Taking the Pulse, A Health Care and Life Sciences Video Podcast | Episode 115: Dr. Michael Havig, CEO, HealthMe
Thinking About a Concierge Medical Practice? Assure Compliance with Payor Requirements and the Law
Drug Pricing Initiatives During the Trump Presidency
K&L Gates Triage: An Insider’s Perspective on the Health Care Debate in Washington, DC
On August 9, Maryland’s Prescription Drug Affordability Board (PDAB) released its draft action plan for establishing upper payment limits (UPLs) for drugs identified as causing or likely to cause affordability challenges. The...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
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in conjunction with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), is striving to alleviate the financial strain of medication costs on the elderly and disabled...more
On November 15, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule titled Contract Year 2025 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage Program, Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit...more
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was signed into law in August 2022 with the goal of curbing inflation by, among other things, lowering prescription drug prices. Notable prescription drug provisions of the IRA include the...more
Although most of the recent focus around the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act (“IRA”) by the press and industry stakeholders has been on the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program, the IRA has several other...more
New Jersey has passed a landmark law limiting the power of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). On Monday, July 10, 2023, Governor Phil Murphy signed the law, requiring PBMs to disclose their negotiated reimbursement rates for...more
The U.S. Supreme Court recently declined to review a Second Circuit decision that blocked Pfizer from implementing a cost sharing assistance program. Pfizer had sought to cover out-of-pocket expenses for financially eligible...more
Patient assistance programs (PAPs) that seek to subsidize patient co-payments for drugs covered by Medicare may involve compliance challenges. A recent U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector...more
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will make arguably the most significant changes to U.S. prescription drug pricing regulations ever, but certainly since the creation of the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program in 1990. For the first...more
On August 7, 2022, after extensive deliberation, Senate Democrats passed their long-awaited reconciliation bill, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the Reconciliation Bill). In addition to climate and tax provisions, the...more
Impact on Pharmacies, Part D Payors, Pharmacy Benefit Managers, and Drug Manufacturers - On April 29, 2022, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued its final rule, Medicare Advantage and Part D Final...more
On April 29, 2022, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”), issued the final rule on Contract Year 2023 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Programs...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its Final Rule on Contract Year 2023 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Programs (Final Rule) late last...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published the proposed Contract Year 2023 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Programs (the Proposed Rule) on...more
Continuing our series analyzing the recently proposed Contract Year 2023 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Programs rules (Proposed Rule), this post focuses on a few...more
Medicare beneficiaries will not have to pay out-of-pocket costs for coverage of monoclonal antibodies to treat COVID-19 during the public health emergency, CMS announced on November 10, 2020. The agency’s coverage will apply...more
On September 23, the HHS OIG published Advisory Opinion No. 20-05, advising that OIG found “highly suspect” a manufacturer’s proposal to create a copay subsidy program to help certain financially eligible Medicare...more
Although delayed as a result of the COVID-19 public health emergency, there are persistent and ongoing efforts to reform the Medicare Part D benefit. Since its June 2016 Report to Congress, the Medicare Payment Advisory...more
High out-of-pocket costs can be a significant barrier to access for Part D enrollees, especially for non-low-income subsidy (LIS) enrollees with a condition that requires an expensive specialty drug for treatment. The 2019...more
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a final rule, to be published on May 23, 2019, amending the Medicare Advantage program (Part C) and Prescription Drug Benefit program (Part D) regulations. ...more
On February 6, 2019, the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (the “OIG”) published in the Federal Register a proposed rule (the “Proposed Rule”) that, if made final in its...more
On November 26, 2018 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule, Modernizing Part D and Medicare Advantage to Lower Drug Prices and Reduce Out-of-Pocket Expenses. This proposed rule is the...more
On November 30, 2018, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published a proposed rule (“Proposed Rule”) to revise certain existing Medicare Advantage (“MA”) program and Prescription Drug Benefit Program (“Part...more
On November 30, 2018, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published 83 Fed. Reg. 62152, which proposes changes to Medicare Part D (prescription drug benefit) and drug plans offered by Medicare Advantage...more