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What We're Reading: Insulin Costs Double; PhRMA's Record Spending; Causes of Liver Transplants
Between 2012 and 2016, insulin costs for patients nearly doubled while utilization remained flat; the pharmaceutical industry's lead lobbying group spent a record amount in 2018; and alcohol-associated liver disease has surpassed hepatitis C as the top cause of liver transplants.
Insulin Costs Double
PhRMA Spends Record Amount on Lobbying
Alcohol Leading Cause of Liver Transplant
Between 2012 and 2016, insulin costs for patients nearly doubled despite utilization remaining flat. According to STAT, patients with type 1 diabetes spent $5705 on insulin in 2016 compared with $2864 in 2012. The price of all insulin products increased during the 4-year period and out-of-pocket costs nearly doubled from $0.13 per unit to $0.25 per unit. During the same period, average daily insulin use increased just 3%.The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, known as PhRMA, the pharmaceutical industry’s leading lobby group, revealed that it spent a record $27.5 million on lobbying in 2018 amid a slew of drug pricing reform, reported Bloomberg. Last year’s spending was $1.4 million more than in 2009, when the Affordable Care Act was introduced. In the fourth quarter of 2018, PhRMA spent more than $6 million to lobby Congress and the Trump administration, but its biggest quarter came in the first 3 months of the year, with the group spending nearly $10 million.Alcohol-associated liver disease has surpassed hepatitis C as the top reason for liver transplants in the United States, according to a new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Looking at nearly 33,000 patients, researchers found that the proportion of liver transplants for alcohol-associated liver disease increased from 24.2% in 2002 to 27.2% in 2010 and 36.7% in 2016. According to the researchers, one reason for the shift could be that hepatitis C has become easier to treat with drugs.
The Federal Trade Commission's (FTC's) vote to ban most employers from issuing and enforcing noncompete clauses could have varying impacts on the health care workforce; federal regulators vastly under-enforced antitrust laws in the hospital sector during the last 2 decades, resulting in increased health costs; the FDA recently found genetic evidence of the H5N1 bird flu virus in pasteurized commercially purchased milk.
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Navigating Health Policy in an Election Year: Insights From Dr Dennis Scanlon
April 2nd 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with Dennis Scanlon, PhD, the editor in chief of The American Journal of Accountable Care®, about prior authorization, price transparency, the impact of health policy on the upcoming election, and more.
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What We’re Reading: Abortion Privacy Rules; Alzheimer Drug Hurdles; Nursing Home Staffing Overhaul
April 23rd 2024New health privacy rules aim to protect patients and providers in an evolving abortion landscape; some physicians express concerns about efficacy, risks, and entrenched beliefs in treating Alzheimer disease; CMS addresses longstanding staffing deficits in nursing homes.
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Beyond Insulin: The Impact of Next-Generation Diabetes Technology
April 17th 2024Experts explain how new diabetes technologies like continuous glucose monitors are transforming care beyond intensive insulin therapy, offering personalized insights and improving outcomes for patients of all treatment levels.
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The Biden administration recently launched the Global Health Security Strategy, a new effort to combat the spread of infectious diseases; lawmakers zeroed in on the risks of massive consolidation in health care during the first congressional hearing on the Change Healthcare hack; the FDA recently announced the recall of a pair of heart devices linked to numerous deaths and injuries.
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