article thumbnail

Opinion: How the drug price negotiation program could affect Medicare Part D beneficiaries

STAT

The negotiation, informed by confidential data from manufacturers and analysis by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, will result in a maximum fair price for each drug, which will be announced Sept. 1, 2024, and will take effect Jan. billion in the first year and more than $98 billion by 2031.

article thumbnail

Opinion: Some ‘inconvenient’ truths about pharmacy benefit managers

STAT

A few recent examples make the point: A New York Times story in June 2024 bore the headline, “Pharmacy benefit managers are driving up drug costs for millions of people, employers and the government.” That view is wrong. Read the rest…

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

STAT+: As Humira biosimilars take over the market, CVS has created a new ploy: the drug ‘rebate credit’

STAT

The biggest enticement that large pharmacy benefit managers offer to the employers that hire them is drug rebates — a steady stream of money sent back to their clients, a tangible symbol of the discounts that PBMs are able to wrangle out of pharmaceutical companies. Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

article thumbnail

STAT+: Blue Shield of California overhauls drug pricing operation — by adding more vendors

STAT

Blue Shield of California, a health insurance company that covers almost 5 million people, is restructuring how it will pay for prescription drugs by dividing the work up among five different vendors — two of which include Amazon and Mark Cuban’s pharmacy company.

article thumbnail

STAT+: 3 health policies states are taking on in 2024

STAT

STAT’s taking a look at some of the recent health policy trends that states will start to implement in 2024. For most states, the new year means a new legislative session.

article thumbnail

Opinion: Will PBM reform save pharmacies from closing?

STAT

In May 2024 , nearly 90% of pharmacies were closed for a day as thousands of pharmacists protested over “over drug shortages, pharmacy closures and fears medications could be sold online, as well as higher pay.”

article thumbnail

Novavax is on thin ice, and the latest update isn’t exactly encouraging

STAT

On 2024 guidance, Merck said it expects sales in the range of $62.7-$64.2 Biotech can’t shake the Fed The XBI, a closely watched index of biotech stocks, turned red for the year yesterday, and not because of a clinical disappointment, a drug pricing scandal, or an M&A rumor that came to nothing.