Heated And Deep-Pocketed Battle Erupts Over 340B Drug Discount Program
Drugmakers, hospitals and lawmakers are taking sides in a showdown over a discount program that covers drug purchases at some hospitals.
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Drugmakers, hospitals and lawmakers are taking sides in a showdown over a discount program that covers drug purchases at some hospitals.
In this episode of “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Joanne Kenen of Politico, Alice Ollstein of Talking Points Memo and Sarah Jane Tribble of Kaiser Health News discuss some of the under-covered health stories of the past several weeks, including drug price issues, the opioid epidemic and women’s reproductive health.
In an effort to reduce drug costs and increase efficiency, Massachusetts is seeking federal approval to implement a new approach to how the state’s Medicaid program covers prescription medications.
Medicare is examining how rebates and discounts could be shared in some way with Part D beneficiaries to reduce their out-of-pocket costs.
Medicare officials have been discussing a rule change that would give beneficiaries a share of the secretive fees and discounts that are negotiated for prescription drugs.
Most states have laws that require that cancer patients who get their treatment orally rather than by infusion in a doctor’s office not pay more out-of-pocket. A new study finds that the impact of those laws is mixed.
Millions of dollars in campaign spending and a media blitz of advertisements muddy public understanding of Issue 2, the Drug Price Relief Act.
UnitedHealth, a health industry goliath, has its hand in doctors’ offices, surgery centers, technology services and prescription drugs. It is the industry model, and CVS and Aetna, says one expert, are ‘wannabes.’
House Republicans want to repeal federal tax credits that have helped spur a boom in orphan drugs for rare diseases.
A flurry of federal and state probes have targeted insulin manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers — middlemen in the prescription drug-pricing pipeline. Here, we connect the legal dots.
Over the past two years, a powerful federal prosecutor and several state attorneys general have launched investigations related to diabetes drugs.
Gov. Jerry Brown signed the measure, which takes effect next year and will require drug companies to publicly justify big price increases.
"If it gets signed by this governor, it's going to send shock waves throughout the country,” one legislator says. Pharma has spent $16.8 million lobbying against this bill and other drug laws in California.
The drug, sold under the name Mavyret, can cure all six genetic types of the liver disease in eight weeks at a cost of $26,400, well below other options.
Drug companies are in the midst of a glossy publicity campaign to stop attempts to control rising pharma costs. But the devil is in the details.
Congress has yet to take substantive action on this growing consumer concern, but a number of states are flexing their cost-control muscle.
Research published this week by JAMA Cardiology analyzed pharmacy claims data related to a new class of cholesterol-lowering drugs.
At a political rally in March, President Donald Trump said drug prices are “outrageous” and blamed campaign contributions. Drugmakers funneled nearly $280,000 to Congress the very next day.
Any momentum to address prescription drug costs has been lost amid rancorous debates over replacing Obamacare and stalled by roadblocks erected via lobbying and industry cash.
The company’s drug spending prediction, far above other insurers in the individual market, has experts scratching their heads. Anthem cites market volatility.
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