Pharmacy
Both sides of the aisle -- and even the former Eli Lilly exec himself -- expressed concerns over the ballooning drug prices and stressed the need to make pharmaceuticals more affordable.
Massachusetts wants the power to negotiate discounts for the drugs it purchases and to exclude drugs with limited treatment value.
Bill would negate a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services rule cutting $1.6 billion for drugs purchased by certain hospitals covered under the 340B program.
Suggestions include allowing enrollees to buy drugs at the pharmacy they prefer.
Pharmaceutical sales rep recruited patients to obtain expensive and medically unnecessary compounded medications.
Gurcharan Singh Kanwal admitted wrongdoing after caught prescribing meds illegally to undercover agent, the DOJ says.
Billing data from Medicare and private insurance billing nationwide shows spending on urine screens and related genetic tests quadrupled from 2011 to 2014 to an estimated $8.5 billion a year
Researchers stressed that the most qualified practitioners should be assigned to handle medication orders to keep patients as safe as possible.
The final rule will also allow for higher outpatient payment when Medicare beneficiaries receive certain procedures in a lower cost outpatient department.
In fact, prices for leukemia drugs increased by up to 95 percent, researchers found.