The slight panic of 4 months left in the year is starting to hit but the amazing weather in the D.C. area made it seem just a bit less urgent. If you need any help with policy work these next few months or filling a speaking gig, I’m here for it.

MedPAC was back this week but nothing there caught my eye. I’m sure it is just a matter of time.

Maximum Fair Prices (MFP) (Inflation Reduction Act negotiated prices) news continues to make the rounds – Health Affairs had a piece looking at $6B in savings claimed by Medicare. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) got there by claiming the differences between spending at 2023 Part D net prices and spending that would have been observed in 2023 if these MFP prices had been in effect.  And while the paper shows how CMS got there, it also says how CMS is unlikely to achieve that level of savings again. This was just a unique set of drugs that had high discounts/rebates.

More on MFP. Reuters ran a story on how, even with the MPF prices, the U.S. pays more than other countries. The way to pay less for something is to threaten not to cover it and that’s not something, as a society, we have been comfortable with. And? I mean we pay more for almost everything in healthcare. Physicians, hospitals, etc.