Saturday, July 04, 2009
Senate Health Committee Unveils Public Plan, Employer Mandate
The Senate health committee officially unveiled two major pieces of its health reform legislation Thursday: a public plan administered by HHS and an employer mandate that requires firms to pay $750 per full-time employee. There's still no news on when the last piece of the health reform bill -- generic biologics -- is expected to come out.
Follow-On Biologics Seen As Likely Piece Of PhRMA’s $80B Deal
Many lobbyists and other insiders say last week’s Washington activity on generic biologics may signal the issue is part of the $80 billion deal between the White House and the pharmaceutical industry -- and if they’re wrong, they say, the deal might not be as beneficial for drug makers as it initially seemed. But an AARP official close to the issue told FDA Week that follow-on biologics were not part of the agreement.
CMS, ESRD Facilities Prep For Phase 2 Of CROWNWeb Roll Out
CMS plans to begin in July the second phase of its renal CROWNWeb reporting initiative to include 10 facilities in each of the 18 end-stage renal disease networks, a CMS official says. Once all networks prove during phase two they are working smoothly with CROWNWeb -- the reporting system intended to gather information to develop an ESRD quality payment initiative by 2012 -- the official said the program will launch on a national level.
AMP Fix In House Democrats’ Health Bill Not Enough For Pharmacists
A provision in House Democrats’ draft health reform bill that calculates the federal upper reimbursement limit for drugs’ average manufacturer price (AMP) as no less than 130 percent of the weighted average of the most recent AMPs for equal products isn’t enough for pharmacists, according to the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA).
Washington State Working To Appeal CMS Denial Of State Plan Amendment
Washington state is evaluating its options after receiving a June 16 letter from CMS declaring the time and place for an administrative hearing to settle an ongoing pharmacy fees dispute, a state spokesman told Inside CMS. The hearing will give Washington state officials a chance to convince CMS to reconsider its decision to disapprove a state plan amendment proposing to increase dispensing fees.
CMS Proposes 1.9 Percent Increase To Outpatient Providers
CMS late Wednesday proposed a 1.9 percent increase in Medicare payments for providers paid under the outpatient prospective payment system. As expected, the agency also moved forward with a plan to reimburse hospitals using an average sales price plus 4 percent for most separately payable drugs and biologics, a requirement of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA).
Senate Health Committee’s Public Plan Option Calls For Rate Negotiations
The Senate health committee is floating a public health plan option that would let the HHS secretary negotiate rates with providers, rather than basing the plan on Medicare rates as proposed by House Democrats’ health reform package.
Pharmacists See Need For Teamwork In Health Reform Advocacy
Medicare and Medicaid pharmacy stakeholders are considering joining forces to lobby for electronic medicine management and other pharmacy-specific proposals to be addressed in health reform plans floating on Capitol Hill, sources say. The interest in forming a pharmacy alliance came after a former lobbyist, during a two-day conference in June, urged the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) to band together with other groups that also haven’t been prominent in the debate.
HIT Policy Group To Redouble Focus On Efficiency In ‘Meaningful Use’
The Health Information Technology (HIT) Policy Committee will go “back to the drawing board” in its attempts to define the hotly discussed “meaningful use” term upon which HIT payments hinge, according to National Coordinator for HIT David Blumenthal. The critical definition, which will determine a host of subsidy payments from the stimulus package, needs to have more timely efficiency measures than what the policy work group has come up with so far, Blumenthal said.
