- Residents in 14 Nevada Counties Will Not Have Access to Qualified Health Plans (ktvn.com)
The Division of Insurance has announced that Nevada’s insurance carriers that participate in the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange have decided to only offer coverage to Clark, Washoe, and Nye counties beginning in 2018...Currently three medical carriers offer plans on Nevada Health Link:
- Anthem (The only insurance company currently selling statewide)
- Health Plan of Nevada
- Prominence Health Plan
But some changes are coming as of January 1, 2018.
- Anthem & Health Plan of Nevada will only be offering coverage in Washoe, Clark, and Nye Counties.
- Prominence Health Plan announced this week that they will be pulling out of the Nevada Exchange market.
- Two new companies, Aetna and Centene will be joining the exchange market but according to the Division of Insurance at most they will only be offering plans in Washoe, Clark, and Nye counties
The Division of Insurance says this will leave about 8,000 Nevada residents without coverage across 14 counties. The largest group is about 5,000 people across Carson City, Douglas, Lyon, and Storey Counties...If you live outside of Washoe, Clark, or Nye counties and have concerns about your coverage, Silver State Health Exchanges suggests you call them at 855-768-5465...They say that they are working diligently with Governor Sandoval to come up with a plan for those that could be uninsured.
- Pharmacy Week in Review: June 30, 2017 (pharmacytimes.com)
Nicole Crisano, PTNN. This weekly video program provides our readers with an in-depth review of the latest news, product approvals, FDA rulings and more.
- Lawyers Want the Testimony From OxyContin Company’s Ex-Chief (usnews.com)
A lawyer for one of the country's largest manufacturers of prescription painkillers says the public has "no right of access" to the testimony of its former president about how the company marketed the dangerously addictive OxyContin...The Kentucky attorney general's office sued Purdue Pharma in 2007, accusing it of misleading the public about just how addictive the opioid-based painkiller really was. They said that helped fuel a wave of addiction in Appalachia and beyond that cost the state millions of dollars in health care costs...Former Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway settled the case in 2015 for $24 million with an agreement to keep some court documents hidden from public view. They included a deposition from Richard Sackler, a former Purdue Pharma president and member of the family that still controls the company. His testimony could offer important insights into how much the company knew about the drug's addictive qualities.
- The Benefits of Pharmaceutical Representatives in Health Care (pharmacytimes.com)
I know I am probably going to get some disagreement here and probably some emails (please feel free to!), but I feel that drug representatives have their place in the health care system. It is obvious that their role is to sell the drug they are tasked with selling and as pharmacists we must keep that in mind as we work with them. It is our job to protect and take care of our patients, which is definitely a different goal; however, given the right scenario, it does not have to be a mutually exclusive goal. With that in mind, here are my top reasons I work with and keep in touch with drug representatives:
- If they are selling an innovator or particularly beneficial drug (or vaccine), then both your goal and theirs is to increase the use of that product.
- They can help you with financial assistance programs for their products.
- They can help you when you are in a crunch.
- They can connect you with physician offices.
- They can help market your programs and pharmacy.
- Proposed Health Insurance Rate Changes for Exchange Released (ktvn.com)Additional information on proposed rate changes can be accessed by visiting the Division's website (healthrates.doi.nv.gov)
There will be four insurance companies offering insurance plans on the Exchange with a total of 24 individual health plans to choose from between Clark, Washoe and Nye counties in 2018...The Nevada Division of Insurance has posted a summary of proposed rate changes for Plan Year 2018 on the Division’s website. These proposed rate changes are for plans sold on the Nevada’s health insurance Exchange in the individual market..."Posting these rate changes on the website allows the Division to be transparent with Nevada’s consumers so that they have an opportunity to review these requests from insurance carriers," said Insurance Commissioner Barbara Richardson. "This is also an opportunity for consumers to submit their comments to the Division during this rate review process."...The average proposed rate change for the individual market on Exchange is an increase of 38%.
- New Pain Drug Likely To Face Price Challenges From Payers (forbes.com)
Centrexion Therapeutics announcing six-month data with its drug, CNTX-4975, for the treatment of moderate to severe knee osteoarthritis pain. The results are from a Phase 2b trial...and Centrexion is pretty excited by what has been seen so far:..The new data show large and statistically significant pain relief...a single 1 mg injection...resulted in large levels of pain reduction compared to baseline and statistical separation from placebo...These data represent the largest reductions seen in knee osteoarthritis reported for any drug treatment, marketed or in development…the active component is capsaicin...CNTX-4975 is "based on Centrexion’s proprietary STRATI technology (Synthetic TRans cApsaicin ultra-pure Injection), a highly potent, ultrapure, synthetic form of trans-capsaicin."...In certain ways, CNTX-4975 is reminiscent of the EpiPen. The active component of the latter is epinephrine, which, like capsaicin, is a drug that’s been known for decades. It’s the injector device, however, and not the drug, that drives Mylan’s proprietary position–and price–for the EpiPen. Similarly, the STRATI technology is what protects CNTX-4975 competitively, as anyone can easily access trans-capsaicin. In addition, epinephrine and trans-capsaicin are cheap drugs. These aren’t complex biologic molecules...The major cost will be for the STRATI technology...it is possible that Centrexion and its investors are going to demand premium pricing for the unprecedented pain relief...How will payers react?
- NCPA, APA File Brief in Federal Appeals Court in PBMs’ Case Against Arkansas Drug Pricing Transparency Law (ncpanet.org)
The National Community Pharmacists Association and the Arkansas Pharmacists Association have filed an amici curiae brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in support of the state of Arkansas and against a challenge by the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association to Act 900, passed by the Arkansas General Assembly in 2015. The ongoing legal battle has prevented Arkansas from implementing a more transparent system under which pharmacy benefit managers determine generic prescription drug reimbursements to pharmacies. In response, NCPA...issued the following statement:..."The Arkansas legislature approved Act 900 because it recognized that PBMs' secretive approach to determining generic prescription drug reimbursement was unfair to pharmacies and patients. Pharmacies deserve to know what their reimbursement will be for a medication, and that they can at least break-even on what they dispense. That's the kind of essential transparency Act 900 enacted. PCMA seems less interested in fairness and more interested in filling PBM corporations' pockets. They continue to spout specious arguments that would undermine legislators' intent...
- This Week in Managed Care: June 30, 2017 (ajmc.com)
Kelly Davio, Welcome to This Week in Managed Care from the Managed Markets News Network
- Chinese courts call for death penalty for researchers who commit fraud (statnews.com)
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth — a life for a lab book?...In the past few months, China has announced two new crackdowns on research misconduct — one of which could lead to executions for scientists who doctor their data...Scientists have been sounding alarms for years about the integrity of research in China. One recent survey estimated that 40 percent of biomedical papers by Chinese scholars were tainted by misconduct. Funding bodies there have in the past announced efforts to crack down on fraud, including clawing back money from scientists who cheat on their grants...Chinese...Ministry of Science and Technology proclaimed a "no tolerance" policy for research misconduct — although it’s not clear what that might look like...the mass retractions "seriously harmed the international reputation of our country’s scientific research and the dignity of Chinese scientists at large."...courts approved a new policy calling for stiff prison sentences for researchers who fabricate data in studies that lead to drug approvals. If the misconduct ends up harming people, then the punishment on the table even includes the death penalty...
- ‘Pharma bro’ Martin Shkreli heads into fraud trial (reuters.com)‘Pharma Bro’ defies advice to keep quiet before fraud trial (cnbc.com)
Martin Shkreli, the pharmaceutical entrepreneur vilified as the "pharma bro" for raising the price of a life-saving drug by 5,000 percent, will go on trial...for what U.S. prosecutors called a Ponzi-like scheme at his former hedge fund and a drug company he once ran…The charges that led to his arrest in December 2015...focus on Shkreli's management at Retrophin and the hedge fund MSMB Capital Management between 2009 and 2012...Prosecutors said Shkreli lied about MSMB's finances to lure investors and concealed devastating trading losses from them. They said he paid the investors back with money stolen from Retrophin…