Government Payers

Australian Industry Strikes Deal On Deferred PBS Submissions, Challenges Govt's Capacity Claim

Australian Industry Strikes Deal On Deferred PBS Submissions, Challenges Govt's Capacity Claim

 

Medicines Australia has expressed skepticism over the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee’s claim that in March 2025 it will only be able to assess 32 submissions from companies that want to get their drugs subsidized under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

Medicare Negotiations: Industry Makes Headway At Appeals Court With First Amendment Argument

Medicare Negotiations: Industry Makes Headway At Appeals Court With First Amendment Argument

 

Judges on the Third Circuit panel in the BMS and JNJ IRA cases seemed sympathetic to industry’s concerns about the government using the term “maximum fair price” in the IRA’s Medicare drug price negotiation program.

Guidance Requires Health Insurers to Cover All PrEP Drugs

Guidance Requires Health Insurers to Cover All PrEP Drugs

 
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Along with the much heralded guidance requiring coverage of OTC birth control, the Biden Administration also required insurers to cover pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for prevention of HIV.

Medicare Plans Should Halt Off-Label Avastin Step Therapy Amid Supply Disruption, CMS Told

Medicare Plans Should Halt Off-Label Avastin Step Therapy Amid Supply Disruption, CMS Told

 
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The leading supplier of repackaged off-label Avastin for ophthalmic uses is discontinuing the product. Is this the beginning of the end for a relatively cheap wet AMD treatment?


Updating The IRA Math: Not As Bad For Pharma As It Looked?

Updating The IRA Math: Not As Bad For Pharma As It Looked?

 

The landmark drug pricing reforms from the Inflation Reduction Act are starting to take full effect – and it turns out that the impact may not be as dramatic as originally projected based on updated analyses from the US Congressional Budget Office.

Weight Loss Drug Coverage Will Not Pay For Itself, US CBO Affirms

Weight Loss Drug Coverage Will Not Pay For Itself, US CBO Affirms

 

The US Congressional Budget Office acknowledged that weight loss drug coverage could drive long term savings from ancillary health issues, but not enough to offset the cost of the drugs. Expanding Medicare coverage would cost the US Treasury $35 billion over 10 years.

Medicare Part D Cost Sharing Relief Driving Surge In Specialty Drug Prescribing – UnitedHealth

Medicare Part D Cost Sharing Relief Driving Surge In Specialty Drug Prescribing – UnitedHealth

 
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A manufacturer information campaign is increasing awareness about the Inflation Reduction Act provisions easing cost sharing obligations for high-cost drugs in Part D, the insurer said.

Pink Sheet Podcast: SubQ Drugs And Price Negotiations, GLP-1s In Court, US FDA Approach To Black Box AI

Pink Sheet Podcast: SubQ Drugs And Price Negotiations, GLP-1s In Court, US FDA Approach To Black Box AI

Pink Sheet reporter and editors discuss an emerging pharma strategy to avoid Medicare price negotiations, legal wrangling related to compounding GLP-1 drugs for obesity and diabetes, and the varying opinions of FDA officials on the acceptability of artificial intelligence models that are not fully explainable.


What’s The Diagnosis? US CMS Still Prefers Not To Know

What’s The Diagnosis? US CMS Still Prefers Not To Know

 

The US Medicaid agency will not require diagnostic codes on prescriptions any time soon after hearing “overwhelming” opposition from stakeholders.

Independent Pharmacies Present Medicare Negotiated Drug Access Obstacles

Independent Pharmacies Present Medicare Negotiated Drug Access Obstacles

 
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Pharmacy benefit managers are not the only ones in the supply chain that may not feel incentivized to encourage patient access to Medicare negotiated drugs.

340B And Price Negotiation: US Medicare Washes Its Hands Of The Issue

340B And Price Negotiation: US Medicare Washes Its Hands Of The Issue

The US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is counting on “good faith” between manufacturers and covered entities to ensure appropriate 340B pricing is offered on drugs subject to the new negotiation authority.

Keytruda, Opdivo SubQ Conversions Cloud Near-Term Medicare Negotiation Savings Forecasts

Keytruda, Opdivo SubQ Conversions Cloud Near-Term Medicare Negotiation Savings Forecasts

 
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A growing number of future Part B candidates for Medicare price negotiation may avoid price controls in the program with injectable versions.


PBM Reform Legislation: PhRMA ‘Laser Focused’ On Passage This Year

PBM Reform Legislation: PhRMA ‘Laser Focused’ On Passage This Year

 
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But the prospects for attaching the legislation to a federal spending package in December will be dependent on the outcome of the upcoming elections.

For Generic Manufactures, New Medicare Drug Pricing Demo Is a Dud

For Generic Manufactures, New Medicare Drug Pricing Demo Is a Dud

 

The proposed CMS innovation center's $2 drug list model will not address the barriers to newer generics getting on Part D formularies and plans may have little incentive to participate in the demo, an industry group said. 

Perspectives From The Front Lines: Navigating The First Round Of Medicare Price Negotiation

Perspectives From The Front Lines: Navigating The First Round Of Medicare Price Negotiation

 
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Policy experts and consultants recount their experiences shepherding manufacturers through the first round of Medicare price negotiations during a recent webinar.

Prior Authorization Reform: 2025 Could Be A Year Of Changes

Prior Authorization Reform: 2025 Could Be A Year Of Changes

 
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Prior authorization reforms could emerge as an important under-the-radar area of drug policy next year. An upcoming Medicare proposed rule, the extraordinary uptake of weight loss therapies, and the launch of the overhauled Part D benefit design will all drive attention to the issue.


340B Rebate Dispute: HRSA Threat To Bar J&J From Medicare Part B, Medicaid ‘Unprecedented’

340B Rebate Dispute: HRSA Threat To Bar J&J From Medicare Part B, Medicaid ‘Unprecedented’

 
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HRSA threatens nuclear option and Johnson & Johnson suspends its 340B rebate model. But the company also ‘reserves all of its legal rights with respect to this matter.’

England Plans New Model For Use Of Lilly’s Mounjaro In Weight Loss

England Plans New Model For Use Of Lilly’s Mounjaro In Weight Loss

 
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NHS England says it is proposing a “realistic but challenging uptake trajectory” that will make “this clinically and cost-effective drug” available to as many patients as possible without overwhelming health care providers.

US Medicare Cost For Part D Redesign Could Far Exceed Earlier Projections, CBO Says

US Medicare Cost For Part D Redesign Could Far Exceed Earlier Projections, CBO Says

 
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Instead of $5bn in 2025, the redesign could cost the federal government two to four times that amount, the Congressional Budget Office told Republican lawmakers. And the Part D premium stabilization demonstration will cost an additional $7bn, the office projected.

Patient/CMS Roundtables For Medicare-Negotiated Drugs Will Be Interactive, But Not Public Next Time

Patient/CMS Roundtables For Medicare-Negotiated Drugs Will Be Interactive, But Not Public Next Time

 
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The final Medicare price negotiation guidance for the next cycle includes improvements from last year’s patient listening sessions.