This is part of a series of summaries that highlight notable legislation and initiatives in health policy and reform of all 50 states. Check back on The Source as we roll out additional states each week. See New Hampshire page. The state of New Hampshire is a trailblazer that is highly active in considering innovative cost containment solutions and expanding price transparency initiatives. New Hampshire created one of the nation’s first all-payer claims databases (“APCD”) in 2003 to collect and disseminate healthcare price information, leading the way for many other …

This is part of a series of summaries that highlight notable legislation and initiatives in health policy and reform of all 50 states. Check back on The Source as we roll out additional states each week. See North Dakota page. North Dakota is one of the few states that bans most-favored nation clauses in provider contracts. It is also one of the even fewer states that prohibits most noncompete agreements, by making them generally unenforceable. Specifically, state law provides that a contract by which anyone is restrained from exercising a …

Happy April! This month’s roundup centers on articles and reports that discuss: 1) healthcare markets and competition; 2) payment reform, and 3) healthcare costs, and 4) price transparency.   Healthcare Markets and Competition In a piece published in the Harvard Business Review titled The Pandemic Will Fuel Consolidation in U.S. Health Care, Lovisa Gustafsson and David Blumenthal, researchers at the Commonwealth Fund, predict that mergers of key players in the U.S. healthcare system will continue as a result of provider financial challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the Federal Trade …

This is part of a series of summaries that highlight notable legislation and initiatives in health policy and reform of all 50 states. Check back on The Source as we roll out additional states each week. See South Dakota page. South Dakota has been active in regulating prescription drug pricing and transparency. The state enacted a law to prohibit pharmacy benefit managers from prohibiting or penalizing a pharmacist for providing cost-sharing information on the amount a covered individual may pay for a particular prescription drug. The legislature also passed legislation …

February 19th was the deadline for California legislators to introduce their proposed bills this session.  In a two-part series, we highlight some of the notable healthcare bills on the table in 2021.  In this post, we focus on a few ambitious reform efforts to the healthcare market and delivery system.  Next month, we’ll turn our attention to proposed bills that aim to regulate the prescription drug market and bills that promote price and quality transparency. Healthcare system reform measures are those that change the structure of health care in a …

In this month’s Litigation and Enforcement Highlights, we provide the latest updates on several proposed provider mergers, many of which were fueled by the continued pandemic. With the increased consolidation came increased antitrust scrutiny. So far this year, we’ve seen a mixed bag of wins and losses for federal and state enforcement agencies that seek to block the mergers.   FTC Concedes in Failed Challenge of Jefferson-Albert Einstein Merger In its first major loss in a healthcare merger challenge in recent years, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) officially dropped its …

This is part of a series of summaries that highlight notable legislation and initiatives in health policy and reform of all 50 states. Check back on The Source as we roll out additional states each week. See Washington page. Washington is a leader in state initiatives for price transparency in health care. Mandated by the state legislature in 2014, the Office of Financial Management established the Washington State All-Payer Claims Database (WA-APCD).  The public face of the WA-APCD program, named Washington HealthCareCompare, is operated by the Washington State Health Care …

This is part of a series of summaries that highlight notable legislation and initiatives in health policy and reform of all 50 states. Check back on The Source as we roll out additional states each week. See Georgia page. Georgia has made significant strides in legislative efforts to promote healthcare price transparency in recent sessions. The state enacted legislation in 2020 that lays the groundwork for an all-payer claims database (APCD). The law establishes an APCD advisory committee, funding for the APCD, design criteria, operation, and noncompliance penalties. The legislature …

Healthcare providers are increasingly realizing the potential that telemedicine has to offer. Not only has it been the most talked-about healthcare solution lately, but waivers from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have enabled providers to begin implementing telemedicine tools themselves, resulting in skyrocketing adoption over the past year. Now, these waivers might be temporary for the time being, but with telehealth adoption at an all-time high, federal and state governments are under increasing pressure to make these emergency measures permanent.  Congress is under particular pressure to pass …

Happy March! This month’s roundup focuses on health policy pieces and reports that examine 1) the future of value-based care, 2) the efficacy of various policy options to address healthcare prices, including increasing price transparency and market competition, 3) comparisons of brand-name drug prices, and 4) the impact of the Affordable Care Act on uninsured young adults.   Valued-Based Reform In a white paper published this past month, The Future of Value-Based Payment: A Road Map to 2030, researchers from the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University …