The Republican Study Committee (RSC), of which most House Republicans are members, unveiled its budget proposal for fiscal year 2025 this week. The budget doubles down on the decade-and-a-half long campaign to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in addition to ending Medicare drug price negotiations, implementing block grants for...CMS Rules
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have taken the next step on the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan draft guidance, which is required by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 to advance President Joe Biden's plan to lower drug costs for seniors.
The draft guidance provides communication and education requirements for...
Last week the federal government began its initial pitch during its month-long negotiations with Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Bristol Myers, Squibb, Pfizer and other drug makers regarding how much Medicare is willing to pay for 10 costly cancer, diabetes and heart disease drugs.
The U.S. government gained authority to negotiate the...
From January 2022 to January 2023, 4,264 prescription drugs had price increases, of which 46% or 1,982 were increased above the inflation rate, according to ASPE researchers in a recent study.
Drug manufacturers make most of their prescription drug retail price changes in January and July annually and may change the list price at any...
All 10 drug companies whose drugs were selected for drug price negotiation with the Medicare program have elected to participate in negotiations.
President Joe Biden made the announcement on Tuesday in an online video. The first 10 companies were announced by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in August and gave the...
Under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) people with Medicare may pay a lower coinsurance for some Part B drugs if the drug’s price increases faster than the rate of inflation.
The IRA, signed by President Biden in 2022, applied to Part D the same year, whereas Part B took effect in 2023. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid...
Set to begin in 2025, the option to pay out-of-pocket costs for Part D drugs in monthly payments over a year was ratified in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
CMS is releasing the guidance in two parts, this week the focus across 56 pages is on helping Medicare Part D plan sponsors and pharmacies prepare for the new program and...
This week many are celebrating the first birthday of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) which extends Marketplace affordability, caps the cost of insulin at $35 per month for Medicare beneficiaries, and improves access to affordable prescription drugs for millions of Americans. In Arizona, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System...National News
Fewer Americans are uninsured than ever before according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These numbers are anticipated to rise as Medicaid redeterminations continue.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human services (HHS) announced the milestone on August 3, boasting a 7.7% uninsured rate for the...
The Biden administration released revised guidance for the Medicare drug price negotiation program late last week in response to the mounting lawsuits against the policy required by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022.
Drugmakers Merck and Bristol Myers Squibb, as well as industry representatives like the U.S. Chamber of...
On Tuesday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of the Actuary posted projections for national health expenditures (NHE) through 2031. The report projects health spending will represent 20% of the U.S. economy and spending will surpass $7 trillion annually by 2031.
The CMS release states that the NHE and health...
Pharmaceutical industry advocacy organizations including the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and a third drug manufacturer have sued the federal government over the provision of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that allowed for Medicare drug price negotiation for select pharmaceuticals.
Pharmaceutical...
Pharmaceutical manufacturer Merck has filed a lawsuit against the federal government in an effort to stop Medicare drug price negotiations before they even begin.
The company filed its lawsuit on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C., and said that the drug price negotiation program would necessarily violate the company's...CMS Rules
The Biden administration issued a proposed rule through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that aims to increase transparency of prescription drug costs and managed care plan operations for Medicaid enrollees.
It would do this by implementing a new drug price verification survey tool and requiring the inclusion of drug...
This initial program guidance details the requirements and procedures for implementing the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program in 2026, the first year negotiated prices will apply.
The guidance is one of a number of steps CMS laid out in the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program timeline for the first year of negotiation. The...National News
Last Thursday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published its proposed guidance for carrying out drug price reforms included in the Inflation Reduction Act. The agency is requesting public input on the outline and timeframe for implementing the Medicare Prescription Drug Inflation Rebate Program.
The program will...
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced its timeline for the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program, a key point of legislation in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
In a press call, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said that the department will...
Nearly 3.4 million Americans have enrolled in 2023 individual market health insurance coverage through state and federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplaces since the beginning of the enrollment period. This is a substantial increase that President Joe Biden attributes to the offering of low-cost plans through federal subsidies from...
The U.S. government has started holding talks with pharmaceutical manufacturers in compliance with the provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that allows Medicare to negotiate prices for some drugs.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure announced at a health conference in...