Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives: Price Transparency; Trump's Socialized Medicine; And More
The Hill: America Heads Closer To Medical Price Transparency With New Rule
It is official that health insurance companies across the nation will soon be mandated to disclose the real prices of their covered medical treatments and procedures. The new rule marks a huge step forward in medical price transparency and is estimated to assist over 200 million Americans. Health Secretary Alex Azar said Americans have to be “able to work with their doctor to decide on the health care that makes sense for them” and that “those conversations cannot take place in a shadowy system where prices are hidden.” Americans will garner “vastly more control over their care” with lower costs and more choices promised by the president. (Robert Moffit, 11/2)
Los Angeles Times: While Decrying 'Socialized Medicine,' Trump Spends Billions On COVID Drugs
On Wednesday, the Trump administration announced it will spend $375 million in taxpayer funds to purchase 300,000 doses of an experimental coronavirus antibody drug from pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly & Co. ... Just a few things to consider here. This pledge of $375 million in government funding comes days after Lilly said it was ending a study of the new drug after “trial data” revealed the drug, bamlanivimab, “is unlikely to help hospitalized COVID-19 patients recover from this advanced stage of their disease.” You read that right. It may not work. (David Lazarus, 10/29)
Omaha World-Herald: Midlands Voices: Nebraska Hospitals Speak Out Against Effort To Undermine Drug-Cost Help
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to create serious challenges for every Nebraskan in every community across our state. Our safety-net hospitals, with their health care providers, have provided heroic care for Nebraskans stricken by the virus, saved many lives and protected their communities from harm. As COVID-19 hit our communities, we postponed elective procedures to preserve PPE, create bed capacity and ventilator availability. While the resultant lost revenue was significant, our hospitals did the right thing and responded quickly to prepare for those with COVID-19 requiring hospitalization. One way hospitals have been able to weather the serious financial impact of COVID-19 is the 340B Drug Pricing Program. (Harris Frankel and Olivia Little, 10/29)
Forbes: What I Bet You Don’t Know About Prescription Drugs
Over the past year we have probably seen more news articles about prescription drugs than in the previous ten years combined. The reason, of course, is Covid-19. The trouble is that most articles about drugs used to treat Covid tend to raise more questions than they answer. Here are some questions that struck me, reading through daily newspapers. (John C. Goodman, 10/28)
Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette: Care At Risk
Arkansas continues to be hammered by covid-19, but it seems the big drug manufacturers, for some ill-conceived reason, have chosen this time to attack a prescription drug program that benefits thousands of low-income Arkansans. Our society demands quality, dependable health care now more than ever. People shouldn’t stress over affording their prescriptions. (LaShannon Spencer, 10/30)
