Upended: Can PBM Transparency Succeed?
March 6th 2024Simmering tensions in the pharmacy benefit management (PBM) industry have turned into fault lines. The PBMs challenging the "big three" have formed a trade association. Purchaser coalitions want change. The head of the industry's trade group says inherent marketplace friction has spilled over into political friction.
Read More
Socioeconomic Status Is the Biggest Reason Women Don’t Get Breast Cancer Screening
March 5th 2024Women experiencing high levels of poverty and those in impoverished rural regions are less likely to get screened for breast cancer, find a new review of studies that have assessed social determinants of health.
Read More
Information Blocking Will Cost Hospitals, Other Providers Under Proposed ONC Rules
March 5th 2024Hospitals and healthcare software developers are adjusting to a world in which blocking healthcare data will come with potentially stiff penalties under rules proposed by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC).
Read More
Florida Gets the OK. But Will Drug Importation from Canada Actually Happen?
March 5th 2024Canadian health officials warn that maintaining a drug supply for Canadians is their priority. The staunch opposition of the U.S. pharmaceutical industry may also be an obstacle to imports from north of the border.
Read More
Using the Healthcare Utility Model to Manage Pharmacy Cost for Patients and Payers
March 4th 2024CivicaScript, a generic medication manufacturer, is modeling itself as public utility. It launched its first product, abiraterone 250 mg tablets, late last year and is gearing up to make its own low-cost insulin.
Read More
FDA has expanded the indication for Biktarvy for those with resistant HIV, granted full approval to Rybrevant and approved Simlandi, the third interchangeable Humira biosimilar. The regulatory agency has also set action dates for sxatilimab in graft-versus-host disease, tislelizumab in stomach cancer and a second indication for Epkinly.
Read More
UnitedHealth Says a “New Instance” of Change Healthcare Is Up and Running
March 2nd 2024The company has confirmed that group representing itself as ALPHV/Blackcat, a ransomware-as-service criminal group known to cybersecurity experts, is behind the cyberattack on the pharmacy claims processor owned by UnitedHealth.
Read More
In this second part of a video series, AMCP CEO Susan Cantrell addressed the impact of high prescription drug prices on underserved communities, highlighting disparities in access caused by the pandemic's effects on minority populations. On the industry blame debate, she urged collaborative solutions, mentioning AMCP's engagement with diverse stakeholders to find comprehensive, patient-centric solutions and advocate for policy changes like the MVP Act to address rising costs and access challenges.
Read More
The deliberate disconnection of Change Healthcare to ring fence a cyberattack entered its seventh day today. Prescribers are finding ways to get pharmacy claims processed, and UnitedHealth Group says disruption to the dispensing of prescriptions has been minimal. But independent pharmacies want more information and protection from financial consequences from pharmacy benefit managers.
Read More