Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Express Scripts Sues FTC, Calls Report About Drug Middlemen 'Erroneous'
Bloomberg: Cigna Sues US Federal Trade Commission Over ‘Defamatory’ Report
Cigna Group’s Express Scripts sued the US Federal Trade Commission over a recent report that the company said demonizes pharmacy benefit managers and asked the court to order the agency to retract it. The lawsuit escalates the conflict between drug middlemen and one of the top US antitrust enforcers, which has been scrutinizing the industry. Cigna’s Express Scripts unit called the FTC’s July report “unfair, biased, erroneous, and defamatory” in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Missouri. (Tozzi, 9/17)
KFF Health News: California May Regulate And Restrict Pharmaceutical Brokers
California Gov. Gavin Newsom will soon decide whether the most populous U.S. state will join 25 others in regulating the middlemen known as pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, whom many policymakers blame for the soaring cost of prescription drugs. PBMs have been under fire for years for alleged profiteering and anticompetitive conduct, but efforts to regulate the industry at the federal level have stalled in Congress. (Thompson, 9/18)
Benefits Pro: Employers Need To Stop Maximizing PBM Drug Plan Rebates, Says Mark Cuban
Cuban, the founder of the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug mail-order pharmacy, said the main rebate funding mechanism is the sick employee, in a recent webinar. (Bell, 9/17)
Stat: U.S. Agency Threatens J&J With Sanctions If It Switches Payments To 340B Hospitals
A U.S. government agency has threatened Johnson & Johnson with sanctions if the company proceeds with plans to alter payment methods for some hospitals that participate in a federal drug discount program. In a letter sent on Tuesday, the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration maintained that a J&J plan to issue rebates for two widely prescribed medicines instead of offering discounted prices would violate federal law. (Silverman, 9/17)
Franklin County Free Press: Capital Blue Cross Aids Employers In Managing Soaring Prescription Costs
According to Capital Blue Cross, the integration of prescription drug coverage with medical plans is key in managing healthcare costs effectively. With nearly half of Americans on at least one prescription and a quarter on three or more, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the financial impact on both employees and employers is significant. (9/17)
Iowa News Service: Prescription Costs Soon To Be Capped For Iowa Seniors
A new report from A-A-R-P Iowa predicts thousands of seniors on Medicare ‘Part D’ in the state will save money on their prescriptions, thanks to a cap on out-of-pocket expenses set to take effect next year. (9/16)
Stat: How Drugmakers Rely On ‘Use Codes’ To Vastly Expand Their Patent Claims
Amid debate over potential abuse of the U.S. patent system by the pharmaceutical industry, moves by some drugmakers to expand their patent claims appear to be delaying the arrival of lower-cost generic medicines to the marketplace, according to a STAT analysis. (Silverman and Nolan, 9/18)
