Last month, we recapped the appropriations allocated to healthcare reform in the 2019 California Budget. These budget allocations, however, do not provide much guidance on how the money should be spent. Trailer bills provide the statutory language to implement the budget. With the enacted 2019 budget, the Governor signed two healthcare trailer bills passed by the Legislature, SB 78 and SB 104. In this post, we dissect these trailers bills which create and implement various programs impacting healthcare access and costs.   What are Trailer Bills? SB 78 and SB …

Happy August! Even as the summer winds down, there is no waning of health policy literature. In this month’s Source Roundup, we take a look at academic articles and studies that analyze 1) potential prescription drug savings from generics and biosimilars, 2) the need for price transparency, and 4) a multitude of efforts in health system reform.   Potential Prescription Drug Savings from Generics and Biosimilars As prescription drug pricing continue to capture the nation’s attention, Stacie B. Dusetzina et al. take a dive into cost discrepancies between brand name …

As California continues its implementation of an all-payer claims database, we take a look at other bills the Legislature introduced to further the aim of better understanding the factors and activities that drive health care costs and quality. SB 343 subjects the Kaiser Permanente system to the same reporting requirements as other plans and hospitals. SB 612 and AB 929 mandate public disclosure of cost reduction and quality improvement activities. Additionally, AB 1122 proposes a pilot project that utilizes existing data sets to identify a new data set: high health …

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] From 2013 to 2016, Medicaid’s nationwide drug spending increased almost 50%, from $22.4 billion to $33.4 billion.[2] Medicaid programs consume an increasing percentage of state budgets and threaten to overtake funding for other programs like education and infrastructure.[3] In 2018, the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO) estimated that Medicaid accounted for nearly 30% of total state spending and is the fastest growing component of …

Happy August! In this edition of the Source Roundup, we cover four academic articles and reports from June and July. The topics this month include: (1) price transparency as a means to affordable health care; (2) effect of state-based individual mandates; (3) Trump’s 5-Part Medicare Part D plan; and (4) Medicare’s experiment with bundled payments.   Price Transparency Goals to Achieve Affordable Health Care Skeptics have questioned whether consumer price transparency initiatives are an effective means of driving down healthcare costs. In the NEJM Catalyst article, “Defining the Goals of …

Happy June! In this edition of the Source Roundup, we cover five academic articles and reports from April and May. The topics this month include: 1) barriers for generics to lower specialty drug prices, 2) a call to reform pharmaceutical systems in the United States and Canada, 3) efforts by states to stabilize the individual market, 4) Vermont’s push for community-driven health care reform, and 5) antitrust lawsuits in the pharmaceutical industry.   Barriers for Generics to Lower Specialty Drug Prices The Health Affairs article Generic Price Competition For Specialty Drugs: …