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
Over the last two months, there has been a steady influx of regulatory and legislative efforts regarding drug pricing and the pharmacy industry. To streamline your review, we summarize below a few noteworthy developments that...more
This Week in Washington: House passes Lower Costs, More Transparency Act and SUPPORT Act Reauthorization; Senate HELP Committee reports SUPPORT Act Reauthorization and three other bills out of committee; ONC releases final...more
This Week in Washington: Senate Confirms Ketanji Brown Jackson to Supreme Court...more
This Week in Washington: Continuing Resolution Moves Forward and Senate Sets Up Vote on FDA Commissioner Nomination this Week...more
Supreme Court Upholds Affordable Care Act: On June 17, 2021, the Supreme Court ruled 7 to 2 to dismiss for lack of standing a challenge to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) brought by Texas and other states. The states had...more
This week in Washington: Budget reconciliation goes back to the House with changes for vote on Tuesday....more
This week in Washington: Congress gets organized for next Congress; House passes health care bills; COVID-19 vaccine is the talk of the town....more
This week in Washington: Washington’s focus has been on the presidential and Senate races....more
Four separate government releases coming over a three-week period have once again highlighted the intense interest in the 340B drug pricing program, with a federal agency and two government watchdog groups issuing guidance...more
Upcoming Hearings/Markups - Tuesday, April 30, 2019 - House Committee on Rules: “Hearing on the Medicare for All Act of 2019,” H.R. 1384 - The House Committee on Rules will hold a hearing on the Medicare for All Act...more
Congress - House - Likely New Health Leadership - With the change in control of the House of Representatives in the next Congress, there will be “new” faces leading the health care agenda....more
It seems like every week, there are multiple new developments in the 340B program. While it has just been a few weeks since my last 340B blog post, since that time we have had another Senate hearing, a new GAO Report, a new...more
On Wednesday May 9th, I was floored when the Administration released the Spring 2018 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, which contained this nugget: by December 2018, HRSA will publish its 340B Omnibus...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
I previously said that the year 2014 may be a game-changer for the 340B Drug Discount Program. Increasing HRSA audits, a lawsuit over the 340B Orphan Drug Rule, and HRSA’s promise to issue a 340B mega-regulation, all pointed...more
On July 18, 2017, just days after CMS went public with its proposal to reduce Medicare Part B reimbursement to certain 340B covered entities, Congress held its first hearing on 340B Program Oversight since March 2015. A...more
Last month, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report in which it found that manufacturer drug coupon programs for privately insured patients could potentially cause the Medicare Part B program to...more
This Week: Medicaid program takes financial hits as the House looks for “savers” and acts on a budget... while the Senate sees no reason to do a budget... The Senate focuses on ACA oversight and mental health and opioid abuse...more
GAO Releases Report on Increasing Medicare Part B Prescription Drug Prices – On November 20, 2015, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on costs for new Medicare Part B drugs. The GAO found that...more
Cuts in Mandatory Entitlement Programs Center of Budget Negotiations: As budget negotiators from both sides of the Hill come together to work out a two-year budget deal, determining how sequestration relief will be paid for...more
This Week: CMS Releases Guidance on Fast Track Process for 1115 Waivers for Medicaid and CHIP... Healthcare.gov CEO Sends Letter to State Insurance Commissioners Concerning 2016 Premium Decisions... Medicare Board of Trustees...more
According to a report released July 6, 2015 by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), hospitals that qualify to participate in the 340B Drug Pricing Program by virtue of their serving a disproportionate share of...more
The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a report entitled “Medicare Part B Drugs: Action Needed to Reduce Financial Incentives to Prescribe 340B Drugs at Participating Hospitals” (“the...more
This is the fourth and final post in our series on the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA). Pub.L. No. 114-10. We’ve previously covered the repeal of the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) in our April 20th post,...more
Despite the efforts of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to combat fraud and contain costs in federal healthcare programs, Medicare’s fee-for-service program (Parts A and B) and Medicaid were two of the top...more