By Karin Rives June 5, 2009 - Each month, Jefferson Regional Medical Center administers between 20 and 40 doses of Retavase, a drug used to treat acute heart attack. An injection dose can cost as much as $2,000, so uninsured patients who don’t qualify for Medicaid were well-served by the patient assistance program that New Jersey-based EKR Therapeutics, the manufacturer of … [Read more...]
Wyeth Plans to Fight Government Nominal Pricing Case
Nominal pricing continues to dog manufacturers. This time, the feds are going after Wyeth.By Stuart Gordon June 5, 2009 - First Merck and now Wyeth. Over the last seven years, two of the world’s largest drug manufacturers have been accused of circumventing the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program by offering nominal pricing as an inducement to access the lucrative hospital and managed-care markets. Merck paid $671 million (including interest) in its settlement, a … [Read more...]
J&J Consumer Division Exits 340B; Will More OTCs Follow?
By Karin Rives June 5, 2009 - Johnson & Johnson Consumer Services Division’s decision last year to withdraw from the Medicaid and 340B programs raises questions about whether 340B pricing will continue to be available on a widespread basis for prescribed over-the-counter drugs, or OTCs. J&J’s pull-out, believed to be a first in the federal drug discount program’s … [Read more...]
Sebelius Sworn in as Secretary of Health and Human Services
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius sworn in as the nation's new health secretary.By Karin Rives HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, 60, was sworn in as the nation's new health secretary April 28 after the U.S. Senate voted 65 to 31 to confirm her nomination. As head of the sprawling Department of Health and Human Services, she will become immersed in efforts to reform the nation's healthcare system while … [Read more...]
New Policies and Priorities Ahead for HHS and HRSA
America’s new healthcare leaders have made it clear: Business as usual won’t do. 340B could gain from new policies.By Karin Rives When introducing his pick for the nation’s health secretary, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, President Barack Obama repeated a warning he’s issued often in recent months: The nation cannot afford to fail to act on healthcare reform. “Fixing what’s wrong with our healthcare system is no longer just a moral imperative, but a fiscal imperative,” the president … [Read more...]
OPA and Cash-Strapped Safety-Net Providers Get Financial Boost
Millions of stimulus dollars are flowing into OPA programs and boosting health centers. centeservices.By Stuart Gordon As the ranks of the uninsured grow and hospitals, health centers and other public health providers struggle to meet demands, Washington is providing some relief. Beneficiaries of the recently enacted stimulus package and the 2009 appropriations bill include hospitals, health centers and even the Office of Pharmacy Affairs (OPA). As part of a six-month … [Read more...]
A Win for Family Planning and College Clinics
Nominal sales price is expanded to family planning and college clinics to lower costs of contraceptives.By Karin Rives A little-known provision in the federal omnibus spending bill passed by Congress last month could have huge implications for family planning clinics and student health centers – as well as their patients. The bill allows new groups of health service providers to procure drugs at “nominal prices” under the Medicaid drug rebate statute. The nominal price of a … [Read more...]