This week’s Innovation Partners BioBlog explores the ideas, thinking, and policies that shape the debate around lowering the cost of healthcare and drugs. A new study finds that Medicare and Medicaid are better at keeping spending per beneficiary low. The Trump Administration may be putting more generic drugs through the FDA process faster, but are they available in America? A look at the many questions and debates swirling around the cost of healthcare and more.
Medicare, Medicaid better than private insurers at containing costs, study finds
The Urban Institute recently studied costs of healthcare and found that both Medicare and Medicaid are better than private insurers at keeping spending-per-beneficiary low. The study examined data between 2006-2017 and found that per-enrollee spending increased by 2.4% each year in Medicare and 1.6% each year in Medicaid, while it went up by 4.4% annually in private plans. Overall spending in both programs increased faster than the open market, however. Spending in Medicare went up by 5.2% per year and by 6% per year in Medicaid, compared to 4.4% in private coverage. The study results could be used to explore new options in the ongoing health insurance debate.
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UnitedHealthcare demands drug rebates even if pharma cuts list prices: analyst
UnitedHealthcare refuses to play ball. The company is demanding long notices ahead of any drug price cuts, according to the letter, which two drugmakers confirmed to Bernstein analyst Ronny Gal. UnitedHealthcare expects equivalent rebates whenever list prices are cut, the analyst wrote in a Friday note to investors. The move goes against the tide, with drug companies looking to price reductions as a new strategy to fight high rebates and gain goodwill with lawmakers and the Trump administration.
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Tackling tumour scar tissue could be key to treating pancreatic cancer
Could scar tissue types predict cancer treatment outcomes? Researchers looking into treatments for pancreatic cancer think so.The research, led by Queen Mary University of London, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, Beaujon Hospital and Barts Health NHS Trust, could lead to tailor-made treatments, including immunotherapies, which target the powerful scar tissue wall that protects the cancer and makes it such a difficult disease to treat.
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Johnson and Johnson will start listing drug prices in TV commercials
Johnson and Johnson is poised to break new ground by listing drug prices in their television commercials. The first product to list its price will be Xarelto, the company’s popular blood thinner. Without insurance, Xarelto costs $450 to $540 per month, depending on the pharmacy. About 1 million Xarelto prescriptions are filled in the U.S. each month. Johnson and Johnson will be the first company to begin stating its prices in drug advertisements.
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Pharma CEOs enthuse about Trump’s plan to shake up drug rebates
The Trump administration rolled out its proposal to scrap rules that exempt drug rebates from federal kickbacks laws a week ago. The “safe harbor” protections would instead apply to discounts for patients, and PBMs could charge fees for their services rather than keeping a percentage of rebates. And while PBMs and supply chain managers have launched a vocal outcry against the plan, drugmakers support it, praising it and deeming it helpful. A look at the proposal and the reaction from the drug makers in this article.
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Pennsylvania AG sues UPMC, aiming to push healthcare giant into new deal with Highmark
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro has filed suit against the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center over its impending break with Highmark. The suit alleges UPMC is not adhering to the state’s charity laws. Shapiro said his office proposed modifications to the 2014 consent decree between the two parties that would resolve the state’s concerns, which Highmark Health agreed to but UPMC rejected.
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Humana, Aledade team up to expand value-based care
Insurance giant Humana is teaming with Bethesda, Maryland-based primary care consulting company Aledade to expand access to value-based care for its Medicare Advantage members in three states. Pennsylvania, Louisiana, and West Virginia physicians can taking advantage of technological tools, data, research and other resources from both Humana and Aledade.
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Trump Administration Salutes Parade Of Generic Drug Approvals, But Hundreds Aren’t For Sale
Although the Trump Administration has been loudly praising the number of generic drug approvals moving through the FDA, there’s a catch: most aren’t sold in the United States. The Administration’s aggressive push to put more generics on the market is an effort to encourage competition and lower prices. The Food and Drug Administration has approved more than 1,600 generic drug applications since January 2017. This reflects approximately a third more approvals than in the last two years of the Obama administration.
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