A relatively quiet week around these parts. I think everyone is so ASCO’d and BIO’d that policy is taking a quick breather.

A PDAB will do you. The National Pharmaceutical Council put out a nice round-up comparing four prescription drug affordability boards. The chart is my favorite part –

Extra, extra. Elevance Health, a health policy arm of several health plans, put out a report on Medicare supplemental benefits. It found that the use of at least one supplemental benefit was associated with having an decreased likelihood of non-emergent emergency department visit and increased likelihood of having an outpatient visit or preventative screening. I could drive a truck through these findings BUT I will say that there isn’t a ton out there on supplemental benefits and so I’ll take it all with a grain of salt. With more beneficiaries moving towards Medicare Advantage, research is needed to determine the value of these benefits.

EOM Blur. End of month and I just forgot to post that the Enhanced Oncology Care Model (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation model) is opening up for more takers and increasing the amount per month that is offered in the model (from $70 to $110, was $160 in the Oncology Care Model.) Plus they are extending the model to 2030. Right alongside this announcement, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) put out the final report evaluating the Oncology Care Model. It saw losses of $600 million and changes that did not necessarily lead to clinical or quality outcomes relative to other practices. I want to dig into the report more but my quick read seems like some patient experience improvements but overall a lot of lessons that might apply to the Enhanced Oncology Care Model.

Good bye and Good luck. The Associated Press did an analysis that found that neighborhoods that are largely Black and Latino have fewer pharmacies than mostly white neighborhoods; a problem that is growing with retail pharmacies closing their doors.

Use it or Lose it. I’m knee deep in biosimilar research these days and this JMCP article on the current biosimilar market, including Humira, is spot-on. I think there is such potential for biosimilars but not if the game is played the way it has been so far. Fingers crossed for patient affordability – we need a better way.

3 years. That is the average length of a drug shortage. About half of the current shortages are for generic sterile injectables (I thought it was higher.)  Want some more quick hits and lovely charts on drug shortages, USP has you covered.