Hospice Audit Series: Beyond Part D, OIG Scrutinizes the Hospice Industry to the Tune of $6.6 Billion
Kim Brandt on the Latest Washington Healthcare News
Part Two: The MFN Drug Pricing Rule and the Rebate Rule: Where Do We Go From Here?
Part One: Two new Medicare Drug Pricing Rules in One Day: What are the MFN and the Rebate Drug Pricing Rules?
K&L Gates Triage: 340B Update: CMS Finalizes 340B Program Reimbursement Cut on Part B Drugs
K&L Gates Triage: 340B Regulatory Update: CMS Proposal and Draft Executive Order Could Have Big Impact on 340B Program
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued several important updates concerning the reporting of Average Sales Price (ASP) with potential implications for manufacturers. ...more
On December 14, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published two “revised” guidance documents implementing the Medicare Part B and Part D inflation rebate provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act of...more
August 16, 2023 marked the one-year anniversary of the enactment of the Inflation Reduction Act (“IRA”). The first 365 days since the IRA’s passage brought the implementation of a number of significant changes to the Medicare...more
The Inflation Reduction Act (“IRA”) was passed just over a year ago with a goal of lowering high drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries and reducing costs incurred by Medicare. A central piece to achieving the IRA’s goal of...more
On June 30, 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its much-anticipated final guidance (“Final Guidance”) for the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program (“Negotiation Program”) through the...more
2022 Medicaid Drug Rebate Program Summit Concludes: The annual Medicaid Drug Rebate Program Summit took place Oct. 12-14 in Chicago. Latham partner Christopher H. Schott spoke at two sessions: the panel “Ask the Attorneys:...more
Under Section 11403 of The Inflation Reduction Act, effective starting on Monday, October 3, 2022, and for the next five years, Medicare Part B will pay healthcare providers an 8% add-on fee for qualifying biosimilars,...more
After many years of policy debate and attempts at proposed legislation, some of the most meaningful changes to the ways in which Medicare pays for prescription drugs – and the obligations of manufacturers selling drugs to...more
On July 29, 2021, the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) released a statement urging the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to prohibit Insurance companies from requiring ophthalmologists to use new...more
Alston & Bird’s Week in Review provides a synopsis of the latest news in health care regulations, notices, and guidance; federal legislation and Congressional committee action; reports, studies, and analyses; and other health...more
The Medicare program is once again looking to reduce payments to 340B hospitals for Part B drugs and biologicals. As part of its proposed payment regulation for hospitals under the Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS)...more
Enforcement - OIG Issues Advisory Opinion on Provision of Samples by a Device Distributor - On April 30, 2018, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a...more
On May 11, 2018, President Trump and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar delivered highly anticipated speeches regarding the administration's plan to reduce drug prices. ...more
The Trump Administration on Feb. 12 released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 budget request, titled "An American Budget." Unlike last year's budget, which was released in late May, the release of this budget conforms to the typical...more
On Feb. 9, 2018, the Trump Administration released a 30-page report analyzing domestic and global factors influencing drug pricing. The report by the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) is expected to inform the HHS' Fiscal...more
Though the biosimilars market has evolved, and more companies are seizing the opportunities, reimbursement regulations have been unclear at best. Our Health Care Group untangles the latest rules from the Centers for Medicare...more
A bipartisan congressional effort is underway to convince CMS to reverse its biosimilar reimbursement policy implemented under the Obama administration. We discussed the current reimbursement policy in a March 2016 blog post...more
On October 6-7, 2016, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), a federal agency that advises Congress on Medicare pay policies, held a public meeting, with one session titled “Biosimilars in Medicare Part D.” This...more
This Week: MedPAC votes on changes in Part D... Senate HELP Committee reports five “Cures” bills... One report shows uninsured number decreasing... Another says, but we still need the safety net. ...more
Lessons From the Frontlines: Strategies for Supporting Informed Consumer Decision-Making in the Health Insurance Marketplace - Editor's Note: As marketplaces prepare for the third open enrollment period, consumers are...more
In the proposed Medicare Physician Fee schedule (PFS) update for 2016, CMS announces a number of new policies, making changes to several of the quality reporting initiatives that are associated with PFS payment, and begins...more
On April 15, 2015, CMS issued a preliminary recommendation for a HCPCS code for Zarxio, the first biosimilar product ever to be approved by the FDA. CMS’s recommendation provides the first indication of how the agency will...more
As the country’s largest health insurer, Medicare has immense influence on the health care market. In the wake of the recent approval of Sandoz’s Zarxio (filgrastim-sndz), the first FDA-approved biosimilar, last month the...more
On March 6, 2015, FDA released a statement announcing its issuance of the first biosimilar license to Zarxio. In the same month, CMS issued a number of guidance documents addressing reimbursement for biosimilars under the...more
Biosimilars Are Generally Treated as Single Source Drugs - On March 30, 2015, in the wake of the first biosimilar product licensed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services...more