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Though the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory has enough resources to continue testing at current levels, its capacity remains well below the level needed to conduct widespread disease surveillance to keep the spread of the novel coronavirus under control as governments begin easing restrictions on citizens, lab director Dr. Mark Pandori said...the lab is planning to bring additional equipment online in mid-May that could allow the lab to quadruple its current ability to test...“If we were to quadruple our throughput here at this lab and several other labs then we would be approaching a moment when we could start to screen well beyond just contacts of known cases and symptomatic people,” Pandori said...READ MORE

...PhRMA submitted comments on a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposed rule on policy and technical changes to Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage...part of the proposed rule, CMS is seeking to allow Part D plan sponsors to establish formularies with up to two specialty tiers. If there are two specialty tiers, one must be a “preferred” tier that offers lower cost-sharing than the proposed maximum allowable specialty tier cost sharing. Consistent with CMS’s current policy, beneficiaries would not be able to appeal to access medicines from either specialty tier at preferred tier cost-sharing rates...PhRMA has expressed concern with the specialty tier and the impacts the policy has on beneficiaries’ ability to access and afford needed medicines that happen to meet the specialty tier criteria. The new proposal for a second specialty tier is a step in the wrong direction for the Part D program...READ MORE

This week, the top managed care news includes a report on how CDC lacks data to tell the full story on disparities in the COVID-19 pandemic, Medicare Advantage gets a pay bump amid COVID-19 rule changes, and the nation’s top infectious disease expert speaks with the editor-in-chief of JAMA.

The federal government is sending $64 billion to hospitals, post-acute facilities and other medical providers to help cope with the coronavirus fallout...Even though more funding is coming, safety net and rural hospitals fear they are getting a raw deal from the way some of the money is being distributed...Hospitals and other providers requested funding to offset higher labor and supply costs as well as lost revenue from elective surgeries and procedures that had to be halted. Those federal funds, part of the most recent stimulus package, are now flowing..."Rural hospitals are going to close this year," Alan Morgan, CEO of the National Rural Health Association, said of the initial funding distribution. "There will be a lot of blame to go around."...READ MORE

Drug manufacturers, distributors, and dispensers oppose Buy American policies as likely to reduce reliable supplies and raise product costs...Efforts to shift more production of pharmaceuticals and APIs to the United States as a strategy for reducing drug shortages and ensuring access to needed medicines...The recent $2-trillion COVID economic stimulus legislation...supports exploration of federal “Buy American” policies, ostensibly to reduce US dependence on drugs and medical products imported from overseas...READ MORE

...the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently released their new projections for U.S. National Health Expenditures. Unfortunately, the coronavirus almost immediately made these predictions obsolete...It’s still useful to analyze these forecasts for a pre-pandemic examination of U.S. healthcare spending. A few highlights of the 2024 outlook: READ MORE

• Total U.S. spending on healthcare was projected to grow, from $3.6 trillion in 2018 to $5.0 trillion in 2024.
• Spending on hospitals and professional services was expected to grow by a combined $800 billion—more than 60% of CMS’s projected $1.4 trillion increase in U.S. healthcare spending. That’s consistent with historical trends.
• Net spending on outpatient prescription drugs in 2024 was projected to shrink to less than 9% of total U.S. spending. That would be its lowest level since 2000.

A federal judge increased to $1.2 billion the damages that Gilead Sciences Inc must pay to Bristol-Myers Squibb Co in a patent infringement case regarding technology for treating cancer...The judgment was entered against Gilead’s Kite Pharma unit on its “counterclaims of non-infringement and invalidity”, according to a ruling by U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez...The new total of $1.2 billion includes $778 million awarded by a federal jury in December plus enhanced damages of $389 million and a pre-judgment interest on the jury’s verdict in the amount of $32.8 million, the judge said in his ruling...The patent at issue in the lawsuit, which Juno (subsidiary of BMS) licenses from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center...relates to CAR T-cell immunotherapy for cancer...READ MORE

U.S. eyes have turned abroad as the coronavirus crisis raises concerns about the safety of the global drug supply. In moves that could shore up confidence, the FDA has given a trio of overseas generics plants the all-clear to produce...Lupin Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories and Biocon all received clean FDA reports at manufacturing facilities in India and Malaysia...With the novel coronavirus pandemic continuing its march, focus has turned to the stability of the supply chain, including for generic medicines...READ MORE

...in the letter, Abramowitz explained that, although ASHP is grateful for the action the Administration has taken to provide hospitals with necessary personal protective equipment and ventilators, they “will be rendered useless without an adequate supply of the medications…that must administered concomitantly with mechanical ventilation in critically ill patients…to ensure the successful use of this life-saving supportive care.”...Medications used in conjunction with ventilator include opioids, sedatives, and paralytics...This week, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced it will take additional steps to allow for the increased production of controlled substances used in COVID-19 care...READ MORE

A coalition of national and local pharmacy organizations is praising the Department of Health and Human Services’ decision to allow licensed pharmacists to order and administer COVID-19 tests during the new coronavirus disease pandemic...“The accessibility and distribution of retail and independent community-based pharmacies make pharmacists the first point of contact with a healthcare professional for many Americans,” said HHS Assistant Secretary for Health Brett P. Giroir, MD...“This will further expand testing for Americans, particularly our healthcare workers and first responders who are working around the clock to provide care, compassion and safety to others.”...READ MORE