AMP is WAC (and other thoughts)
Latest posts and updates
ABOUT AMP is WAC
Average Manufacturer Price (AMP) is not equal to Wholesale Acquisition Cost (WAC), but it is close. And since the whole world of health policy and reimbursement is a bit WAC-y, that’s what we’re calling this update/blog part of the site. All of the opinions and thoughts presented here are our own and not the views of clients or affiliates.
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Prediction: MA is the new PBM (Part D, III)
Read more: Prediction: MA is the new PBM (Part D, III)I’d like to make a prediction. The next big political focus (after PBMs, if we give up on PBMs?) is going to Medicare Advantage. There is a lot of money flowing through managed care and scrutiny feels inevitable. It is just that if you’re following the dollar, a lot is going that way. A few…
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Caught my eye — 10/20/23
Read more: Caught my eye — 10/20/23Want a friend, get a cat. A doctor prescribes a cat for a patient. I question the out-of-pocket costs of the Rx, but point taken. Speaking of PETS. A few Alzheimer’s updates – Déjà vu. The Part B premiums increased in 2024 due to newly approved Alzheimer’s treatments. It wasn’t noted in the fact sheet…
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They don’t build them like they used to. For Part D, it’s better (Part 2)
Read more: They don’t build them like they used to. For Part D, it’s better (Part 2)Recently my treadmill became a paperweight. The technician came out and said that it would be better to buy the parts and fix it because the new ones were just not made as well as my old one. A refrain I’ve heard over the years as it relates to heating units, refrigerators, etc. But Part…
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Caught my eye — 10/13/23
Read more: Caught my eye — 10/13/23Medicare Math. Medicare Part B premiums will go up about 6% next year, Social Security cost of living adjustment will be 3.2%. Really Stupid Vaccine Policies. Sometimes a story hits just right like this Washington Post opinion piece on RSV vaccines for adults and how the access is harmed by coverage policies. This year two…
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Part D Evolution, Part 1: Enrollment
Read more: Part D Evolution, Part 1: EnrollmentThis time of year brings on a sense of nostalgia for me related to the Medicare prescription drug benefit (Part D). Back in 2005, I had just started working at Avalere and we got our first data on what plans were offering for the inaugural year of the benefit. I remember launching into the file…
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Caught my eye — 10/6/23
Read more: Caught my eye — 10/6/23Patients driving change. I love this story because it involves Carl Schmid, patient groups and copay accumulators. Copay accumulators are when insurance does not allow pharmaceutical manufacturer contributions to count towards patient out-of-pocket spending calculations. Thanks to the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, the Diabetes Leadership Council and the Diabetes Patient Advocacy Coalition and their suit against…
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What is Value Anyway?
Read more: What is Value Anyway?A few weeks ago I watched novelist John Green get emotional in a YouTube video about the price of a tuberculosis test by Cepheid. The gist is that the TB test costs $10 while (likely) costing less than $5 to produce. There is acknowledgement that the product is “incredible, amazing, wonderous.” But it should be…
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Caught my eye — 9/29/23
Read more: Caught my eye — 9/29/23It’s not a vacation. Let’s start with federal employees; you deserve better. You often could get paid more elsewhere but you want to serve. And instead of saying thank you, Congress asks you to take a seat on the bench and (hopefully) get backpay. It feels awful and I am so sorry you have to…
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340B: All fun and games until $100B in value
Read more: 340B: All fun and games until $100B in valueI don’t know if anyone reading this has kids but, in my experience, my kid will start to stretch the boundary on behavior. Small at first. Then three weeks later I realize that everything has gone off the rails and I have to pull in the reigns. It feels like a rubber band that has…
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Caught my eye — 9/22/23
Read more: Caught my eye — 9/22/23Leave the gun, take the cannoli. House Energy and Commerce hearing on Medicare price negotiation gets feisty. Not often that the mafia comes up on the House floor but an interesting comparison of price negotiation and an offer they can’t refuse. I doubt Congressman Griffith (R-VA) and I agree on much politically but on this,…
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- Caught my eye — 4/4/25
- Caught my eye — 03/28/25
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