Health Insurers File 2018 ACA Plans
On Wednesday, health insurers made their final decisions about whether or not they would continue participating in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) insurance exchanges. According to The New York Times, one of the big last-minute changes was Anthem’s decision to pull out of 2 more states: Wisconsin and Indiana. However, Oscar Health in New York has decided to reenter the New Jersey marketplace, as well as expand its footprint to Ohio and Tennessee. Still, there will be 44 counties in 3 states—Washington, Missouri, and Ohio—that will have no insurer offering an ACA marketplace plan in 2018.
Missouri Files Lawsuit Against Opioid Manufacturers
Missouri has joined 2 other states in filing a lawsuit against drug manufacturers for how they marketed opioids. The lawsuit alleges that Purdue Pharma LP, Johnson & Johnson, and units of Endo International Plc misrepresented the risks of opioids, reported Reuters. The lawsuit claims the companies knew opioids were addictive, but deliberately worked to convince doctors and consumers otherwise. Ohio and Mississippi have also filed lawsuits against the 3 companies, as well as Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd and Allergan Plc.
Mylan’s Deal for EpiPen’s Preferred Status
An exclusive article by STAT reported that Mylan had offered EpiPen rebates to 6 state Medicaid programs in exchange for preferred status. In order to get the rebates, the states had to make the EpiPen easily available while competitor products required a special request to be covered. While the arrangement is legal, these sorts of deals are often targets of antitrust litigation, STAT reported. In April, Sanofi filed a lawsuit alleging exclusive contracts signed by Mylan that cemented the company’s domination of the market violated antitrust laws.
Navigating Health Literacy, Social Determinants, and Discrimination in National Health Plans
February 13th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the February 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on how health plans can screen for health literacy, social determinants of health, and perceived health care discrimination.
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The Supreme Court seems likely to reject a challenge to the abortion pill mifepristone; the FDA is inspecting far fewer pharmaceutical companies conducting clinical research; AstraZeneca has sued to block an Arkansas law that it said would unlawfully expand the 340B program to include for profit-pharmacy chains.
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Drs Raymond Thertulien, Joseph Mikhael on Racial Disparities in Multiple Myeloma Care Access
December 28th 2023In the wake of the 2023 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition, Raymond Thertulien, MD, PhD, of Novant Health, and Joseph Mikhael, MD, MEd, FRCPC, FACP, chief medical officer of the International Myeloma Foundation, discussed health equity research highlights from the meeting and drivers of racial disparities in multiple myeloma outcomes.
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