Medicare’s Drug-Pricing Experiment Stirs Opposition
A broad proposal by Medicare to change the way it pays for some drugs has drawn intense reaction and lobbying, with much of the debate centering on whether the plan gives t
prescription drugs
Opioid Epidemic Fueling Hospitalizations, Hospital Costs
Every day, headlines detail the casualties of the nation’s surge in heroin and prescription painkiller abuse: the funerals, the broken families and the patients cycling in and out of treatment. Now, a new study sheds light on another repercussion
Shortages Of Essential Emergency Care Drugs Increase, Study Finds
At some hospitals, posters on the wall in the emergency department list the drugs that are in short supply or unavailable, along with recommended alternatives.
Coinsurance Trend Means Seniors Likely To Face Higher Out-Of-Pocket Drug Costs, Report Says
Medicare beneficiaries may get dinged with higher prescription drug bills this year because more than half of covered drugs in standalone plans require them to pay a percentage of the cost rather than a flat fee, a new analysis found.
How Medicare Drug Plans Hope To Follow Private Sector Lead
Aetna and Cigna inked deals in early February with drugmaker Novartis that offer the insurers rebates tied to how well a pricey new heart failure drug works to cut hospitalizations and deaths. If the $4,500-a-year drug meets targets, the rebate goes down. Doesn’t work so well?
Medicare To Test New Payment Approaches For Some Prescription Medications
Medicare plans to test new ways to pay for prescription medications given in doctors’ offices and hospital outpatient centers — moves likely to win praise from some policy experts, b
Buehler Wants to Let Pharmacists Directly Prescribe Anti-Overdose Drug
Building on a bill from 2015 that gives pharmacists the ability to dispense birth control without a doctor’s prescription, HB 4124 allows them to bypass physicians when selling Naloxone, which is used to reverse the effects of an opiate or narcotic overdose, including from heroin and prescription drugs like Vicodin and Oxycontin.
Rep. Knute Buehler, R-Bend, is promoting a bill that would give pharmacists the ability to quickly dispense a life-saving drug for use in opiate overdoses without the prescription of one of his fellow physicians.
Nosse Wants Law to Track Biosimilar Drugs Without Restricting Access
An ongoing controversy over generic equivalents to complex biological drugs is resurfacing in the 2016 session, as patient advocacy groups and drug companies try again to require pharmacists to take extra steps to notify prescribers of a substitution when they dispense something other than a brand-name biological drug.
Rep. Rob Nosse, D-Portland, is bringing back a bill that requires pharmacists to give extra notification to medication prescribers when the pharmacist dispenses a cheaper, biosimilar equivalent to a brand-name biological drug.
Research Gives Context To Addressing Nation’s Drug Abuse Crisis, Review Finds
Prescription painkiller abuse is drawing national attention as states battle increasing abuse cases, presidential candidates offer possible solutions and even President Barack Obama includes the issue in his State of the Union address Tuesday night.
Oregon Physicians Prescribed More Than $1 Billion in Drugs in 2013
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The CMS data revealed that 15,000 physicians prescribed drugs to 13,000 Medicare beneficiaries while Drs. Mary O’Hearn, Kiren Kresa-Reahl, Richard Kimani and Harry Krulewitch led the list. This chart below shows all 15,000 physicians and their drug costs.
In an unprecedented decision, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services has published comprehensive data showing which physicians and other healthcare providers prescribed the highest number of drugs – by cost, claim and their type – to Medicare beneficiaries.1
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