Read today’s Kaiser Health News
In other news:
About health insurance/insurers
HHS launches committee to shape Medicare, Medicaid: HHS and CMS are establishing a panel of experts tasked with providing recommendations on how to “improve how care is financed and delivered” across Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and the ACA’s exchanges…
The advisory committee will focus on developing:
Actionable policy initiatives for chronic disease prevention and management.
An accountability framework reducing red tape while focusing on safety and outcomes.
A real-time data system for faster claims processing, quality measurement and rewards.
Improvements in quality for vulnerable Medicaid populations.
Sustainability of Medicare Advantage through modernized risk adjustment and quality measures.
About pharma
Securing America’s Pharmaceutical Innovation Edge Thoughtful essay by former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb.
Estimating Costs of Market Exclusivity Extensions For 4 Top-Selling Prescription Drugs in the US: Question What is the excess US spending associated with delays in generic competition due to extended market exclusivity?
Findings In this retrospective serial cross-sectional analysis of 4 top-selling drugs (imatinib, glatiramer, celecoxib, and bimatoprost) including 5.7 million Medicare beneficiaries, extended market exclusivity beyond key patent expirations ranged from 7 to 13 months. This delay resulted in an estimated $3.5 billion in excess spending over a 2-year period, with $1.9 billion in commercial plans and $1.6 billion in Medicare.
US agrees to cap tariffs on European drug imports: The U.S. has reached an agreement with the European Union to cap levies on pharmaceutical exports to 15%, according to a joint statement released Aug. 20.
The announcement sheds more light on a trade agreement the two struck in July, making clear that tariffs on drug imports and semiconductors — widely used materials in medical devices — from Europe will be capped at 15%. This ceiling will remain, should the Trump administration move forward with broader sector tariffs on drug imports, which the president has threatened could exceed 200%.
FDA says it will publish reports of adverse events tied to drugs on daily basis: The Food and Drug Administration announced Friday that it has begun publishing reports of adverse events concerning drugs and biological products on a daily basis. Previously, the database of the reports, called the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System, was updated quarterly.
About healthcare IT
Health systems report financial strain from EHR rollouts The article provides some good examples.
About healthcare finance