Greetings, Advocates! Great news for the rheumatology community came on Feb. 9, when the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 was enacted. It contains several critical healthcare fixes pertinent to rheumatology. First, after hundreds of emails, meetings, letters to the editor, an op-ed, and a forceful 109-member coalition (led by the ACR and including many state…
Search results for: drug prices
U.S. Healthcare Spending to Climb 5.3 Percent in 2018
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—United States health spending is projected to rise 5.3% in 2018, reflecting rising prices of medical goods and services and higher Medicaid costs, a U.S. government health agency said on Wednesday, an upward trend it forecasts for the next decade. The increase represents a sharp uptick from 2017 spending, which the U.S. Centers for…
U.S. Senate Votes to Confirm Azar as Health Secretary
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—The U.S. Senate on Wednesday voted to confirm former pharmaceutical industry executive and lobbyist Alex Azar as the next Health and Human Services secretary. Azar will oversee the Trump administration’s response to the opioid epidemic, its efforts to weaken the Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare, and address rising prescription drug prices. The Senate…
Rheumatologists Air Frustrations with Pharmacy Benefit Managers at Annual Meeting
SAN DIEGO—Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and their impact on drug prices and access to high-cost medications by the patients rheumatologists treat was a major theme at the 2017 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting Nov. 3–8. In one session, industry experts tried to clarify the role for prior authorizations and drug formulary policies and explored ways to constructively…
Should Patients with Rheumatic Disease Switch from Biologic to Biosimilar?
SAN DIEGO—Should patients with rheumatic diseases switch from a biologic to its biosimilar? At the 2017 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting’s Great Debate, held Nov. 5, two rheumatologists argued whether to switch or stay put based on safety, efficacy and potential cost savings. First to the podium to make the case for switching, Jonathan Kay, MD, tweaked…
The American College of Rheumatology’s Legislative Successes of 2017
SAN DIEGO—The 2017 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting, Nov. 3–8, presented opportunities to highlight its 2017 legislative advocacy victories, some of which were resolved just weeks before the conference began, as well as issues that are still outstanding. In the session, Legislative & Regulatory Update 2017, Angus Worthing, MD, chair of the ACR’s Government Advocacy Committee and…
ACR Advocacy: Past Wins, Future Outlook
Greetings, advocates! Your government is back to work after ending a brief government shutdown by passing a short-term continuing resolution (CR), which will keep the government running at current funding levels into February. At some point, it would be great for Congress to pass a budget (instead of a CR) and to enact bipartisan plans…
Health Secretary Nominee Indicates Support for Medicaid Overhaul
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—Alex Azar, a former drug industry executive and lobbyist nominated to run the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, indicated on Tuesday he supported a Republican bid to overhaul Medicaid and again vowed to tackle high drug prices. Azar appeared before the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, which will ultimately decide whether to…
The ACR’s 2018 Legislative & Regulatory Priorities
A recent Politico article outlined the looming agenda facing Congress as 2018 begins: Fund the government, raise the debt ceiling, modify spending caps, address healthcare subsidies, allocate additional funds for disaster relief, and address the status of millions of undocumented young immigrants.1 Amid all that activity, the ACR, through its Government Affairs Committee (GAC) and…
United Therapeutics to Pay $210 Million to Resolve U.S. Kickback Probe
BOSTON (Reuters)—United Therapeutics Corp will pay $210 million to resolve U.S. claims that the drugmaker used a charity as a conduit to illegally cover Medicare patients’ out-of-pocket drug costs in order to eliminate price sensitivity and to boost sales. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts on Wednesday announced the settlement, one of the first to…
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