Health Care Reform and the Need for Comparative-Effectiveness Research”

Health Care Reform Bill Must Read Paragraphs

This article looks at the current health care reform legislation, espeically in terms of personal privacy and choice. (Source: The Health & Wellness Institute, PC, Juice Plus+ Healthnews, Nov. 23, 2009)

Health Care Reform Series: The French health care system

This article continues a comparative look at countries that have implemented the Bismarck model of health care, which emphasizes a mixture of private and public administration to deliver services. (Source: Jenny Kakasuleff, examiner.com, Aug. 8, 2009)

Health Care Reform: How are other countries doing?

Health Care Reform: How are other countries doing? Doctors and patients review foreign medical systems. (Source: Adam Aasen, NewsJacksonville.com, Aug. 22, 2009)

Health Care Reform: US vs Singapore

As the politics of the US continues to grind on around providing all Americans with the basics of health care, the government of Singapore has put together a panel of some of the world’s top designers to reshape it’s already terrific medical system so that it attracts people from all over the world to its facilities—and makes high value medicine a 21st century industry. (Source: Bruce Nussbaum, Busienss Week, November 22, 2009)

Health Insurance Reform and Breast Cancer: Making the health care system work for women

This report discusses the various problems with the current health care system for women who have breast cancer, and what solutions will be found through health care reform.

Health Insurance Reform and Breast Cancer: Making the Health Care System Work for Women

This report discusses access to healthcare for women with breast cancer. (Source: Julie Chang, Office of Health Reform, Department of Health and Human Services Meena Seshamani, MD, PhD, Director of Policy Analysis, Office of Health Reform, Department of Health, Healthreform.gov, Oct. 2009)

Health Insurers at the Table — Industry Proposals for Regulation and Reform

Health Insurers at the Table — Industry Proposals for Regulation and Reform (Source: Karen Ignagni, NEJM, Sept. 17, 2009)

Health Policy Doctoral Candidate's editorial in Huffington Post offers view on expert panels

DB Wright comments on a recent editorial by Dr. Norbert Gleicher in The Wall Street Journal that roundly criticizes the proposed role of expert panels. (Source: D. Brad Wright, Huffinton Post, Oct 2009)

Hong Kong: LCQ8: Development of the Chinese medicine industry

In his Policy Address delivered recently, the Chief Executive has proposed to promote the development of Chinese medicine and facilitate its development by introducing new certification services, making Hong Kong a stage for promoting Chinese medicine to the world. (Source: Webnewswire, Nov. 18, 2009)

How to Think Constructively About Healthcare

HarvardBusiness.Org article provides excellent graphics and comparators re health reform: How to Think Constructively About Healthcare. (Source: Umair Hague, HBR Guest Edition, Aug. 5, 2009)

Human’s CIO discusses health IT future

Bruce Goodman of Humana forecasts the impact of ICD-10, real-time claim adjudication, and role of health insurers in health reform. (Source: WSJ, Nov. 16, 2009)

ICD-10 Implementation Should begin by January 18, 2010

The timeline was developed by the NCHICA-WEDI Timeline Initiative, a collaboration of provider, health plan and vendor representatives serving on several workgroups. It details the steps and time required for each industry segment (providers, plans and vendors) to effectively implement this major change in how the healthcare industry identifies diagnoses and inpatient hospital procedures. (Source: Healthcare Technology News, Aug. 10, 2009)

Industry Has Influence In Reform Bill's Research Institute

Little attention has been paid to the actual language of the Senate bill with regards to comparative effectiveness research. It is notable to report that the bill repeats several times that the findings from government-funded research into the comparative effectiveness of various treatments will not be used to determine coverage or reimbursement under government health programs. (Source: Ken Terry, BNET, Dec. 7, 2009)

Institute for Clinical and Economic Review

Through a unique collaboration with patients, clinicians, manufacturers, insurers and other healthcare stakeholders, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) develops tools to support patient decisions and medical policy that share the goal of achieving maximum value for every healthcare dollar.

Is value-based pricing an aid to market access?

Leela Barham explores whether pharma firms can use value-based pricing (VBP) to improve market access.

Keating: Economists shouldn’t back health care

This opinion challenges ideas presented in a letter by 23 economists sent to President Obama. (Source: "The Debate Room", Long Island Business News, Nov. 23, 2009)

Keeping the Patient in the Equation — Humanism and Health Care Reform

This article addresses the influence of growing interest in humanism and comparative effectiveness on health care reform. (Source: Pamela Hartzband, M.D., and Jerome Groopman, M.D, NEJM, Aug. 5, 2009)

Lost in Transmission — FDA Drug Information That Never Reaches Clinicians (NEJM article)

By Lisa M. Schwartz, M.D., and Steven Woloshin, M.D. The 2009 federal stimulus package included $1.1 billion to support comparative-effectiveness research about medical treatments. No money has been allocated — and relatively little would be needed — to disseminate existing but practically inaccessible information about the benefits and harms of prescription drugs. Much critical information that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has at the time of approval may fail to make its way into the drug label and relevant journal articles. Read more...

Making Health Care Better

NYT Columnist, David Leonardt, poses one of the more disturbing questions of the health care debate: "If politicians cannot fix America's fragmented, ailing health care system, who will?" (Source: NYT Magazine, David Leonhardt, Nov 3, 2009)

Medicaid and National Health Care Reform

This article discusses the role of Medicaid in Health Care reform. (Source: Sara Rosenbaum, J.D., NEJM, Oct. 14, 2009)

Medicare Part D Position Statements

AMCP has developed a series of documents to clearly explain its position on several controversial issues related to the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit which was enacted into law in 2003 and implemented in 2006. (Source: Academy Managed Care Pharmacy)

MS drugs scheme fails to deliver results

A pioneering scheme designed by government to impose a money-back guarantee on pharmaceutical companies if their drugs did not adequately treat patients has failed to provide any clear conclusions more than seven years after it was launched. (Source: The Health Economics Blog / The Financial Times, Dec. 4, 2009)

NEJM: Controlling U.S. Health Care Spending — Separating Promising from Unpromising Approaches

High U.S. health care spending has been characterized not only as a barrier to affordable insurance but also as the preeminent long-term threat to the economy and the competitiveness of American business. The current policy discussion in Congress does not address this problem.

New Study Shows Healthcare Costs Put U.S. Workers At Big Disadvantage

The costs and performance of the U.S. healthcare system have put America’s companies and workers at a significant competitive disadvantage in the global marketplace, according to a study by the Business Roundtable. (Source: Business Roundtable.org)

NICE: 10 years still growing and still controversial

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) will have existed for 10 years on April 1, 2009.(Source: The Lancet Oncology, Volume 10, Issue 4, Pages 417 - 424, April 2009)

Perspective Roundtable: The Cost of Health Care

Video of Roundtable: President Barack Obama has argued that health care reform is essential to the future economic health of the United States. But the economics of both health care and reform are daunting. Is it possible to pay for health care coverage for all Americans without moderating our rapidly rising health care costs? (Source: Atul A. Gawande, M.D., M.P.H, Elliott S. Fisher, M.D., M.P.H., Jonathan Gruber, Ph.D., and Meredith B. Rosenthal, Ph.D, NEJM, October 14, 2009)

Perspective Roundtable: The Cost of Health Care

Primary Care and Accountable Care — Two Essential Elements of Delivery-System Reform (NEJM article)

Diane R. Rittenhouse, M.D., M.P.H., Stephen M. Shortell, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., and Elliott S. Fisher, M.D., M.P.H. With discussions about U.S. health care reform focused heavily on insurance reforms, relatively little attention has been paid to the delivery-system reforms that will be required to improve the quality and coordination of health care and slow the growth of spending.

Privacy Survey -- In Providers We Trust

Ponemon Institute published their study surveying American opinions on privacy of their health information. They found: 71% of Americans trust their providers with their medical information much more than they trust payers (43%), state and local government (31%), private information technology companies (27%) or the federal government (27%). (Source: Health Care Technology News, Feb. 1, 2010)

Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies

REMS for drug products may affect marketing and access. Free article download. (Source: Risk Management, Sept 2009)

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

The mission of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is to improve the health and health care of all Americans. Our goal is clear: To help Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need.

Role of Evidence-Based Medicine in Informing Clinical Decision-Making Addressed by American College of Physicians in House Testimony

This article provides a summary of testimony that Donna Sweet, MD, MACP provided on Dec 2, 2009 to the Subcommittee on Health of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. She addresses the recent breast cancer screening guidlines. (Source: ACP - American College of Physicians, Dec. 2009)

Senate health care bill: the five paragraphs you must read

Buried in the Senate's 2,074-page health reform bill are provisions that undermine your health freedom and privacy. (Source: Sue Blevins & Robin Kaigh, The Christian Science Monitor, Nov. 23, 2009)

Side by Side Comparison of Major Health Care Reform Proposals

This side-by-side compares the leading comprehensive reform proposals across a number of key characteristics and plan components. (Source: The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Oct. 15, 2009)

Single Technology Appraisal at the UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence: A Source of Evidence and Analysis for Decision Making Internationally

Pay for view article by Sculpher in PharmacoEconomics.(Source: PharmacoEconomics, 2010, vol. 28, issue 5, pages 347-349)

Single-payer supposition: Medicine should save lives

This editorial raises ethical issues related to findings that trauma patients without insurance are 80 percent more likely to die than those with insurance. (Source: DR. PETER MAHR, My Oregon, Nov 24, 2009)

Study finds Medicare prescription benefit program has exceeded expectations

The program created to provide Medicare recipients with prescription drug benefits exceeded expectations during its first two years, extending pharmacy coverage to most seniors while reducing their overall spending on drugs, according to a new RAND Corporation study. (Source: RAND, Aug. 2009)

Systemwide Cost Control — The Missing Link in Health Care Reform

Successful health care reform requires effective control of health care spending — without it, rising costs will continue to strain federal and state budgets, businesses, and families, jeopardizing gains in insurance coverage. (Source: White, NEJM, Sept. 17, 2009)

The Economic Costs of Uninsured Children

In June, Rice University's James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy released "The Economic Impact of Uninsured Children on America," a new report whose bottom line is that extending health insurance coverage to all children in the United States would be relatively inexpensive compared to the cost of letting children remain uninsured and would yield economic benefits that are greater than the costs. (Source: Marian Wright Edelman, The Huffington Post, Aug. 24, 2009)

The Economic Impact of Uninsured Children on America

The Economic Impact of Uninsured Children on America. (Source: Published by the James A. Baker III, Institue for Public Policy of Rice University)

The End of Free Drug Pricing in Germany?

According to local press, Germany's health minister Philipp Roesler is about to open fire against the branded drug industry with a proposal to break the sector's so-called 'price monopoly' and force them to negotiate lower prices directly with insurers. Until now, Germany has been one of Europe's last bastions of "free" upfront drug pricing. Sure, the hurdles come afterwards, but both there and in the UK drug firms have--until now--been allowed to set more or less the price they like for new drugs. (Source: Invivo Blogspot, March 08, 2010)

The Growing Importance of Health Technology Assessments (HTAs) in

Review of HTA requirements in 10 markets, by United BioSource Corp. (Source: EvidenceMatters Online / www.unitedbiosource.com)

The Public-Health Fallocy

Jonathan comments on a discussion indicating that the most important issue at hand in the health care reform debate is "who gets to make the decision" regarding type of care. (Source: Jonathan, Chicagoboyz.net, Nov. 22, 2009)

The Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF)

Earlier this year, NICE was given the power to oversee the review of clinical and health elements of The Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF). They have recently proposed a list of potential new indicators for QOF, and are awaiting negotiations between NHS employers and the British Medical Association who have the final say. (Source: PharmaTimes)

The White House Deal with Big Pharma Undermines Democrasy

Hard hitting article: Obama's agreement with Big Pharma may help healthcare reform pass, but it may also mean higher drug prices for you. (Source: Robert Reich, Salon.com, Aug. 10, 2009)

Urban Institute Health Policy Center

Undertakes economic and social policy research. Health Policy Center located at http://www.urban.org/health_policy/ Many reports on health reform

Weekly Address: Myths and Morality in Health Insurance Reform

Videop -- Weekly Address: Myths and Morality in Health Insurance Reform. (Source: Jesse Lee, White House Health Care Blog, Aug. 22, 2009)

White House Health Care Reform Summit

The Academy has released two documents summarizing the Feb. 25 White House Heath Care Reform Summit. The brief summary encapsulates the key issues discussed and debated at the event. The full summary provides a synopsis of the remarks made during the full-day summit by President Obama and Democratic and Republican lawmakers. (Source: AMCP, Press Release, Feb 26, 2010)

Why Paying for Health Care Reform Is Difficult and Essential — Numbers and Rules

Why Paying for Health Care Reform Is Difficult and Essential — Numbers and Rules (Source: Henry J. Aaron, Ph.D, NEJM, Sept. 17, 2009)

Why You Should Be Very Worried About Government Health Recommendations

Aaron opines that the government policy decisions will be reflected as insurance coverage constraints limiting health care choice. (Source: Aaron Opine Blog, Nov. 21, 2009)

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