Podcast — Drug Pricing: How Are Payers Responding to the IRA?
Podcast: IP(DC): Drug Prices, Political Pressures & Patents
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) made several changes to Medicare Part D that may impact whether employer-sponsored coverage will be creditable for the 2025 plan year. With open enrollment season about to begin, plan...more
Senate Judiciary Human Rights and the Law Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Georgia Abortion Ban. The field hearing examined how Georgia’s abortion ban impacts women’s health, and featured patient and physician witnesses. ...more
Friday the 13th is not all bad luck. On September 13, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit’s published its much-anticipated decision in United States ex rel. Holt v. Medicare Medicaid Advisors,...more
On June 17, 2024, the final rule for Medicare Part D introduced new health IT standards, mandating the adoption of NCPDP SCRIPT Standard version 2023011 by January 1, 2028, while the NCPDP Formulary and Benefit (F&B) Standard...more
As we have previously reported, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) changed the government’s treatment of certain prescription drugs under the Medicare program by directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to...more
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 made significant design changes to Medicare Part D effective January 1, 2025. The changes will cause an increase in the actuarial value of Medicare Part D coverage, which will impact...more
On August 20, 2024, OIG issued Advisory Opinion No. 24-07 in which it responded to a request for an advisory opinion regarding a nonprofit grant-making organization’s (Requestor) proposal to fund a patient assistance program...more
Summer is ending and fall is rapidly approaching. For employee benefit professionals with calendar-year health and welfare benefit plans that means preparing for annual enrollment and year-end compliance requirements. This...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), and thr Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published 89 FR 51238 (the Final Rule),...more
With recent CMS mandates and state-level reforms, the healthcare industry faces a pivotal moment to improve prior authorization processes, ensuring timely access to care and integrating health equity considerations....more
In this podcast, explore how health insurance companies are adapting to the Inflation Reduction Act's new requirements, including the Part D redesign. The US healthcare landscape is undergoing significant changes as the...more
As many have now heard, on Thursday, August 15, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the prices for the first 10 prescription drugs selected for negotiation with manufacturers (Selected Drugs)...more
On August 15, 2024, CMS announced the results of the first round of the negotiated prices between CMS and participating drug manufacturers for the 10 selected drugs under the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) Medicare Drug...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is required to make public by September 1 the “maximum fair prices” (MFP) that CMS is setting for the first ten drugs subject to the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program...more
Below is Alston & Bird’s Health Care Week in Review, which provides a synopsis of the latest news in health care regulations, notices, and guidance; federal legislation and congressional committee action; reports, studies,...more
On July 31, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published its mammoth proposed rule entitled “Medicare and Medicaid Programs: Calendar Year 2025 Payment Policies under the Physician Fee Schedule and Other...more
Through its passage, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ushered in several reforms directed at rising prescription drug costs, aiming to lower costs for Medicare enrollees and reduce spending by the federal government....more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the Part D national average bid amount and Part D base beneficiary premiums for 2025. These figures set the premium costs and government subsidies for Medicare...more
This week marks the second anniversary of the enactment of the Inflation Reduction Act, a partisan law that ushered in sweeping Medicare price setting reforms. The Biden-Harris Administration is poised to announce the first...more
A bipartisan group of attorneys general from 31 states and the District of Columbia filed an amicus brief in support of a petition for certiorari by Oklahoma’s insurance commissioner to review a decision by the U.S....more
In the context of Medicare Advantage (“MA”) reform initiatives, we previously addressed the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (“CMS”) December 27, 2022 proposal to amend its regulations set forth at 42 C.F.R. §...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the calendar year (CY) 2025 Revisions to Payment Policies Under the Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) and Other Revisions to Medicare Part B (CMS-1807-P) Proposed...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized the second part of its guidance on implementation of the IRA’s Medicare Prescription Payment Plan (MPPP), known informally as Part D monthly out of-pocket...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) updated its guidance on the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022’s (P.L. 117-169) (IRA) Medicare Prescription Payment Plan (M3P) with its release of the Final Part Two Guidance on...more
On July 10, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) proposed rule, which includes proposals related to identification of Medicare Part B and Part D claims...more