Morning Briefing

Modern Healthcare: Tension Mounts Over Medicare's Bid To Remove Profit Motive From Outpatient Drugs

The comment period closed this week on the Obama administration's bold proposal to rewire how Medicare pays for outpatient drugs, and the CMS is under intense pressure to scrap it. Providers across the board, not just those projected to receive the deepest cuts under the proposal, have misgivings about the initiative. That's because it's hard to truly know the implications until its second phase kicks in, said Thomas Barker, an attorney and co-chair of the health practice at Foley Hoag. “There is skepticism about CMS's projections because it's too soon to see how this will shake out,” said Barker, former acting general counsel at HHS. (Dickson, 5/10)