About: Sammy Chang, Health Policy Researcher
Samuel “Sammy” Chang is a Health Policy Researcher for The Source on Healthcare Price and Competition. He currently writes the monthly California Legislative Beat on the Source Blog. Prior to joining The Source, he served as the Student Caucus Chair for the Executive Oversight Board for the University of California, Student Health Insurance Plan and worked as a legal intern for the California Department of Managed Health Care’s Office of Legal Services. At UC Hastings, he received a CALI Award for Academic Excellence for his work on the Public Policy and Law Workgroup. He additionally contributed to the California Senate Committee on Business, Professions, and Economic Development background paper on pharmacy benefit managers. Sammy has been recognized by the American Bar Association and the UC Hastings Board of Directors for his vision and dedicated leadership and has testified in front of the California Assembly Judiciary Committee and the ABA Commission on the Future of Legal Education. Sammy is a recent graduate of UC Hastings College of the Law with a concentration in law and health sciences and holds a B.S. degree in Biochemistry/Cell Biology from UC San Diego.The Source Roundup: February 2018 Edition
Sammy Chang, Health Policy Researcher February 2, 2018
Happy February! In this edition of the Source Roundup, we cover five academic articles from December and January. The topics this month include: (1) oncologists’ bias against biosimilars, (2) effects of recent mergers and acquisitions on the health system, (3) initial results from Maryland’s global budget mandate, and (4, 5) recent changes to the 340B program. How Oncologists May Be Biased Against Biosimilars In Behavioral Economics and the Future of Biosimilars, a commentary in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, authors Chad Nabhan and Bruce Feinberg …
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California Legislative Beat: Newly Introduced Health Bills Seek to Keep Costs Down for Consumers
Sammy Chang, Health Policy Researcher January 19, 2018
This January, the California Legislature began the second year of its two-year legislative cycle. Back in October, we reviewed three pending healthcare bills in the California Legislature. Those bills have until January 31, 2018 to pass. While we await the fate of those bills, we take a sneak peek at two California Assembly bills introduced since the Legislature reconvened for 2018. The bills we’ll explore concern: (a) removing college savings plan from determination of Medi-Cal eligibility [AB 1785] and (b) limiting costs of orally administered cancer medications for health …
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California Legislative Beat: Four Chaptered Senate Bills That Relate to Healthcare Pricing and Competition
Sammy Chang, Health Policy Researcher December 19, 2017
With 2,913 resolutions and bills passed and signed by the Governor this year, the California Legislature has been busy. Last month, we reviewed four chaptered California Assembly bills related to healthcare pricing and competition. This month, we take a look at four chaptered Senate bills. The Senate bills we explore in this post concern: (a) disclosure of prescription drug pricing [SB 17], (b) mandating high medical loss ratio for Medi-Cal managed care plans [SB 171], (c) flexible licensing to establish hospital satellite compounding pharmacy [SB 351], and (d) quality assurance …
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California Legislative Beat: Four Chaptered Healthcare Assembly Bills You May Not Have Known About
Sammy Chang, Health Policy Researcher November 17, 2017
With 2,913 resolutions and bills passed and signed by the Governor this year, the California Legislature has been busy. This month, we take a look at some Assembly Bills that have been chaptered and discuss their importance to healthcare costs and competition. Next month, we’ll look at some Senate Bills ranging from medical loss ratio to prescription discounts. The Assembly bills we’ll explore concern: (a) prohibition on prescription drug discounts [AB 265], (b) revised rules for Attorney General approval of nonprofit health facilities transactions [AB 651], (c) prohibiting Alameda Health …
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Academic Articles & Reports Roundup: October 2017
Sammy Chang, Health Policy Researcher November 1, 2017
Happy November! In this Roundup, we cover five articles from October. The topics this month include: (1) pharma-tribal cooperation and the patent system, (2) Medicare subpopulations with the highest preventable spending, (3) privacy protections in All-Payer Claims Database legislation, (4) medical spending on autism spectrum disorder, and (5) a game theory model to understand hospital competition. Pharma-Tribal Cooperation Undermines the Patent System The Association for Accessible Medicine paper Patent-Assignment Transactions Between Brand-Name Drug Companies and Native American Tribes Will Undermine A Healthy Patent System and Harm Patients arises from Allergen’s …
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Interesting California Bills that Did Not End Up on the Governor’s Desk This Year
Sammy Chang, Health Policy Researcher October 11, 2017
The California legislature has finished up the first year of a two-year legislative cycle. While enrolled bills await the Governor’s signature, today’s article will discuss three bills that are still pending in the legislature and why they should pass. These bills include granting a state agency the authority to approve all mergers and acquisitions involving a health care plan (AB 595), developing a commission to examine health care access and affordability (AB 1643), and preventing hospitals from imposing anti-competitive contract provisions (SB 538). AB 595 (Wood): If this bill passed, …
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Academic Articles & Reports Roundup: August 2017
Sammy Chang, Health Policy Researcher September 1, 2017
Happy September! In this Roundup, we cover four articles from July and August. The topics this month include (1) how states could use the excise tax to discourage forum shopping by insurance plans, (2) the effect of reference pricing on consumers’ drug selection, (3) proposals to promote the use of cost-effective technology in insurance, and (4) possible barriers that prevent consumers from seeking out price information. How States Could Use the Excise Tax to Discourage Forum Shopping by Insurance Plans In How States Can Respond to the AHCA: Using …
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