Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives: Administration's Proposition On 340B Drug Program Is Equivalent Of An Own-Goal In Soccer
The Hill: Don't Be Penny Wise, Pound Foolish With 340B Drug Pricing Program
Like many of my fellow Republicans, I welcome the re-examinations of policy the Trump administration is bringing to Washington. As a physician, I especially appreciate the vocal recognition by the president that for many Americans, the prices of prescription drugs are simply too high. As a former member of Congress, I agree with those who also say we must ensure pharmaceutical companies can and will continue to pioneer the development of new drugs to help improve the health and well-being of Americans with serious, life-threatening, chronic, and disabling conditions. (Former Rep. Phil Gingrey, 7/5)
Bloomberg: Amazon As A Value Stock? Believe It
By conventional measures of stock prices, Amazon.com Inc. looks very expensive. It’s actually surprisingly cheap. Twenty-one years after it went public, a share of Amazon stock costs 70 times more than the company’s estimated per-share future earnings. That means investors are willing to pay much more for each dollar of Amazon’s earnings than for shares of Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Alphabet or Alibaba. The everything store’s price-to-earnings ratio is four times higher than that of the S&P 500 index. (Matthew A. Winkler, 7/9)
Forbes: Not All Drugs Are Created Equal - Purity And Potency Now Shaping The U.S. Drug Crisis
When it comes to the persistent conversations about the U.S. drug crisis, one detailed conversation seems to be consistently disregarded. Exactly what substances are being used, and in what purity and potency. At face value, one may think that OxyContin is Oxycontin or heroin is heroin. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. If purchased from an individual or unlicensed dispensary, one actually has no idea what substances are mixed. For example, methamphetamines – which is included in many other distributed drugs – has largely shifted from homegrown labs in the U.S. (due to chemical regulation) to cartels in other countries. The result is that the purity of meth that is ingested by individuals has shifted from 39% purity in 2008 to more than 93% purity in 2018. (Nicole Fisher, 7/10)
Stat: What Does PBM Stand For? In Many States, It's Programs Bilking Millions
As the chief pharmacy officer of a major health system, I’ve been aware of the financial shenanigans of pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, for some time. These companies are supposed to help control costs for payers and lower out-of-pocket costs for plan members. But as a team of investigative journalists with the Columbus Dispatch are revealing, some pharmacy benefit managers are skimming hundreds of millions of dollars in Ohio alone, boosting drug costs for everyone. The Dispatch team is shining much-needed light on the inner workings of pharmacy benefit managers. Even I have been surprised at what they have turned up. (Scott Knoer, 6/29)
The Hill: Congress Should Stand Up For Seniors And The Medicare Part D Deal
Families across this country are struggling with rising prescription drug prices every day. Older Americans who rely on Medicare Part D — prescription drug coverage — take an average of 4.5 prescription medications and are hit particularly hard by these rising costs. Earlier this year, Congress took an important step to help reduce that financial burden on older Americans by passing the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA). The BBA closed the Medicare Part D coverage gap — known as the “doughnut hole” — in 2019, a year earlier than planned under the Affordable Care Act of 2010. (Leamond, 7/5)
Stat: What India Can Teach The U.S. About Driving Down The Cost Of Health Care
With the Affordable Care Act under attack and all eyes on Dr. Atul Gawande as he starts this week as CEO of the new Amazon, JPMorgan, and Berkshire Hathaway venture, health care in the United States is more top of mind than ever. Surprisingly, a solution to reducing costs without government intervention and without reducing quality might be found in an unlikely place: India. We have visited more than two dozen hospitals and interviewed more than 125 executives across India and the U.S. We learned that some of the most proactive hospitals in the West are adopting the world-class innovations of Indian health care institutions in order to boost quality, lower costs, and expand access to the underserved — goals that have eluded U.S. policy makers for decades. (Vijay Govindarajan and Ravi Ramamurti, 7/10)
