More Drugmakers Avoid 340B Program

Stat: Amgen Joins Other Drug Makers In Cutting Discounts To Safety-Net Hospitals
Amid a closely watched legal battle, Amgen has joined the growing ranks of major drug makers curtailing the discounts offered through a federal program for safety-net hospitals and clinics. As of Jan. 3, 2022, the company will no longer offer discounts to contract pharmacies used by hospitals and clinics that serve low-income populations and purchase medicines under the 340B Drug Discount Program, according to a letter sent by Amgen. The program requires drug makers to offer discounts that are typically estimated to be 25% to 50% — but could be much higher — on all outpatient drugs. (Silverman, 12/1)

CBS News: Texas Resident Gets Over $4,000 In Bills After Getting Tested For COVID: "I Felt Deceived"
When Jaden Janak learned he had been exposed to COVID-19 shortly after his 75-year-old grandmother died from the virus last year, he knew what he had to do. He went to the hospital for a rapid test that he thought would be free.He was wrong. Several months later, the Texas resident received two bills totaling over $4,000. (12/1)

Modern Healthcare: UMich, Duke, Mayo, Put Out Call For Health System Software AI Best Practices
Artificial intelligence has been touted for years as the next big thing in improving patient outcomes. But health systems haven't quite seen that promise materialize. While there are thousands of research papers either introducing potential new AI models or validating products already on the market, there's a dearth of literature on how hospitals can actually put these tools into long-term use, and system leaders are mostly left to figure it out piecemeal and hope for the best. (Gillespie, 12/01)

Stat: How Many Barriers Do Health Insurers Create To Fair Access To Medicines?
Do large health insurers in the U.S. provide “fair access” to prescription medicines? The answer to that question is nettlesome and elusive, at least according to a new analysis. At first blush, it appears that 15 of the biggest commercial health insurers do, indeed, make medications available fairly based on a few key criteria: prescriber restrictions, eligibility based on clinical data, and step therapy, which requires patients to try other medicines before approving a prescription. But practices are spotty when it comes to cost-sharing, the portion of expenses paid by insured individuals. (Silverman, 12/1)

Modern Healthcare: CMMI Drops Program On Improving Care For The Seriously Ill
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation pulled a program intended to improve care coordination for seriously ill Medicare patients, saying it wouldn't be able to enroll enough beneficiaries in the model to adequately test it. The component was part of the Primary Care First model, a voluntary payment model meant to encourage primary care practices to deliver additional care, like around-the-clock access to a clinical call line, integrate behavioral healthcare and better engage with patients and caregivers. (Goldman, 12/01)

Modern Healthcare: Orlando Health Launches Behavioral Health Joint Venture With Acadia Healthcare
Orlando Health announced Tuesday another partnership with a for-profit company to provide outpatient services, this time around behavioral health. The not-for-profit health system said it has formed a venture with Acadia Healthcare, a publicly-traded company and the country's largest standalone behavioral health provider, to expand behavioral health services in Central Florida. Orlando Health will own 30% of the new for-profit enterprise. (Bannow, 12/01)

The Boston Globe: Harvard’s Public Health School Forms Partnership With Chinese University To Tackle Global Threats
The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health has teamed up with a Chinese university in a collaboration intended to strengthen the response to global health threats — which, as the coronavirus pandemic has shown, do not respect national borders. The partnership, announced Thursday, pairs Harvard’s estimable public health school with the newly founded Vanke School of Public Health at Tsinghua University in Beijing, led by the former director general of the World Health Organization, Dr. Margaret Chan. (Freyer, 12/1)

Health News Florida: HCA Announces Plans To Build Three Hospitals In Florida 
HCA Healthcare, which operates 47 hospitals in Florida, said Tuesday it will build additional hospitals in Gainesville, The Villages area and Fort Myers. “Florida continues to experience rapid population growth, and the addition of these new hospitals will help HCA Florida Healthcare meet the increasing need for acute care services in these areas,” Sam Hazen, chief executive officer of HCA Healthcare, said in a prepared statement. “We are excited to expand our presence in the state and enhance our ability to care for patients.” (12/1)

Modern Healthcare: 5 Things To Know About SSM And Medica's New Joint Venture
SSM Health and Medica have finalized a partnership they announced in August. SSM Health's Dean Health Plan is now a joint venture between the two not-for-profit organizations, with Medica serving as managing partner and St. Louis-based SSM Health retaining a "significant ownership stake," per a news release. An SSM Health spokesperson wouldn't divulge what proportion of the joint venture the health system owns. (Bannow, 12/01)

Stat: Socially Responsible Investor Coalitions Push Greater Access To Medicines In Shareholder Proposals 
Amid controversy over equitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, a large coalition of socially minded investor groups has filed shareholder proposals urging large drug makers to take various steps that could ultimately widen access to their medicines in the U.S. and elsewhere. The effort reflects ongoing frustration with the pharmaceutical industry over business practices that have often made it difficult for patients to obtain treatments, according to Meg Jones-Monteiro, program director for health equity at the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, a 300-member organization with combined assets of over $4 trillion. (Silverman, 12/1)

Modern Healthcare: Fresenius Shifts Management Structure For New Global Care Strategy
Fresenius Medical Care is reorganizing its global and leadership roles, the dialysis provider announced Wednesday. The for-profit company is consolidating its international service areas and creating a global care delivery segment that will launch in 2023. In the meantime, Fresenius Medical Care is reshuffling executives as it prepares to implement the new corporate structure. (Devereaux, 12/01)

AP: Union Workers Ratify Contract, End Strike At WVa Hospital
Union maintenance and service workers at a West Virginia hospital ratified a contract Wednesday to end a month-old strike, the hospital announced. Members of the Service Employees International Union District 119 ratified the three-year contract covering more than 900 workers at Cabell Huntington Hospital. The hospital said in a statement that employees could likely begin returning to work as soon as Friday. (12/2)

In news on ivermectin —

KHN: Hospitals Refused To Give Patients Ivermectin. Lockdowns And Political Pressure Followed
One Montana hospital went into lockdown and called police after a woman threatened violence because her relative was denied her request to be treated with ivermectin. Officials of another Montana hospital accused public officials of threatening and harassing their health care workers for refusing to treat a politically connected covid-19 patient with that antiparasitic drug or hydroxychloroquine, another drug unauthorized by the Food and Drug Administration to treat covid. (Matt Volz, 12/2)