Latest California Healthline Stories
Rx Drug Donation System Hopes To Grow
SIRUM — a Stanford-bred program that allows unused medications at hospitals and nursing homes to be donated to safety-net clinics — hopes to expand within California and serve as a model for other states.
Assembly Approves Biosimilars Bill
The Assembly yesterday approved a bill to establish pharmacy ground rules for biosimilar medications — when they eventually do come to market.
We asked stakeholders and consumer advocates to weigh in on a recurring debate in the California Legislature regarding regulating “step therapy,” a practice designed to minimize costs and risks of prescription drugs.
Contested Biosimilars Bill Clears Committee
A bill to regulate a new kind of biologic medication cleared a big legislative hurdle yesterday, setting the stage for the last showdown on the Assembly floor over a surprisingly controversial measure.
Pharmacists: ‘We’re Providers, Too’
When people think of reforming the health care system, they should include pharmacists in the equation, according to pharmacy experts who gathered for a conference this week in Sacramento.
Money to Be Made, Saved with Biosimilars?
A heated fight has developed over legislation to regulate a biotech development that hasn’t yet hit the U.S. market. On Wednesday, the state Senate Committee on Health will take up the topic of biosimilars and the surprisingly robust debate they’ve sparked.
“Legislation like this is a typical brand ploy,” said Brynna Clark, senior director for state affairs at the Generic Pharmaceutical Association, at a Senate Business and Professions committee hearing earlier this month. “It is being pushed by companies who stand to lose $60 billion in patent [expirations]. They don’t have a compelling interest to allow competition to the marketplace.”
That’s the opposition to the bill. Now a proponent:
“Quite frankly, I am shocked at the insensitivity that has been shown to patients during this debate,” said Eve Bukowski, vice president for state government affairs at the California Healthcare Institute, a not-for-profit research and advocacy organization. For cancer patients like Bukowski, who might need biosimilars treatment and who want their physician to be informed about a change in medication, she said, “Are our opponents really suggesting this is too much to ask? … Really?”
Step Forward for Oral Chemotherapy Bill
The Assembly Committee on Health approved a bill Tuesday that would require health insurers to provide oral chemotherapy therapy to their members with a maximum out-of-pocket $100 co-pay per prescription. Another version of AB 219 by Assembly member Henry Perea (D-Fresno) passed the Legislature last year, but was vetoed by the governor.
“This bill would ensure cancer patients have affordable access to the most appropriate cancer treatment covered by insurers,” Perea said. “When the governor vetoed a similar bill last year, he encouraged me to work with his administration to design a policy that will work for California. AB 219 represents a new strategy to make oral chemotherapy affordable.”
According to Perea, even a fully insured patient can spend $5,000 a month on oral chemotherapy medication, while intravenous treatments are covered by a small co-pay, no matter what the drug costs. So he wants to spread the cost over the entire insured population.
Obamacare Will Bring Changes — and Walgreens Wants ‘To Fill the Void’
After more than five years of ramping up health services, Walgreens last month took another major step and launched three accountable care organizations. The chain’s executives say that it’s poised to fill gaps in health care, especially with rising demand brought on by the Affordable Care Act.
Why the ObamaCare ‘Dirty Deals’ Don’t Tarnish the Law
Opponents of the Affordable Care Act are now trumpeting secret White House emails as their latest evidence that the reform law is broken. One author of the law begs to differ.
Health Debt Bill Passes Committee
Melanie Rowen, a woman with multiple sclerosis living in San Francisco, appeared before the Assembly Committee on Health yesterday to talk about money — or rather, lack of it.
When she first found out she had multiple sclerosis, Rowen had health care insurance but her medication was still expensive. “My insurance plan required me to pay 30% of it,” Rowen said. “I couldn’t afford it, but I put it on credit cards.” As she watched her disease progress, she saw her bank account drain away and her health care debt pile up.
Assembly member Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco) hopes to prevent similar scenarios with AB 1800 which would establish a limit on annual out-of-pocket expenses for prescription medications for insured Californians.