The Senior Care Pharmacy Coalition (CSPC) said Wednesday it commends California Gov. Jerry Brown for signing into law legislation that brings needed reforms to abusive Pharmacy Benefit Manager pricing and reimbursement practices. Ohio Gov.John Kasich signed a similar bill into law last week. Read More »

The Senior Care Pharmacy Coalition (SCPC) praised Ohio Gov. John Kasich on Tuesday for signing into law a legislative effort to help pull back the curtain on pharmacy-benefit manager (PBM) drug pricing and reimbursement practices. Read More »

In a letter sent Tuesday to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Biosimilars Council joined a group of health care stakeholders arguing adopting distinguishable names for biosimilars and biologics would create hurdles for patient's access to new, more affordable medicines. Read More »

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell and Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch announced a nationwide sweep on June 18, led by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force in 17 districts, which ended in charges against 243 people. Read More »

A data brief recently released by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General reveals a possible area of fraud in Medicare Part D. Read More »

Congresswoman Renee Ellmers, R-N.C., has co-signed a letter to U.S. House Speaker John Boehner and Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi urging their support of the Medicare Part D Program that some industry watchers fear will be cut in order to fund the 21st Century Cures Act. Read More »

The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) released a new ad campaign that highlights how specialty physicians believe that not all pharmacies are capable of dispensing and administering specialty medication to treat chronic conditions. The ad, “I’m Not Willing to Send my Patients to Just Any Pharmacy” can be viewed on the PCMA website: www.pcmanet.org. Read More »

Pharmaceutical groups recently held elections for leadership positions. Read More »

Kit Check unveiled a new cloud-based enterprise-reporting software for hospital pharmacies on Monday. Because it is stored on the web, information on pharmacy kits is not limited to a single computer or an individual. This new system also incorporates Tableau's analytic platform to allow pharmacy staff to access kit-use data. Read More »

A report was released on Monday by the American Pharmacists Association indicating value in both lowered costs and care quality in having pharmacists available at patient-centered medical-homes (PCMH), based on a one-year pilot program at the Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii.          Read More »

Medical management consulting firm HTMS, an Emdeon subsidiary, said on Monday that it is expanding its care-management consulting services, allowing the company to meet growing demand from health care providers and hospitals regarding integrated-care programs.This increasing demand can be attributed to payers and providers taking on additional medical risks. Read More »

Kit Check hospital pharmacy kit processing and medication tracking software recently reached a milestone when five million medications had been tracked using its cloud software and RFID-based solution. Read More »

Following a report from the AARP Public Policy Institute, which indicated significant increases in generic drug pricing in 2013, the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) released a statement Thursday, urging for improved patient access.  Read More »

Bill includes potential cuts that would make it harder to access health care services Read More »

The Senior Care Pharmacy Coalition (SCPC) applauded the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday after it advanced the 21st Century Cures Act, which protects long-term-care (LTC) patients. The bill features language exempting Medicare Part D beneficiaries in skilled nursing facilities and other settings from a proposed medication-management "lock-in" provision that targets prescription-drug abuse. Read More »

U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) recently introduced a bill on Monday to improve federal oversight of the prescription-drug benefits available to federal workers, retirees and their families through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). Read More »

Thanks to the Affordable Care Act’s Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan (CO-OP) Program, some 24 qualified nonprofit health insurance issuers have been created in 24 states using startup loans and solvency grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The goal of these so-called CO-OPs is to increase consumer choice and foster competition in the individual and small group health insurance markets -- two goals now being undermined by premium rate turmoil. Read More »

65 percent of doctors surveyed said only some non-specialty drugstores could provide drugs Read More »

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste says controversial proposed bills on Capitol Hill would interfere with the market dynamics that have helped keep down costs while raising beneficiary satisfaction with Medicare Part D. Read More »

The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) launched an advertising campaign on Tuesday to keep preferred pharmacy plans within Medicare plans.A proposed set of bills would disallow Medicare plans from creating pharmacy networks that are able to offer better prices over competitors. Read More »