Insurers shift medicine costs to patients with severe chronic illnesses
By Gabby Migliara | February 1, 2021
For many patients with complex and chronic conditions, high out-of-pocket costs for medicines pose a significant challenge. Recent research revealed a broken insurance system that fails to help...
Read More
The new Administration should reconsider a recent HHS rule that could negatively impact patient access and affordability
By Gabby Migliara | January 27, 2021
On January 14, the Department of Health & Human Services’ (HHS) released the 2022 Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters (NBPP) final rule. Several provisions of the final rule promote access to...
Read More
New insulin report highlights how incentives benefit middlemen, harm patients
By Brian Newell | January 22, 2021
The Senate Finance Committee has released a new report detailing findings of their investigation into the role that market dynamics play in the pricing of insulins. The report conclusions further...
Read More
New data show retail medicine prices fell in 2019
By Katie Koziara | January 13, 2021
In 2019, retail prescription medicine prices declined by 0.4%, on average, according to National Health Expenditures (NHE) data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published...
Read More
Accumulator adjustment programs lead to surprise out-of-pocket costs and nonadherence, analysis finds
By Gabby Migliara | November 19, 2020
A new analysis by IQVIA looked at three cost-sharing assistance programs and found that from 2018 to 2020, 25% to 36% of patients discontinued treatment when they faced an unexpectedly high...
Read More
Study finds biopharmaceutical innovation is responsible for 35% of the increase in life expectancy from 1990 to 2015
By Gabby Migliara | October 21, 2020
Medicines are responsible for more than a third of the improvement in life expectancy from 1990 to 2015, according to a recent study published in Health Affairs. This underscores the crucial role...
Read More
Survey found insurance premiums grew faster than inflation in 2020
By Gabby Migliara | October 20, 2020
According to Kaiser Family Foundation’s recent survey on employer health benefits, premiums for people with employer-sponsored health insurance increased by 4% last year, faster than both the rate...
Read More
Study finds middlemen excluded nearly 850 medicines from formularies this year
By Katie Koziara | September 17, 2020
A new study from Xcenda finds that from 2014 to 2020, the number of medicines excluded by at least one of the three largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) from their standard formularies...
Read More
Manufacturer cost-sharing assistance programs can save chronically ill patients hundreds to thousands of dollars annually
By Gabby Migliara | August 19, 2020
A recent analysis by IQVIA shows that chronically ill patients who used manufacturer cost-sharing assistance in 2019 saved hundreds to thousands of dollars on their out-of-pocket costs. IQVIA...
Read More
Commercial health plans have increased patients’ out-of-pocket costs by over 50% in some therapeutic areas
By Gabby Migliara | August 12, 2020
According to a recent IQVIA analysis, commercial health plans have increased patients’ average out-of-pocket costs for brand medicines by over 50% in some therapeutic areas since 2015. Notably, of...
Read More
Medicare Monday (100)
340B Spotlight (46)
Cost & Consequence (0)
