Cathy has covered US regulation and reimbursement policy for the biopharma industry since 2004, starting with the establishment of the Medicare Part D program. Since then, she has written extensively about developments in all major sectors of the US insurance market (Medicare, Medicaid and commercial plans). She has covered key legislation affecting biopharma, including the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act which created Part D, health care reform under President Obama, and the Inflation Reduction Act which establishes a government price negotiation program in Medicare for the first time and redesigns of the Part D benefit. She has closely followed the increasing influence of pharmacy benefit managers and their use of formulary negotiations and rebates to control pricing. Cathy also has covered developments in health technology assessments, including the growing influence of the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, and has monitored industry progress on novel drug contracting that reflects value-based pricing. She has worked as a health care reporter and editor while raising three daughters. Cathy lives outside DC in Bethesda, MD, with her husband Sean.
Latest from Cathy Kelly
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?
Drug discount program reform would have the best chance of enactment if Republicans gain control of both the House and Senate and former president Trump is re-elected.
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.
Policy experts and consultants recount their experiences shepherding manufacturers through the first round of Medicare price negotiations during a recent webinar.
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.
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.