This week I’ve repeatedly spoken to groups about the President’s Executive Order (EO) on Most Favored Nation (MFN) pricing and I feel a little vulnerable. I am often “authentic” in my explanations. I recognize that to many people I seem biased on a lot of issues but, in my defense, I find most politics maddening…
Let’s wrap up my musings on the President’s Executive Order (EO). Medicaid. Section 6 of the EO directs the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director, the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, and the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, in coordination with the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), to…
Let’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…
340B 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…
Mom 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…
Smug 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…
With the exception of the ending of demos/models at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), most of the news kind of rolled over me this week. So, instead, here is a capture of what is rattling around my chamber of health policy worries. Who’s on first? What’s on second? I don’t know ……
Tell me a Story. If you’ve been reading my stuff for a while, you know that I love a good lawsuit filing. Sometimes the lawyers get a little spicy. Teva filed suit against the federal government for the Inflation Reduction Act and it has a few gems: The suit is different from others that have…
There are some weeks where your long-term success could be impacted if you’re not on top of what’s happening, this isn’t one of those weeks. But these things are cumulative so, if need help on the regular with strategy and health policy (like figuring out what you need to pay attention to, help understanding the…
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.…