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 — 5/2/25
Read more: Caught my eye — 5/2/25It has been a week that has rushed by and yet Monday feels like very long time ago. You know these kinds of weeks. So, let’s do a quick roundup of what made me pause between the stimulation overload of Vegas. And So it Begins? The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has suffered huge staffing…
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340B, Caught my eye, Inflation Reduction Act, Medicare Negotiation, Medicare Part D, Pharmacy Benefit Managers, State-based ReformCaught my eye — 4/25/25
Read more: Caught my eye — 4/25/25Let’s Get Horizontal. Arkansas just passed a law banning pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) from owning pharmacies in the state. Other states like Vermont and New York are considering it. This also includes mail order and specialty pharmacy. Lately the economics of independent pharmacies are getting covered in the media showcasing how they often lose money…
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Butting Heads
Read more: Butting Heads340B is not a topic that pulls people together. If I post about it on LinkedIn, I immediately get comments from covered entities saying that they do help patients. And I know they do — some entities are amazing and do so much for patients because of their 340B status but others don’t. And they…
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Catch as Catch Can
Read more: Catch as Catch CanSection 4 of the President’s Executive Order (EO) on drug pricing aims to reduce the high-cost drugs for seniors through the development and implementation of a payment model. It is very light on details; basically a title and one run-on sentence. So wide in scope you could drive a truck through it, but let’s pull…
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Make IRA Better
Read more: Make IRA BetterOn April 15, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) titled “Lowering Drug Prices by Once Again Putting Americans First.” The EO directly aims to modify drug pricing. Section 3 of the EO, focused on improvement to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), has three components to it – (1) improving the Medicare drug price negotiation…
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Spring break broke me
Read more: Spring break broke meI had visions of touring college campuses during the day and working on this post in the evenings. It turns out touring two colleges a day is really tiring in a way that working at my desk is not. I hit 22k steps in NYC yesterday (good prep for Asembia.) So what would I have…
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Biosimilars, Caught my eye, Drug Prices, Drug shortages, ICER, Inflation Reduction Act, Medicare Advantage, Medicare Part D, Obesity, Supply Chain, ValueCaught my eye — 4/11/25
Read more: Caught my eye — 4/11/25Some days I sit down the pottery wheel and I pull 4 bowls or vases in a row that are fantastic. Other days (like, oh, this Sunday and Wednesday) it all collapses. Here is hoping that all of us get better at staying centered and not collapsing. I’d Prefer Not. The 2026 Medicare Advantage and…
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340B, Caught my eye, Drug Prices, Inflation Reduction Act, Medicare Negotiation, Medicare Transaction Facilitator, Medicare Transaction Facilitator, Pharmacy Benefit Managers, State-based Reform, UncategorizedCaught my eye — 4/4/25
Read more: Caught my eye — 4/4/25Mom and Pop Going Broke. The economics of pharmacies are fascinating. Like did you know they usually lose money on brand-name drugs? A pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) law in Montana would help those pharmacies get closer to at least breaking even and make sure they get dispensing fees. I thought this KFF piece was a…
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Caught my eye — 03/28/25
Read more: Caught my eye — 03/28/25There are some weeks you get to Friday and it’s just nice. The anticipation of some dopamine, some relaxation over the weekend. There are other weeks where you barrel into Friday and cram everything in so that 5 pm can arrive with a cocktail. Guess which week I’m having… three quick things you should know.…
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Caught my eye — 3/21/25
Read more: Caught my eye — 3/21/25Smug looks awful on me so it is a good thing I did a terrible job picking my brackets. I need to set a reminder to create 2 brackets next year –one on how I actually think things will go and one on a more whim basis (colors, mascots, which school I think my kids…
Latest news
- AMP is WAC — 04/24/26
- AMP is WAC — 04/10/26
- AMP is WAC — 03/27/26
- AMP is WAC — 03/20/26
- AMP is WAC — 03/13/26
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