PHARMACEUTICALS
Litigation and Enforcement Highlights – May 2018
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor May 15, 2018
Several major court decisions were handed down last month that may leave lasting impacts in terms of price and competition in the healthcare industry. Specifically, the 4thCircuit Court of Appeals ruled Maryland’s Price Gouging Law unconstitutional, while the Supreme Court upheld inter partes review, a controversial patent review process. In antitrust enforcement, the Justice Department began its review of the Cigna-Express Scripts merger. 4thCircuit Strikes Down Maryland Price Gouging Law In a significant victory for the pharmaceutical industry, the 4thU.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found Maryland’s landmark 2017 law, …
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State Medicaid Programs are a Tool to Address Rising Drug Costs
Katie Gudiksen, Senior Health Policy Researcher May 8, 2018
Rising prescription drug prices concern nearly all Americans, with 80% reporting that drug prices are “unreasonable”. The problem of rising drug expenditures is particularly acute for state Medicaid programs, which provide health coverage for low-income and disabled Americans. Medicaid serves nearly one in five Americans including many with chronic conditions, and purchases about 10% of total prescription medications dispensed in the U.S.[1] Furthermore, Medicaid’s nationwide drug spending increased almost 50% between 2013 and 2016 (from $22.4 billion to $33.4 billion).[2] In a survey of Medicaid programs, 36 states reported increased cost containment efforts for prescription drugs …
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The Source Roundup: May 2018 Edition
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor May 1, 2018
Happy May! In this edition of the Source Roundup, we cover four academic articles and reports from March and April. The topics this month include: 1) the unfilled promise of price transparency to encourage price shopping, 2) FDA’s actions on prescription drug prices, 3) the phenomenon of overpayment for prescription drugs, and 4) results of Maryland’s All-Payer global hospital budgeting program. Unfulfilled Promise of Price Transparency to Encourage Price ShoppingIn Promise and Reality of Price Transparency, a health policy report published by the New England Journal of Medicine, authors Ateev Mehrotra, Michael …
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The Source Roundup: April 2018 Edition
Source Fellow April 2, 2018
By: Briana Moller, Student Fellow Happy April! In this edition of the Source Roundup, we cover five academic articles from February and March. The topics this month include: 1) a comparative look at US health care spending and 2) solutions to the rising cost of prescription drugs. Comparative Look at US Health Care Spending In the JAMA article, “Health Care Spending in the United States and Other High-Income Countries,” authors Irene Papanicolas, Liana R. Woskie, and Ashish K. Jha compare health care spending in the United States with other …
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California Legislature Turns Focus on High Drug Pricing
Sammy Chang, Health Policy Researcher March 21, 2018
Last month, we reviewed how the California Assembly is trying to understand cost drivers of healthcare overall. As California has the highest retail drug spending with prescription drug expenditures outpacing overall healthcare spending, high drug pricing has become a specific concern for the Legislature.[1] For the past few years, the Legislature has used bills[2] (like SB 17 (2017)), resolutions (like SJR 29 (2015)), and informational hearings to better understand and control high drug pricing. For example, the Assembly Health Committee (“Committee”) began a series of hearings to understand prescription drug …
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The Source Roundup: March 2018 Edition
Source Fellow March 1, 2018
By: Katie Beyer, Student Fellow Happy March! In this edition of the Source Roundup, we cover four academic articles and reports from January and February. The topics this month include: (1) recent state solutions to reduce prescription drug costs, (2) legal challenges to Maryland and Nevada’s prescription drug laws, (3) how the CVS-Aetna deal could reduce healthcare costs, and 4) economic and demographic trends behind increasing healthcare spending. Recent State Solutions Aimed at Reducing Prescription Drug Costs Medicaid spending on outpatient drugs increased 25%, from $22.4 billion in 2013 to …
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A Drug Rebate’s Tale: How a Class Action Lawsuit in the 90s Shaped Drug Pricing
Katie Gudiksen, Senior Health Policy Researcher February 24, 2018
Do you ever wonder why it is so hard to know what a prescription drug actually costs? How did we get a system where prices are obscured, even from insurers, and contracts prevent pharmacists from telling patients when they are paying more than they should be? How did the pharmaceutical industry wind up in a world of rebates and complicated contracts with pharmacy benefit managers that result in a lack of transparency for everyone? Setting the Stage: The Lawsuits that Laid the Groundwork To understand how we got …
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Source Shorts: White House Releases Report on Drug Pricing
Katie Gudiksen, Senior Health Policy Researcher February 13, 2018
On Friday, February 9, 2018, the White House released a report from the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) entitled “Reforming Biopharmaceutical Pricing at Home and Abroad”. The report identifies two seemingly conflicting goals of the current administration: 1) reducing domestic drug prices and 2) spurring economic investment in medical innovation. These goals appear to conflict since lower prices would likely mean lower profits for drug companies, resulting in lower investment in research and development. The report also accuses foreign governments of eroding global returns for investment in pharmaceuticals, stating: “nations …
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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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Do Drugs That Treat the Same Indication Compete with Each Other?
Katie Gudiksen, Senior Health Policy Researcher January 23, 2018
High drug prices and the rate at which they are increasing worry most Americans. A quarter of Americans report difficulties affording their medications. Recognizing the need to control spending on prescription drugs, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) held a workshop on November 8, 2017 entitled “Understanding Competition in Prescription Drug Markets: Entry and Supply Chain Dynamics.” At the workshop, Acting FTC Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen asserted that “competition is key to containing prescription drug costs”[1] and Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Dr. Scott Gottlieb said that …
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