Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
White House To Reveal Which 10 Drugs Are First For Medicare Negotiation
The Biden administration is expected to disclose early next week the first 10 prescription drugs selected for Medicare price negotiations, ahead of a White House event Tuesday to celebrate the milestone, four people involved in the plans told POLITICO. The announcement will mark a major step in a bid to lower drug prices through the first-ever direct negotiations between Medicare and pharmaceutical manufacturers over a set of medicines. (Lim and Cancryn, 8/23)
It’s almost a tradition. At the start and halfway points of each year, many pharmaceutical companies raise drug prices to bolster revenue and reportedly fund new research. (Bajaj, 8/24)
Florida governor and presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis has ballyhooed a high-profile plan to import prescription drugs from Canada, even suing the Biden administration for allegedly holding up a necessary sign-off. But the plan’s long odds just got longer: the Food and Drug Administration said in a letter last week that Florida’s plan has gaping holes — and the state has less than a week to explain how it’ll fix them. (Wilkerson, 8/23)
Facing a tight labor market and rising health care costs, employers are wrestling with how to afford a new wave of pricey, highly effective treatments without forcing workers to bear too much of the cost. From emerging gene and cell-based therapies in cancer and other conditions to a buzzy class of weight-loss drugs, the landscape for game-changing treatments has never been quite so promising — or expensive for employers. (Reed, 8/23)
The Business Group on Health released its annual survey of large employers this week and found that 91% are either concerned or very concerned about overall pharmacy cost trend. Alongside that finding, the survey identified that the median spending on pharmacy continues to grow, rising from 21% in 2021 to 24% in 2022. In addition, 92% said they were either concerned or very concerned about high-cost drugs coming through the pipeline. Specialty pharmacy accounts for a growing portion of health spend, and orphan drugs for rare, complex diseases account for large swaths of products coming to market. (Minemyer, 8/23)
