White House Budget includes Prescription Drug Cost Provisions and Publish NPI Numbers on Open Payments
Recently, the White House released its 2017 Budget through the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). In the Budget, the Administration lays out some of its concerns about our current healthcare system, including drug costs as they relate to Medicare, Medicaid, and transparency.
Addressing the High Cost of Drugs
The cost of drugs continues to take center stage, with constant Congressional hearings and Congressional inquiries and probes. The saga now moves to the Executive Branch of the government, with this budget including a package of proposals that focus on Medicare, Medicaid, and drug price transparency.
Improvin...
Source: Policy and Medicine - February 22, 2016 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
CBO Releases Report On Private Health Insurance Premiums And Federal Policy (Updated)
Implementing Health Reform (February 16 update on quality measures). On February 16, 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a set of core quality measures developed by The Core Quality Measure Collaborative. The Collaborative includes representatives from CMS, America’s Health Insurance Plans, the National Quality Forum, national physician groups, employers, and consumers. The core quality measures apply to accountable care organizations, patient centered medical homes, and primary care (21 measures); cardiology (30 measures), gastroenterology (eight measures), HIV and Hepatitis C (eight mea...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - February 12, 2016 Category: Health Management Authors: Timothy Jost Tags: Following the ACA Insurance and Coverage Affordable Care Act Physicians premiums Private Health Insurance quality measures Source Type: blogs
Should Medicare negotiate drug prices? Probably not
A popular idea, but not a good one
It’s nice that the vast majority of Democrats (93%) and Republicans (74%) have found something to agree upon. Too bad it’s the overrated idea of having Medicare negotiate drug prices.
Prescription drug costs are rising again after years of flat or modest growth. New, expensive products are hitting the market while drug makers have also found ways to boost the prices of older products, even generics. There’s been a lot of ink (and electrons) spilled by people complaining about “the $1000 pill” and other outrages, like bad boy drug exec and price gouger Martin...
Source: Health Business Blog - February 11, 2016 Category: Health Management Authors: dewe67 Tags: Pharma Policy and politics Uncategorized drug prices election medicare Source Type: blogs
DM / DNB Cardiology Entrance Mock Test 15
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Congratulations - you have completed DM / DNB Cardiology Entrance Mock Test 15.
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Source: Cardiophile MD - February 9, 2016 Category: Cardiology Authors: Prof. Dr. Johnson Francis, MD, DM, FACC, FRCP Edin, FRCP London Tags: Cardiology MCQ DM / DNB Cardiology Entrance Featured Source Type: blogs
The nightmare of medicine is the absurd price we have to pay
A grandmother develops a boil that turns out to be a difficult-to-treat staph infection (MRSA). She needs high-powered antibiotics. A middle-aged man who received a blood transfusion decades ago now has hepatitis C and needs anti-viral medicine. A young woman with HIV develops golf-ball-size lesions in her brain, has toxoplasmosis and needs anti-parasite medicine.
The marvel of medicine today is that we can treat all three infections, and save the lives of these patients and countless millions of other Americans. Yet the nightmare of medicine today is the absurd price we have to pay.
Pfizer Pharmaceutical charges $56.31 pe...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - January 27, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Manoj Jain, MD, MPH Tags: Meds Medications Source Type: blogs
Senators Wyden and Grassley Request Public Comments on Gilead Pricing
On the heels of their December 1, 2015, report on Gilead Sciences' pricing of Hepatitis C drugs Sovaldi and Harvoni, United States Senate Finance Committee leadership, namely Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), have asked for public comments from the patient and healthcare stakeholder community on the report's findings.
As a refresher, the report determined that Gilead had priced their products by prioritizing revenue and maximizing profit over patient access. The way Gilead prioritized revenue and profit over patient access wound up severely limiting patient access, particularly among beneficiaries who ...
Source: Policy and Medicine - January 27, 2016 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
Will the Pharmaceutical Industry Learn From Past Mistakes?
By SOEREN MATTKE, MD
Awash in negative headlines, public condemnation and government scrutiny, the pharmaceutical industry faces a public relations problem that, left untreated, could bring new regulations or sanctions either from governments or the courts. At the same time, though, the recent scandals over price gouging could offer an opportunity for responsible, research-based companies to distance themselves from the profiteers.
The industry has come under fire at a time of unprecedented innovation. As a physician who trained in the 1990s, I am in awe of the recent breakthroughs. Immuno-oncology drugs like Keytruda (pem...
Source: The Health Care Blog - January 22, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Simon Nath Tags: THCB Soeren Mattke Source Type: blogs
Infected blood: reform of financial and other support
Department of Health -Since 1988, government has voluntarily provided support for people affected by HIV and/or hepatitis C through treatment with NHS-supplied blood or blood products. This consultation seeks views on the proposed reforms to the infected blood payment schemes. The closing date for comments for 15 April 2016.
Consultation
Department of Health - consultations (Source: Health Management Specialist Library)
Source: Health Management Specialist Library - January 21, 2016 Category: UK Health Authors: The King's Fund Information & Knowledge Service Tags: Consultations NHS finances and productivity Source Type: blogs
Highly effective HCV treatment: once daily oral Sofosbuvir/Velpatasvir
The hepatitis C virus (HCV), a single-stranded RNA virus of the family Flaviviridae with six major genotypes, infects up to 150 million people worldwide. Chronic hepatitis C virus infection causes progressive liver fibrosis, which can lead to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. There is now an effective oral regimen. New research findings are summarized in this short video from NEJM: This is a ribavirin-free single-tablet regimen. There 2 medications in the single tablet:- Sofosbuvir is a nucleotide analogue inhibitor of the HCV NS5B polymerase approved for the treatment of HCV in combination with a variety of other ag...
Source: Clinical Cases and Images - Blog - January 1, 2016 Category: Universities & Medical Training Tags: Gastroenterology NEJM Source Type: blogs
Top Policy and Medicine Stories for 2015
At the end of each year, we attempt to give you an overview of what happened in previous year and give some spin on predictions for the coming year, much like an end-of-the-year family newsletter. For those who are a bit more nostalgic, here is a link to our 2014 story.
Perhaps the End of Off Label Lawsuits?
With the Amarin Injunction, Caronia standing for two years without any pushback from the government, and the recent settlement with Pacira, there seems to be a trend of the FDA pulling away from off-label citations. Perhaps this trend is a signal of the end of cases against manufacturers for off label pr...
Source: Policy and Medicine - December 30, 2015 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
CMS Releases Draft 2017 Letter To Issuers In The Federally Facilitated Marketplaces
Implementing Health Reform. On December 23, 2017, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its draft 2017 Letter to Issuers in the Federally Facilitated Marketplaces (FFMs). CMS also released a draft bulletin on the timing of rate filing submissions and rate filings for January 1, 2017 non-grandfathered individual and small group plans and a table of key dates for qualified health plan (QHP) certification, rate review, risk adjustment, and reinsurance for 2017.
The Draft Letter To Issuers
CMS issues a draft letter to FFM insurers (the “draft letter”) late each year following the release of its pro...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - December 24, 2015 Category: Health Management Authors: Timothy Jost Tags: Following the ACA Medicaid and CHIP Medicare Payment Policy cost-sharing reductions essential community providers Essential Health Benefits Federally Facilitated Marketplace Provider Participation Rate QHPs SHOP exchanges Source Type: blogs
PhRMA Disowns Companies Like Valeant and Turing
CEO of Turing has more on his plate today than ever before, as Martin Shkreli was arrested for securities violations. Recently, PhRMA CEO and President, Stephen J. Ubi, wrote an editorial for The Hill's Congress Blog, where he once again reiterated that companies like Turing and Valeant do not represent the pharmaceutical industry as a whole.
Ubi opened his op-ed by stating that PhRMA actually welcomes the conversation that is starting to develop over drug pricing, because he believes "that the longer and deeper the discussion goes, the better lawmakers and the general public will understand the true, profound value these...
Source: Policy and Medicine - December 18, 2015 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
“The banks of the Nile, south of Cairo. The photographer...
"The banks of the Nile, south of Cairo. The photographer @degnerd took this photo while working on a story about hepatitis C in Egypt, where 6 million people were infected by unsterile needles during the country's decades-long fight against schistosomiasis. The virus spread insidiously; today, at least 10 percent of Egyptians are chronically infected — the highest rate in the world. But a grand experiment that has been unfolding in Egypt over the past year may change all that. It could also become a blueprint for providing cutting-edge medicines to the poor. Visit the link in our profile to read more." By nytimes on Inst...
Source: Kidney Notes - December 16, 2015 Category: Urology & Nephrology Authors: Joshua Schwimmer Source Type: blogs
2014 National Health Spending: The Great Moderation Likely Is Not Over
Two weeks ago, the Office of the Actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released their 2014 US health spending estimate showing the highest national health spending growth rate since 2008 — 5.3 percent. The question on everyone’s mind: is this the end of the Great Moderation? In my view, the answer is “no.”
The headline rate news for 2014 masked an interesting fact: CMS revised their estimate of spending growth for 2013 to 2.9 percent, by far the lowest rate of national health expenditure growth since Dwight Eisenhower’s presidency, years before the advent of Medicare and Medicaid. De...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - December 14, 2015 Category: Health Management Authors: Jeff Goldsmith Tags: Costs and Spending Drugs and Medical Technology Featured Following the ACA Insurance and Coverage Medicaid and CHIP Medicare Payment Policy Accountable Care Organizations ACOs CMS hepatitis C national health spending Sovaldi Source Type: blogs
