Most Clicked PCMA SmartBrief Stories
1. Drugstore lobby bill would undermine proven PBM cost-saving tools
PCMA SmartBrief | May 17, 2013
A measure supported by the National Community Pharmacists Association would take away the tools pharmacy benefit managers have used to curb costs, Edward C. Lawrence writes. RxObserver blog (05/16)
2. CMS finalizes MLR rules for supplemental Medicare plans
PCMA SmartBrief | May 20, 2013
Medicare Advantage and Part D prescription drug plans must spend 85 cents of each premium dollar on direct patient care under final rules to be published May 23. Bloomberg BNA (subscription required) (05/17)
3. Pharma success increasingly depends on proving value
PCMA SmartBrief | May 15, 2013
A drug's success in the marketplace increasingly depends on the drugmaker's ability to prove value and additional benefit over existing pharmaceuticals, yet many drugmakers still take a blockbuster approach to development, an international survey by Camelot Management Consultants finds. PharmaTimes (U.K.) (05/15)
4. Companies embrace bare-bones plans for affordable ACA compliance
PCMA SmartBrief | May 20, 2013
Some employers have turned to health plans that offer minimal coverage in an effort to comply with the Affordable Care Act and avoid paying tax penalties. Advisers and brokers are increasingly promoting the plans, which do not cover certain services such as hospital or prenatal care, and are also offering small employers self-insurance options, which are subject to fewer ACA rules than conventional plans. Wall Street Journal, The (05/19)
5. CBO estimates 25 million uninsured will gain health coverage
PCMA SmartBrief | May 15, 2013
A Congressional Budget Office report found that 25 million uninsured people will get coverage through an expanded Medicaid program or subsidized health insurance marketplaces in the next decade, which is 2 million less than its estimate of 27 million in February. The drop is attributed to an administration policy change that will excuse up to 1 million people from the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate, the CBO said. Reuters (05/14) Bloomberg (05/14)
6. PCMA: Drugstore lobby's bill would raise prescription drug costs, increase wasteful spending
PCMA SmartBrief | May 17, 2013
Blank (05/17)
7. Pharmaceutical shortages persist despite legislation
PCMA SmartBrief | May 14, 2013
Congress approved legislation last summer to help the FDA avert drug shortages, and the number of new shortages this year is 54, compared with 204 in 2012, according to the University of Utah Drug Information Service. Nonetheless, the service noted there were 300 ongoing shortages at the end of April, compared with 299 at the end of last year. MedPage Today (free registration) (05/13)
8. Drugmakers use tracking method to market meds
PCMA SmartBrief | May 17, 2013
Drugmakers are using huge databases of doctor and patient information to market treatments, saying the approach helps ensure doctors are prescribing appropriate medicines and can improve adherence. However, some doctors have concerns about the practice, saying drugmakers have become more invasive in their use of data. New York Times (tiered subscription model), The (05/16)
9. Sunshine Act data to shed light on physician-pharma ties
PCMA SmartBrief | May 14, 2013
New York Times (tiered subscription model), The (05/13)
10. Drug-tracking measure obtains House panel OK
PCMA SmartBrief | May 16, 2013
A House panel approved along party lines a measure that would strengthen the tracking of prescription treatments. The FDA will be required to propose new regulations to protect consumers from counterfeit prescriptions by 2027, but the measure does not require that those rules be put into effect. Hill, The (05/15)
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