The Latest Culprit In The High Drug Price Blame-Game: The Pharmaceutical Rebate
The drug rebate is similar to any other rebate on a product you're buying -- but instead of you getting to keep the money, it’s the insurer or employers who usually reap the benefit. There's been a lot of movement lately, both from the pharma industry and the White House to eliminate the system.
The New York Times:
Meet The Rebate, The New Villain Of High Drug Prices
An increasingly popular culprit in the debate over high drug prices is the pharmaceutical rebate, the after-the-fact discounts that form the heart of the nation’s arcane — many would say broken — market for prescription drugs. Now, a growing chorus wants to get rid of them, or at least change the way they are applied after drug companies have already set their prices. Rebates, critics say, have pushed up the list price of brand-name drugs, which consumers are increasingly responsible for paying. Insurers generally get to keep the rebates without passing them along to their members. (Thomas, 7/27)
In other national health care news —
The Associated Press:
Study: 'Medicare For All' Bill Estimated At $32.6 Trillion
Sen. Bernie Sanders' "Medicare for all" plan would increase government health care spending by $32.6 trillion over 10 years, according to a study by a university-based libertarian policy center. That's trillion with a "T." The latest plan from the Vermont independent would require historic tax increases as government replaces what employers and consumers now pay for health care, according to the analysis being released Monday by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University in Virginia. It would deliver significant savings on administration and drug costs, but increased demand for care would drive up spending, the analysis found. (7/30)
The Washington Post:
New Veterans Affairs Chief Plans To Reassign, Sideline Trump Loyalists Now In Power
In one of his first acts as President Trump’s Veterans Affairs secretary, Robert Wilkie intends to reassign several high-ranking political appointees at the center of the agency’s ongoing morale crisis and staffing exodus, according to three people familiar with his plans. Wilkie, who will be sworn in Monday, wants to form his own leadership team, these people say, and to ease lawmakers’ continued concern that VA, historically a nonpartisan corner of the government, has become highly politicized. He discussed the proposed personnel moves with Trump in recent days aboard Air Force One, while en route to a veterans convention in Kansas City, Mo., said an official close to the White House who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. (Rein, 7/29)
Politico:
Trump Policy Shop Filters Facts To Fit His Message
President Donald Trump’s appointees in the health department have deleted positive references to Obamacare, altered a report that undermined the administration’s positions on refugees and added anti-abortion language to the strategic plan — part of an ideological overhaul of the agency’s research office. While every administration puts its imprint on the executive branch and promotes ideas that advance its own agenda, this one has ventured several steps further — from scrubbing links to climate change studies from an Environmental Protection Agency website to canceling an Interior Department study on coal mining risks and suppressing reports on water contamination and the dangers of formaldehyde. (Diamond, 7/28)
Politico:
HHS Official Who Spread Conspiracy Theories Forced Out
Ximena Barreto — a Donald Trump political appointee who used social media to spread conspiracy theories about a supposed pizza shop sex ring and made other inflammatory remarks — was escorted from Health and Human Services Department headquarters Friday, according to an individual with knowledge of the situation. Barreto resigned, the individual said. HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An email sent to Barreto’s HHS account Friday night produced a bounce-back message that the message was “undeliverable.” (Diamond, 7/27)
Politico:
How Technology Could Preserve Abortion Rights
Abortion rights advocates are exploring how technology might preserve or even expand women’s access to abortion if the Supreme Court scales back Roe v. Wade. A nonprofit group is testing whether it's safe to let women take abortion pills in their own homes after taking screening tests and consulting with a doctor on their phones or computers. Because the study is part of an FDA clinical trial, the group isn’t bound by current rules requiring the drugs be administered in a doctor’s office or clinic. (Ravindranath and Rayasam, 7/29)
Stat:
VCs Are Pouring Money Into Digital Health. Are They Making Smart Bets?
One of the hottest fields in health care investing is digital health. Companies in the space collectively raised $3.4 billion in venture capital in the first half of this year, spread across 193 deals, according to a count from the venture firm Rock Health. If that pace continues, the sector will set a new record this year — both in terms of number of deals and VC money invested overall. But is all that cash being invested wisely? To tease out that question, STAT sat down to chat with veteran health care VC Lisa Suennen, who works as the lead health care investor for General Electric’s corporate venture arm. (Robbins and Feuerstein, 7/30)
The Washington Post:
A Quarter Of Adults With Sprained Ankles Were Prescribed Opioids In The ER, Study Shows
A quarter of the adults who went to hospital emergency departments with sprained ankles were prescribed opioid painkillers, a study shows, in another sign of how commonly physicians turn to narcotics for even minor injuries. The state-by-state review revealed wide variation in the use of opioids for the sprains, from 40 percent in Arkansas to 2.8 percent in North Dakota. All but one of the nine states that recorded above-average opioid prescribing are in the South or Southwest. None is in the parts of Appalachia or New England that have been hit hardest by the opioid epidemic. (Bernstein, 7/27)
The Hill:
House Passes 'Menstrual Equality' Measure To Allow Tampon, Pad Purchases With Health Spending Accounts
The House on Friday passed a bill allowing women to buy menstrual hygiene products with pre-tax money from health flexible spending accounts. Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) pushed for the legislation as part of her ongoing "fight for menstrual equality." ...Meng’s provision to the Restoring Access to Medication and Modernizing Health Savings Accounts Act established health flexible spending account funds that can be used on all products related to menstruation, including tampons, pads, liners, cups, sponges and other similar products. (Gstalter, 7/28)