The Supreme Court is set to hear a lawsuit filed by the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association which challenges an Arkansas law passed in 2015 that establishes how much a PBM must reimburse pharmacies, according to an MMIT blog post. "If the Supreme Court were to say states have the ability […]
Is California Planning to Sell Its Own Generic Drugs?
California's Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom earlier this month proposed his potential solution to reduce drug prices: have the state manufacture its own generic drugs. According to a Pharmacy Times report, the proposal, which was included in the governor's 2020-2021 budget, involves contracting […]
Report: Pharma Spent $120M on Lobbying Last Year
New federal disclosures revealed that 34 major pharmaceutical companies spent more than $120 million on lobbying last year, STAT reports. The drugmakers, which include Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Merck, are members of PhRMA. According to the report, PhRMA broke its previous record on […]
Trump Blasts HHS Secretary Over New Polling Data
President Donald Trump last week put HHS Secretary Alex Azar on blast last week after new polling data showed voters lean toward Democrats on health care, Politico reports. In response to the outburst, according to the report, White House staff convened a drug pricing meeting. White House […]
The Part D Doughnut Hole Closed, but is it too Early to Celebrate?
At the turn of the new year, the final drug cost reduction for Medicare Part D beneficiaries went into effect, effectively closing the notorious Part D doughnut hole, according to an article published in the New York Times. However, while the coverage gap has been closed, Kaiser Family […]
CMS Chief Talks Health Policy, ‘Medicare for All’ Proposals
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma sat down with Kaiser Health News to discuss the administration's roadmap for public health insurance programs and new "Medicare for All" proposals. KHN's Sarah Varney asked Verma about the Medicaid enrollment process, and […]
KHN: Sanders Claim on Profits in Health Industry Checks Out
Sen. Bernie Sanders during the recent Democratic debate said "Medicare for All" has the power to "end the $100 billion a year that the health care industry makes." Kaiser Health News says the math checks out. Experts tell KHN the $100 billion figure is likely an underestimate. According to the […]
Kellogg’s Garthwaite Outlines Key Hurdles to Medicare for All
Kellogg School of Management's Craig Garthwaite and colleagues in a recent paper outlined some key challenges to Medicare for All, including labor costs and drug prices. The paper, "The Opportunities and Limitations of Monopsony Power in Healthcare: Evidence from the United States and Canada," […]
CMS Chief Talks Drug Prices at Event
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma during this year's J.P. Morgan Health Care Conference doubled down on the administration's proposal to align Medicare Part B drug prices with international prices, Barron's reports. "People feel like it's not fair to our […]
Article Reflects on FDA’s Moves in Last Decade
A recent article by The Pink Sheet takes a step back to highlight how the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has changed its policies on a number of issues, including opioids and the use of real-world evidence. "[The] FDA has used real-world evidence – the data about the usage and potential […]
CVS, Cigna Talk M&A, Election Year
CVS and Cigna executives during the annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference discussed consolidation in the insurance sector and the upcoming presidential election, Healthcare Dive reports. Cigna CEO David Cordani and CVS CEO Larry Merlo during the conference also doubled down on their support of […]
Dems Talk Drug Prices During Debate
Presidential hopefuls discussed ways to address high drug prices during Tuesday night's Democratic debate. According to a brief by STAT, candidate Pete Buttigieg suggested capping consumer drug costs at $250 a month, while Joe Biden, former vice president, floated restrictions that would keep […]
Are FDA Approvals Less Rigorous?
A recent study suggests that legislative changes to how the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) evaluates drugs may have ultimately led to less thorough reviews, according to a Reuters report. The study by Harvard Medical School's Jonathan Darrow et al was published in JAMA. Darrow tells […]
Lansky Mulls Medicare for All’s Implications on Value
David Lansky, former CEO of the Pacific Business Group on Health, in a recent Health Affairs blog post considers whether "Medicare for All" proposals could help introduce more value to the U.S. health system. "By ensuring that most payments include an incentive to care for a defined population […]
HHS Defends Rule on Drug Prices in TV Ads
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was in court Monday defending its rule requiring drugmakers to include a drug's list price in TV ads, MM&M reports. According to the report, HHS attorney Ethan Davis argued the rule would ultimately boost competition and drive down […]
Article: Stop Putting All the Blame on PBMs
Jack Kemp Foundation's Ike Brannon and DePaul University's Tony LoSasso in a recent article published on Bloomberg Law say pinning the blame on pharmacy benefit managers is the wrong approach to solving the issue of high drug prices. "Proposals to control high drug prices that focus on minimizing […]
Report: Denmark Adopting QALY in Cost-Effectiveness Assessments
Beginning in October, the Danish Medicines Council will use the quality-adjusted life year (QALY) metric in its cost-effectiveness assessments, The Pink Sheet reports. According to the report, using the QALY will mean more time to a recommendation, but the council says it should boost […]
Google Offering FDA’s MyStudies Platform on Cloud Service
Google Cloud announced this week it would support the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) mission by offering the agency's MyStudies platform on Google Cloud Platform. Google Cloud Healthcare and Life Sciences Product Manager Jameson Rogers in a blog post writes that Google hopes to "stimulate […]
States to Test Drug Pricing Policies
While Capitol Hill goes back on forth on drug pricing legislation, states are looking to test their own solutions this year. According to a STAT report, Louisiana and Washington both are looking to deploy a subscription-based payment model for hepatitis C treatments. As part of the agreement, […]
Dems Seek Quick Decision on Obamacare Case
A coalition of Democrats on Friday asked the Supreme Court to expedite a case filed by a Republican-led group that aims to eliminate the Affordable Care Act, according to a New York Times article. "Because of the practical importance of the questions presented for review and the pressing need for […]
Health Analyst: U.S. Health System Deeply Flawed
While the U.S. health care system is "admirable" in a number of ways, including key innovations in medicines and procedures, it ultimately is a deeply flawed system, health care analyst Joshua Cohen writes in a recent article published on Forbes. Despite massive health care spending, Cohen […]
NPR Blog: Global Trends to Watch in 2020
NPR in a recent blog post highlights some key global trends to watch in 2020, including rising demand for humanitarian efforts. The United Nations in a recent forecast suggests a record 168 million people will require humanitarian assistance due to a range of issues including disease outbreaks […]
Report: Congress Unlikely to Take Action on Drug Pricing Before 2020
Congress is expected to push back health care and drug pricing reforms to 2020 with the new year just around the corner, according to a Fierce Healthcare report. The House passed a bill last week to give Medicare the power to cut drug prices, according to the report, but the legislation is not […]
NPR’s Simmons-Duffin Talks “Medicare for All” Vocabulary
NPR health policy reporter Selena Simmons-Duffin in a recent interview discussed potentially-confusing vocabulary in the "Medicare for All" movement. Simmons-Duffin says she reached out to Kaiser Family Foundation's Liz Hamel, who said people have some misconceptions about frequently-used […]
Analysis: Vote on Correvio’s Brinavess Shows RWE, RWD Not a Guarantee
Correvio Pharma posted another loss for its heart drug Brinavess this week following an FDA advisory committee's 11-2 vote against the drug. The loss, according to a Pink Sheet analysis, serves as "another indication that real-world data is not a panacea." To read the analysis, click here. […]
Senate Confirms Hahn to Head FDA
The Senate on Thursday confirmed Stephen Hahn to lead the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Reuters reports. Hahn fills the seat left vacant by former FDA chief Scott Gottlieb, who stepped down in April. According to the report, the Senate confirmed President Donald Trump's nominee in a […]
Blog Post Highlights Key Takeaways from 2018 Health Spending
Katie Keith, author of Health Affairs' "Following the ACA" blog, in her latest post highlights three key takeaways on health care spending in 2018 from a new report out of the CMS Office of the Actuary. Spending on private insurance posted a 5.8 percent increase ($1.2 trillion) in 2018, up from […]
Coalition Looks to Defeat Drug Pricing Legislation
The Pharmaceutical Industry Labor-Management Association (PILMA), a coalition of major drugmakers and construction-industry unions, is working to defeat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's drug pricing legislation, according to New York Times report. According to the report, the group launched a […]
Report: Health Spending Grew 4.6% in 2018
New data released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) suggests U.S. health spending posted a 4.6 percent increase ($3.6 trillion) in 2018, HealthLeaders Media reports. The number of uninsured Americans, however, rose by 1 million. "Healthcare spending growth picked up […]
2018 Sees Dip in Prescription Drug Prices
The U.S. saw a 1 percent dip in prescription drug prices in 2018, the Associated Press reports. According to the report, the decrease was for retail pharmacy prescriptions. The last drop in prices for such drugs was a 0.2 percent dip in 1973. To read the full report on AP, click here. […]
