In the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA), Congress made major, controversial, and technically complex changes to Medicaid prescription drug pricing and pharmacy reimbursement. The policy changes, which are expected to save the feds and states $8.4 billion over the next five years, present significant challenges to both drug manufacturers and...
The well-regarded industry trade journal Biotechnology Healthcare has an excellent article by Patrick Mullen on The Arrival of Average Sales Price. In it, Mr. Mullen interviews several top industry experts (yes, including me) on the rationale for and impact of Average Sales Price (ASP) and how health plans are...
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), the savvy nonpartisan shop that advises Congress on Medicare program issues, has updated its excellent series of primers. Extremely complex and changing constantly, Medicare payment policy will drive $479 billion in health spending in 2008. MedPAC's primers, typically four crisply-written pages, explain the...
The journal Medical Care has published series of outstanding articles on emerging methods and tools to compare the effectiveness of medical therapies, prescription drugs, and devices. The peer-reviewed articles are an outgrowth from a symposium on comparative effectiveness research sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
Here...
More purchasers and payors are moving away from simplistic cost-driven drug benefit designs to formularies and cost sharing based on value. The impact of value-based drug benefit designs on manufacturers will depend on how quickly individual firms adapt their business thinking and communications strategies.
Until recently, the path to success...
Many of my clients ask me how Medicaid policy is made, particularly for coverage, reimbursement, and managed care and other delivery systems. The $360 billion Medicaid program is highly complex and there are many nuances and exceptions, but here is a high-level primer on the basics.
Given the Medicaid program's...
The next President and Congress will face many fiscal and policy challenges from the $436 billion Medicare program. Following my earlier quick primers on Medicaid policy making and Medicare and Medicaid waivers, here is a similar briefing on the primary vehicles of Medicare policy making.
As a federal health program...
Medicare reimbursement policies are highly complex. Yes, that could be the litotes of the decade. Thankfully, the outstanding staff at the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) produce and routinely update a series of basic primers on Medicare payment methodologies for hospitals, physicians, other providers, Medicare Advantage plans, and Part...
To aid the incoming 111th Congress and Obama Administration, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a 235-page report outlining 115 budget options for health care reform. The report catalogs most of the hottest legislative ideas on Capitol Hill, with useful background information and scores of costs and savings. Here's...
Here are articles from the latest issue of American Health & Drug Benefits. AHDB is the peer-reviewed journal for 30,000 decision makers in health plans, PBMs, Medicare, Medicaid, and the pharma and biotech industries:
May 2009 Issue:
The Paradox of Public Policy Reform: Change or Continuum?
By Robert E. Henry
Are You Kidding...
