prescription drug inflation
Experts: Dems’ drug measures are good for seniors. But there are downsides
The sweeping Inflation Reduction Act passed by Democrats in the U.S. Senate on Sunday takes on an issue that Americans have been screaming about for years: the high cost of prescription drugs. But while it will bring immediate relief to millions of seniors, several experts have said it may dampen development of new drugs and new uses for existing ones. And, they say, it fails altogether in addressing one of the fundamental drivers of increasing drug costs for all Americans — the massive, non-transparent system of rebates charged by drug middlemen.
Former CVS exec accuses it of ripping off seniors, taxpayers
The top leadership of CVS Health directed an illegal scheme to work across the corporation’s sprawling subsidiaries to drive up drug prices in the Medicare program, says a whistleblower suit that was recently unsealed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. It accuses CVS of breaching firewalls between its SilverScript prescription drug plan, CVS Caremark, its […]
Report: Medicare drug reforms would save seniors billions
A report published Monday says that another, less-sweeping (Medicare) change would save American seniors $18 billion a year, an annual average of about $281 for each senior getting drugs through Medicare Part D.
Insurers slam critical drug-pricing research but can’t vouch for their own
A spokeswoman for a major health-insurance industry group on Wednesday questioned research cited in a story published Tuesday in the Capital Journal. In doing so, she cited a bit of purported research that she couldn’t vouch for herself. The story was about research showing that insurers working with Medicare are supposed to be lowering care […]
Additional corporations reported to be facing states’ drug-middleman probes
More states are investigating more companies regarding their conduct in the multi-billion dollar business of managing drug transactions, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. The reporting comes after the Capital Journal in April reported that attorneys general in Ohio, Kansas, Mississippi and Arkansas were investigating health care giant Centene. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has […]
Drugmaker on rising prices: Don’t look at us
A subsidiary of a leading U.S. drugmaker is reporting that the net cost of its products has been falling. If that’s true, it would appear that drug middlemen and insurers are driving increases in the overall cost of medicine and in consumers’ out-of-pocket costs at the counter. The report, by Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen […]