Drug Pricing
Who’s Driving Healthcare Prices: A Look at Anticompetitive Conduct of Various Players in the Healthcare Market
Source Fellow and Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor April 9, 2019
By: Megan O’Leary, Student Fellow and Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor On Thursday, April 4, The Source attended the “Antitrust in the New Millennium Symposium” hosted by UC Hastings College of the Law. This blog focuses on the session “New Antitrust and Healthcare”, moderated by The Source Board member and UC Hastings Professor Thomas Greaney, and featuring the panel of, notably all women, UC Hastings Professor Robin Feldman, California Senior Assistant Attorney General Kathleen Foote, and American Antitrust Institute (AAI) President Diana L. Moss. What drives rising healthcare prices? Perhaps it stems …
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The Source Roundup: April 2019 Edition
Source Fellow April 1, 2019
By: Erin Sclar, Student Fellow Spring is finally here! With it, we review articles and reports about 1) single payer health plans and universal health care, 2) the causes, effects, and possible solutions to rising prescription drug pricing, and 3) health care costs and price transparency. Single Payer Health Plans and Universal Health Care The terms “single payer health plans” and “universal health care” are becoming increasingly familiar as the 2020 elections approach. But the meanings of these terms, and the specific policies and proposals associated with them, are often …
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Litigation and Enforcement Highlights – March 2019
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor March 15, 2019
It’s been an eventful month in healthcare litigation and enforcement, as we saw the final conclusions to the legal challenges to Maryland’s drug pricing law and the sale of nonprofit hospitals in California. In addition to reflecting on the Supreme Court’s latest action, or lack thereof, we also bring updates on increased action in pending state antitrust enforcement in Pennsylvania and Washington. Landmark Maryland Drug Pricing Law Officially Dead The breaking litigation development in pharma last month was none other than Supreme Court’s denial to review the constitutionality of …
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The Source Roundup: March 2019 Edition
Source Fellow March 1, 2019
By: Leah S. Gray, Student Fellow Happy March! This month we take a look at articles that examine 1) state health system reform efforts, 2) protections against surprise medical bills, 3) effects of market concentration on cost and quality, and 4) ways to control rising costs for health care and pharmaceuticals. States are taking the lead in health system reform While the federal health policy debate has remained rather stagnant, states have stepped up protect their citizens from rising health care costs. North Carolina is poised to make rapid, unprecedented …
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Litigation and Enforcement Highlights – February 2019
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor February 15, 2019
February has been a busy month for state attorneys general from coast to coast, as AGs from Pennsylvania and California assert their authorities to regulate transactions in the healthcare provider market. On the drug pricing front, we follow up on the latest action in the nationwide litigation against the now infamous generic drug price fixing scheme that, fueled by increased media attention, has rallied state, federal, and private forces across the country. Pennsylvania AG Sues Payer-Provider for Restrictive Network Access In an effort to regulate Pennsylvania’s provider and …
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Recapping the 2017-2018 California Legislative Session (Part 2): Incremental Steps Made in Scrutinizing Market Changes and High Health Care Costs
Sammy Chang, Health Policy Researcher January 29, 2019
As California begins its 2019-2020 legislative cycle, we look back at the 2017-2018 bills that will affect California health care costs and markets. Previously, we mentioned that last session’s health care bills coalesced around four themes: targeting high costs of prescription drugs, attempting to implement single payer, regulating competition, and limiting high health costs. In Part 1 of our review, we covered how the legislature banned pharmacy gag clauses and limited out of pocket expenses but failed to implement single payer. This time, we’ll look at 2017-2018 bills that sought …
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Litigation and Enforcement Highlights – January 2019
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor January 15, 2019
Happy 2019! In this New Years issue, we recap the final litigation and enforcement moments of 2018. In antitrust litigation, we look closer at a major developing lawsuit that brings anticompetitive generic drug pricing practices into the national spotlight. Also, two federal appeals courts weighed in on antitrust litigation in the commercial health insurance and pharmaceutical industries, respectively. In enforcement action, we discuss the final mega merger of 2018 and what its approval means for the healthcare market. Massive Antitrust Lawsuit Keeps Snowballing Toward Judgment Day for Generic Drugmakers …
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DMHC Releases First Annual Prescription Drug Cost Transparency Report
Katie Gudiksen, Senior Health Policy Researcher January 11, 2019
At the end of 2018, California’s Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) released the first Prescription Drug Cost Transparency Report covering the cost of prescriptions in 2017. The legislature directed DMHC to write this report as part of the provisions of SB 17, which was passed by the legislature in 2017. For more information on SB-17, see The Source’s previous coverage when SB 17 passed, of regulations promulgated by DMHC, and of the lawsuit filed by PhRMA over the law. In this post, we review the report compiled by DMHC …
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Recapping the 2017-2018 California Legislative Session (Part 1): Incremental Steps Made in Targeting High Drug Costs and Achieving Single Payer
Sammy Chang, Health Policy Researcher January 8, 2019
After considering 5,617 bills and resolutions, the two year California legislative cycle has come to a conclusion. As health care costs become more scrutinized, more bills than ever have emerged to target these costs. While not all of those bills passed, a significant amount of bills that did pass as well as the notable bills that failed coalesce around four themes: targeting high costs of prescription drugs, working towards a single payer system, regulating competition, and limiting high health costs. This post will focus on the first two themes: high …
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Spotlight on 2018 State Drug Legislation Summary: The Year in Review
Katie Gudiksen, Senior Health Policy Researcher December 17, 2018
*Last Updated: February 4, 2019. In 2018, states showed an increasing eagerness to further regulate the pharmaceutical market with the goal of decreasing prices and increasing access to prescription drugs for their residents. This year, forty-four states considered 227 bills to address rising drug costs, of which 55 became laws in thirty-two states. Only two states with active legislative sessions, North Carolina and Alabama, did not consider legislation with the aim of reducing prescription drug costs or ensuring access to prescription.[1] In the first six parts of the “Spotlight on …
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