AMP is WAC (and other thoughts)
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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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Caught my eye — 3/22/24
Read more: Caught my eye — 3/22/24If you’re one of those people who is working from the couch today, I salute you. It really is the most fun day of sports. I was mocked for the way I picked my bracket (where wouId I rather live?) but I had a clean bracket until Kentucky. I blame my newfound like of bourbon.…
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Stacking the Impossible
Read more: Stacking the ImpossibleOne of the policies I’m stalking emails from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is the final “Misclassification of Drugs, Program Administration and Program Integrity Updates Under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program” rule. The draft came out last May and included a policy on the stacking of Best Price, but the final is…
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340B, Biosimilars, Caught my eye, Employers, Importation, Obesity, Pharmacy Benefit Managers, State-based ReformCaught my eye — 03/15/24
Read more: Caught my eye — 03/15/24It was one of those rare weeks in Washington, DC where the weather was just perfect. I mean not if you suffer from allergies, but for everyone else. Same Same. Last week we had the State of the Union, this week we had the President’s Budget release. For what it is worth, the budget is…
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Delinking and Breaking the hold of PBMs
Read more: Delinking and Breaking the hold of PBMsLast week I did an explainer on what pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are and where the pain points were and why there was a focus on PBM reform. There is a lot of buzz around PBM bills on Capitol Hill last year with lots of bills in motion but, for now, I’d thought I’d hone…
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Caught my eye — 3/8/24
Read more: Caught my eye — 3/8/24Happy International Women’s Day. Best display of International Women’s day I’ve ever seen was in Russia when I was studying abroad. They took it SERIOUSLY. Not just a LinkedIn Holiday. Cat-astrophe? No, just a political speech – not reality. President Biden talked about increasing the number of negotiated drugs up to 50 a year. Not…
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PBMs Explained
Read more: PBMs ExplainedThere is a lot of talk about pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) reform. How PBMs aren’t transparent with pricing and can charge patients more at the point of sale than the drug costs the PBM. But I realized today that perhaps some background on PBMs and how we found ourselves here could be helpful for some…
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Caught my eye, Copay Accumulators, Inflation Reduction Act, Medicare Part D, Pharmacy Benefit ManagersCaught my eye — 3/1/24
Read more: Caught my eye — 3/1/24It took my until 5 pm on Thursday to figure out why there was a frog on the Microsoft tool bar. Leap year. Frog. Leap. Sigh. I prefer not. Congress seems to have hit the pause button (at least temporarily) on pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) reform. And that sort of felt okay because, realistically, things…
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Caught my eye — 2/23/24
Read more: Caught my eye — 2/23/24Gross to Net, a Saga. As soon as I saw Adam Fein’s Drug Channels article on Gross to Net in Part D redesign, I knew it would throw off my day. It was just catchy enough to cause a buzz and get the attention of Heads of Market Access at pharmaceutical companies and start the…
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Save the date: 4 for 1, IRA Arguments
Read more: Save the date: 4 for 1, IRA ArgumentsOn March 7 the District Court of New Jersey will hear oral arguments from 4 pharmaceutical companies against the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in one day – BMS, Janssen, Novartis and Novo Nordisk. When the arguments line up and time is ticking, get it done. All four companies have drugs that are part of the…
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Caught my eye — 2/16/24
Read more: Caught my eye — 2/16/24Honestly? Not a lot caught my eye this week. Maybe we were all heads down getting stuff done before a long weekend? You say MPPP, I say smoothing. Late yesterday afternoon the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released Draft 2 guidance for the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan. I’ve heard Michael Ward from Alliance for…
Latest news
- AMP is WAC — 04/24/26
- AMP is WAC — 04/10/26
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- AMP is WAC — 03/20/26
- AMP is WAC — 03/13/26
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