HRSA launches 340B drug pricing website
The Health Resources & Services Administration has launched a long-awaited website that will allow 340B providers to see the maximum amount drug companies can charge under the program.
The site is part of the 340B program final rule that went into effect Jan. 1. The rule, which was delayed five times under the Trump administration, also establishes monetary penalties for drugmakers that knowingly charge 340B providers more than the maximum allowed in the program.
Provider groups praised the site’s launch, with the American Hospital Association saying in a statement that it was “pleased” to see its lawsuit helped spur the final rule’s rollout. (FierceHealthcare)
UnitedHealthcare exits Iowa's Medicaid managed care program
UnitedHealthcare will leave Iowa’s Medicaid managed care program, where it manages two-thirds of beneficiaries.
UHC is the second insurer to exit the state’s Medicaid program since Iowa privatized it. The insurer was paid about $2 billion in both state and federal funds to manage its Medicaid patient population.
Gov. Kim Reynold’s office said it broke off the deal with UnitedHealthcare due to “unreasonable and unsustainable” demands from the insurer. UHC said in a statement that “persistent funding and program design challenges” made it impossible for the payer to continue in the program. (Des Moines Register)
GOP lawmakers pump the brakes on Trump’s plan to make it the "party of healthcare"
President Donald Trump has vowed to make the GOP “the party of healthcare,” but others within the party are concerned about digging up the issue once again after the 2018 midterms.
Republicans in Congress, for example, are less excited about the possibility. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, when asked about the president’s renewed interest in healthcare, said he “looks forward” to seeing what Trump proposes.
....are developing a really great HealthCare Plan with far lower premiums (cost) & deductibles than ObamaCare. In other words it will be far less expensive & much more usable than ObamaCare. Vote will be taken right after the Election when Republicans hold the Senate & win......
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 2, 2019
Healthcare—and protections for people with pre-existing conditions in particular—was a central issue in the 2018 election that saw House control flip to the Democrats, which has Republicans on edge about reopening that debate and the failed attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act in 2017.
Legislators are more likely to pass a bipartisan slate of bills aimed at drug prices. The president added in a tweet late Monday that any plan the Republicans cook up would not be put up for a vote until after the 2020 election. (The Associated Press)