WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has made suggestions for improving the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including bigger subsidies for private insurance and a Medicare-like public plan in some states. Obama also said drug makers were putting their bottom lines ahead of the common good by opposing any constraints on medication prices. “We worked successfully with
WASHINGTON — Accountable care organizations (ACOs) face a major hurdle under a ruling by the Internal Revenue Service. ACOs are groups of doctors, hospitals and other health care providers, possibly including pharmacists, who voluntarily come together to give coordinated high-quality care. The goal is to ensure that patients, especially the chronically ill, get the right
WASHINGTON — Large health plans that have claimed financial challenges from their participation in health insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act are set to seek significant premium increases in about a dozen states where they operate those individual plans. Others are limiting the number of plans offered if not vacating states altogether. Plans in
Several recent reports help illuminate the state of the nation’s health care reform efforts by examining progress under major aspects of the Affordable Care Act. President Obama signed the legislation into law in March 2010 with three overarching objectives — establishing new protections for health care consumers, enhancing access to care, and improving quality while
It feels like “The boomers are coming! The boomers are coming!” has been a corporate rallying cry for a number of years now as a range of industries have worked to prepare for the aging of the population. But successfully targeting the baby boomer generation has proven elusive for many. A careful examination reveals that
WASHINGTON — Inflation in medication costs eased last year due to spending controls and fewer new blockbusters, although there are still numerous cases of sticker shock. Spending on prescription drugs rose 5.2% in 2015, including the effects of rebates, driven by an 18% increase in specialty drugs, noted Express Scripts Holding Co. in a recent
WASHINGTON — About 12.7 million Americans signed up for 2016 health insurance coverage through the government insurance exchanges, surpassing expectations, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell said earlier this month. The government began offering subsidies for individual insurance in 2014 under the Affordable Care Act, frequently referred to as Obamacare, and charges a penalty
ARLINGTON, Va. — The National Association of Chain Drug Stores was working with member companies at presstime to review the final rule on Medicaid prescription reimbursements. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) says the 658-page rule — which takes effect April 1 after a comment period — establishes a regulatory definition for average
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration continues to alter the Affordable Care Act and propose changes to Medicaid funding as it seeks to increase the number of Americans who have health insurance and slow the pace of medical cost inflation. In a nudge to get more healthy people into the insurance pool, the government increased the
After years of political and legal wrangling, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued its final rule on Covered Outpatient Drugs, which governs reimbursement to retail pharmacies for generic medications dispensed under Medicaid. The history of the regulation goes all the way back to the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA), which
WASHINGTON — The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued the Covered Outpatient Drugs final rule with comment, which the National Association of Chain Drug Stores said includes “significant changes” to Medicaid pharmacy reimbursement for generic drugs based on the average manufacturer price (AMP) model. Released on Thursday and due to be published
WASHINGTON — President Obama has vetoed congressional legislation that would repeal the Affordable Care Act. Repeal bills passed by the House and Senate “would reverse the significant progress we have made in improving health care in America,” Obama said. Noting that 17.6 million Americans have gained health care coverage under the law, he said the
Clearly, health care reform will remain a contentious issue during the current presidential election cycle and beyond. The House of Representatives started the new year by voting to gut the Affordable Care Act. Passage of the legislation, by a 240-to-181 margin that closely mirrored the breakdown among parties in the Republican-controlled body, together
WASHINGTON — Republican opponents of President Obama’s health care law may do better by dismantling the Affordable Care Act piece by piece. Under the budget deal passed by Congress and signed by the president last month, a widely criticized tax on high-cost employer health insurance plans has been delayed and two taxes already being collected
