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Christina Mattina, welcome to This Week in Managed Care from the Managed Markets News Network

NACDS is welcoming “the strongest signal yet” by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that a standardized pharmacy quality program should be created...In a new proposed rule, CMS proposed taking action to increase transparency in Medicare Part D plan sponsors’ pharmacy performance measures, NACDS said in a press release Plan sponsors would have to disclose these measures and CMS would publish them, according to the proposal...The CMS rule also recommends principles to guide pharmacy performance measures, urges the industry to work together toward appropriate measures, and indicates the possibility that CMS may incent plans to use appropriate quality measures, NACDS said...READ MORE

A physician shortage continues to be a problem in Nevada and is hindering patient care access hardest in rural regions, according to a recent report focusing on health care workforce trends in the Silver State...According to the latest data published in the report, "Physician Workforce in Nevada: A Chartbook - January 2020," demand for physicians in Nevada continues to exceed the current supply. While the number of licensed physicians in the state has increased over a decade, Nevada ranks 45th for active physicians per 100,000 population, 48th for primary care physicians per 100,000 population and 50th for general surgeons per 100,000 population...READ MORE

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has issued a proposed rule and the Advance Notice Part II to further advance the agency’s efforts to strengthen and modernize the Medicare Advantage and Part D prescription drug programs. These changes would lower the beneficiary cost sharing on more expensive prescription drugs, promote the use of generic medications, and allow beneficiaries to know in advance and compare their out-of-pocket payments for different prescription drugs...The proposed rule would require Part D plans to offer real-time drug price comparison tools to beneficiaries starting January 1, 2022 so that consumers can buy lower-cost alternative therapies under their prescription drug benefit plan...READ MORE

Nicole Grassano, PTNN, Pharmacy Week in Review, this weekly video program provides our readers with an in-depth review of the latest news, product approvals, FDA rulings and more.

• DEA Proposes New Regulations to Address Opioid Epidemic
• FDA Issues Report on Root Causes and Solutions to Drug Shortages
• HHS Announces Guide for Appropriate Tapering or Discontinuation of Long-Term Opioid Use
• FDA Releases Draft Best Practice Document for Postmarket Drug Surveillance
• FDA Issues Revised Draft Guidance on Regulation of Homeopathic Products, Withdraws 1988 Compliance Policy Guide
• DEA Warns of Increase in Scam Calls Targeting Pharmacists and Other DEA-Registered Providers

The top 1% of opioid prescribers in the U.S. are responsible for 49% of all opioid doses and 27% of all prescriptions, according to a study that suggests efforts to combat overuse of prescription painkillers should concentrate on these heavy prescribers...“We did not know that opioid prescribing was so extraordinarily concentrated in the U.S., well beyond what we see for other medications,”...our study also showed that most U.S. physicians are now prescribing consistent with guidelines (Guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention),” Humphreys said by email. “Taken together, these findings suggest that safer prescribing initiatives can be much more focused on the most prolific prescribers.”...READ MORE

Ann Lovell...62-year-old teacher is a frequent flier, traveling every few months to Tijuana, Mexico, to buy medication for rheumatoid arthritis — with tickets paid for by the state of Utah’s public insurer.,,Lovell is one of about 10 state workers participating in a year-old program to lower prescription drug costs by having public employees buy their medication in Mexico at a steep discount compared to U.S. prices. The program appears to be the first of its kind, and is a dramatic example of steps states are taking to alleviate the high cost of prescription drugs...READ MORE

Finding quality cancer treatment is a life-altering pursuit, but too often financial challenges force patients to decide whether they can afford a potentially life-saving treatment...This month, the State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy changed its policy on drug donations, allowing patients to donate unneeded oral cancer therapy drugs to others fighting cancer. Drugs that were opened and in possession of one patient can now be used to help those in need, reducing waste and cutting costs...Thanks to that policy change, the OSUCCC (Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center)...has created a drug repository program that will provide patients in financial need with drugs donated by patients who no longer require them...READ MORE

The Food and Drug Administration and Federal Trade Commission have drawn a line on anticompetitive practices in the complex biosimilar market...The agencies have announced their intent to enforce false or misleading claims about biosimilars and their reference products. They also plan to educate consumers and doctors about biosimilars…the FDA...released a draft guidance this week, advising the industry how to properly label and promote biosimilars and reference products...The guidance focuses on how biologic and biosimilar labels and promotions should reference the other product. The agency is particularly intent on ensuring that biologic makers don’t suggest their product is safer, more effective or clinically different than its biosimilar...READ MORE