America's Health Insurance Plans' Keith Fontenot in response to the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) request for comments on its proposed expansion of health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) urged caution moving forward, Managed Healthcare Executive reports. "With proper safeguards […]
NICE Brings Back International Division
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is set to relaunch its nonprofit international division to "deal with a growing number of enquiries from overseas health and social care bodies." The international branch, according to NICE, offers advisory services to a host of […]
White House Taps Hahn to Lead FDA
President Donald Trump has tapped MD Anderson Cancer Center's Dr. Stephen Hahn to head the Food and Drug Administration, according to a BioPharma Dive report. Hahn will replace acting FDA Commissioner Ned Sharpless if he gets the Senate's confirmation. To read the full report on BioPharma […]
North Carolina’s Treasurer Talks Transparency in Health Care Spending
The latest Relentless Health Value podcast features North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell to discuss transparency in health care spending. Folwell has served as the state's treasurer since January 2017. To listen to the podcast, click here. […]
Houses Unanimously OKs Drug Pricing Transparency Bill
The House on Monday, Oct. 28, unanimously passed the Public Disclosure of Drug Discounts Act in a bid to boost transparency in how drugmakers price their drugs, One America News Network reports. The bill now goes to the Senate for full approval. "Patients who are being pitched these medicines […]
FDA Releases Report on Drug Shortages
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in a report on drug shortages released Wednesday, Oct. 30, suggests "financially unattractive drugs" are most likely to experience shortages, MM&M reports. According to the report, the agency highlighted some key areas that could help prevent drug […]
Transparency Concerns Amid Novel Deals with Pharma
Washington is the latest state to strike a deal with a pharmaceutical company as it looks to eliminate hepatitis C infections, Kaiser Health News reports, but the effort is not without skepticism over transparency. Drugmaker AbbVie came out on top of a blind bidding process in Washington in a […]
Is Value-Based Payment Working?
Austin Frakt in a recent article published in the New York Times looks at the progress of value-based payments following the passage of the Affordable Care Act. While Medicare has achieved its 90 percent value-based goal, Frakt writes, the issue is not so straightforward. "It doesn't mean that […]
Dems to Name Drug Pricing Bill After Cummings
Democratic lawmakers are planning to name a drug pricing bill in honor of Rep. Elijah Cummings, who died Thursday, Oct. 17, FiercePharma reports. Cummings was a key player in the fight against pharmaceutical drug prices. "Elijah Cummings, in his 23 years in Congress, tirelessly led the fight […]
Joe Grogan: From Gilead Lobbyist to Trump Administration Budget Aide
A recent article by STAT looks at how Joe Grogan, a former Gilead Sciences lobbyist, became a mid-level budget aide in the Trump administration, and ultimately threw a wrench in the administration's 2018 announcement of the drug pricing blueprint. According to the report, about an hour before the […]
Frakt: Thin Evidence Base for Health Policies
Austin Frakt, director of the Partnered Evidence-Based Policy Resource Center at the V.A. Boston Healthcare System, in a recent article published on the New York Times considers evidence gathering on U.S. health policies. In his write up, Frakt writes that there's a weak evidence base for health […]
Whistleblower Claims Fraud at Seattle Health Plan
A former medical billing manager at Seattle-based Group Health Cooperative claims the health plan retroactively collected about $8 million from Medicare for services rendered in 2010 by falsely claiming patients were more ill than they were and by bogus billing, Kaiser Health News […]
Pelosi-Backed Bill Could Save U.S. $345 Billion
A bill backed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi could save the U.S. roughly $345 billion over seven years and create major waves in the pharmaceutical industry, according to a recent Bloomberg report. According to the report, the bill would empower Medicare to set prices based off what other […]
Study Finds Little Teeth in States’ Drug Pricing Transparency Measures
The authors of a recent study published in JAMA suggest that less than five percent of state laws passed in the last few years will have much impact on boosting drug pricing transparency, FiercePharma reports. Neeraj Sood, one of the study's authors, tells FiercePharma the laws fall short of […]
FDA’s Temple on RWE for New Efficacy Claims: It’s ‘Frustrating’
Center for Drug Evaluation and Research Deputy Director for Clinical Science Robert Temple is not so enthusiastic about the use of real-world evidence in new efficacy claims, Pink Sheet reports. "I find the whole thing very frustrating," he said during a recent panel at the Biopharma […]
Congress Clears Drug Pricing Bill to Save $3 Billion
Congress last week quietly gave the green light to a new drug pricing bill that could save the government upward of $3 billion, STAT reports. According to the report, legislators and the president have been tight-lipped on the measure. To read the full report, click here. […]
CEA Report Suggests Slow Growth in Medicine Prices
A new report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) suggests that drug prices have reached their slowest growth rate in decades. PhRMA in a blog post highlights four key points from the report. To read more, click here. […]
Bill Targets Poor Use of Step Therapy
The Safe Step Act introduced in September by Sens. Bill Cassidy, Doug Jones and Lisa Murkowski aims to facilitate better use of step therapy in employer-sponsored health plans and expand a patient's opportunity to seek out exceptions, according to a Healio report. Angus Worthing, chair of the ACR […]
Report: Evidence Suggests ACA Boosted Health Outcomes
There's a growing collection of evidence to suggest the embattled Affordable Care Act (ACA) has played a key role in boosting health outcomes across the country, Washington Post reports. While it's "difficult to prove conclusively" the impact of the law on people's health, "strong evidence has […]
CMS Chief: Interest in ‘Pathways to Success’ Grows
Centers for Medicare and Medicad Services Administrator Seema Verma in a recent Health Affairs blog post says the Shared Savings Program has posted solid growth since the Trump administration's overhaul of the program with the Pathways to Success rule. The growth seen in 2018, Verma writes, […]
FDA Plans Meeting on RWE in Regulatory Decision-Making
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is set to host a public meeting Thursday, Oct. 3, on the use of real-world evidence in regulatory decision-making. As required by the 21st Century Cures Act, the agency is exploring how real-world data and real-world evidence can be used in regulatory […]
FDA Releases Guidance on AI, Decision-Making Aids
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released new guidance on artificial intelligence (AI) software designed to bolster clinical decision-making, FierceBiotech reports. According to the report, the agency defines clinical decision support software as a tool capable of supplying "knowledge and […]
Report Finds U.S. Pays Significantly More for Drugs Than Other Countries
A report from the House Ways & Means Committee suggests that U.S. patients pay, on average, about four times more for some drugs than 11 similarly-developed countries. The report, "A Painful Pill to Swallow: U.S. vs. International Prescription Drug Prices," was released Sept. 23, and compared […]
States Pushing Forward with Efforts to Boost Price Transparency
A recent report by BioPharma Dive looks at a host of proposals by states across the country which aim to bolster drug pricing transparency. One such transparency-centric proposal in Colorado, House Bill 19-1131, would require drugmakers provide prescribers with a drug's sticker price. National […]
Report: Ensuring Patients See “High-Value” Physicians Could Lead to Billions in Savings
A new report from UnitedHealth Group suggests that making sure patients receive treatment from physicians who provide high-value care with a lower price tag could keep billions in Medicare's coffer, Fierce Healthcare reports. The report suggests that such an initiative could lead to some $286 […]
Could Grassley’s Proposed Cap on Drug Prices do More Harm than Good?
Sen. Chuck Grassley recently proposed placing a cap on how much drugmakers can charge on treatments in the U.S., but could the proposal end up creating more bottlenecks in an already complex system? The author of a recent article published on Caffeinated Thoughts writes the "well-intentioned" […]
Pharma on the Defense Amid Drug Pricing Efforts
The pharmaceutical industry is working to drum up support against proposals in Washington that threaten the current power structure of drug pricing in the U.S., according to a Wall Street Journal report. Drugmakers, according to the report, are also losing their "political clout" as the public […]
Pelosi Adviser Touts Drug Pricing Plan to Insurers
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's chief adviser, Wendell Primus, Monday during a recent event called on insurers to take on the pharmaceutical industry as he pitched Pelosi's new drug pricing proposal, according to a Healthcare Dive report. "I have no reason to underestimate the influence of pharma in […]
Hearing for Pelosi’s Drug Pricing Proposal is Tomorrow
The House Committee on Energy and Commerce is set to hold a hearing Wednesday, Sept. 25, on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's drug pricing proposal, "The Lower Drug Costs Now Act of 2019." According to a brief by Xcenda, the proposal would, among other things, enable the government to directly […]
Wynne Health Group’s LaRosa Talks Drug Pricing Efforts in Washington
Josh LaRosa, Wynne Health Group policy associate, recently discussed the potential impact a number of drug pricing initiatives coming out of Washington could have in the U.S. LaRosa was featured on Relentless Health Value. "So, here's the $106-billion-a-year question: In 2019 or 2020, will all […]
