Is anybody out there? It seems like everyone has disappeared for the rest of the year. And who can blame them? A few odds and ends caught my eye as I got ready to wrap up this year…

Rebatable: 2025 should be interesting with now 4 companies pursuing the rebate model and suing the government. Honestly? It makes so. much. sense. Why are we asking pharmaceutical manufacturers to pay without receipts? The companies aren’t using the rebate model to say they won’t pay – just that they want to know what they are paying for. Trust is tough thing to swallow when we’re talking billions of dollars. They tried other ways of getting the data but keep hitting walls.

If you’re just catching up on 340B news, this piece by Joe Grogan is a nice quick read.

Predictions: I am still refusing to make specific predictions about health policy in the new Administration. Brushing up on international reference pricing isn’t a bad idea but, beyond that, who knows. If that answer doesn’t work for you, KFF has some potential things to consider.

History Repeats: If you’re looking for an easy-ish read that gets you smarter for work, Bottle of Lies by Katherine Eban is fantastic. But if brevity is your thing, this Propublica article delivers some of the highlights (lowlights? fears?).

For a Week with More Focus. This 46Brooklyn piece and dashboards look awesome but, honestly?, this week I lack the focus to dive into the price variations between Medicare plans. If you’re in the same boat, save it for later or at least look through the charts to get the gist of it.

And as far as the cat and the tree, true story (I mean not this cat) – when I was a teenager, our cat climbed the tree and knocked it over. I caught the tree and, with my sister, held it upright for a half hour while we waited for my mom to come home. The tree was too heavy for us to lift into place and the ornaments too precious to risk putting the tree on its side.