The Rebate Rules Are Changing. Here’s What Pharma Needs to Do to Prepare

Posted by Howard Deutsch on Wed, Mar 20, 2019

Pranava Goundan co-wrote this blog post with Howard Deutsch.

In the classic political film, “The Candidate,” Robert Redford’s character, fresh off his victory, turns to his election strategist and asks, “What do we do now?” And the movie ends right there. The pharmaceutical industry now is facing a similar moment. After years of advocating for more transparent pricing and criticizing the rebate-for-access model for its perverse pricing incentives, pharma is on the cusp of partly getting its wish. But our movie doesn’t end there, so we must answer that question: What do we do now?

Trump’s Medicare Pricing Policy Could Mean Big Disruptions to Medical Benefits

Posted by Howard Deutsch on Tue, Nov 13, 2018

Gustavo Poblete co-authored this blog post with Howard Deutsch.

The Trump administration rolled out a significant policy proposal aimed at reducing the prices that Medicare pays for prescription drugs covered under the Part B medical benefit. While the policy is positioned as a “pilot” covering half the country, it will, if implemented as proposed, bring substantially greater disruption to drug pricing, contracting and distribution than purportedly envisioned by the government. Manufacturers with drugs covered under the medical benefit will need to fully reevaluate their strategies to adapt.

Who’s the Real Target of Trump’s Medicare Price Policy?

Posted by Howard Deutsch on Mon, Nov 05, 2018

Bill Coyle, Pratap Khedkar and Gustavo Poblete co-authored this post with Howard Deutsch.

When President Trump announced at the Department of Health and Human Services that the federal government would be taking “revolutionary” action on drug prices, he had harsh words for the “global freeloading” by foreign nations that demand low prices while saddling Americans with the high prices that fund pharmaceutical industry R&D. And he came with a plan: Medicare Part B prices will be lowered by indexing to drug prices in other wealthy nations.

What’s ‘BerkshAmazMorgan’ Really Capable Of?

Posted by Howard Deutsch on Tue, Feb 20, 2018

Bill Coyle, Paul Darling and Pratap Khedkar co-authored this post with Howard Deutsch.

This is the first post in a two-part series on the recently announced Berkshire Hathaway/Amazon/JPMorgan Chase healthcare venture. 

Look! Out in the distance! What’s that creature that’s destroying everything in its path? Why, it’s the scariest three-headed monster this side of Cerberus! It’s… it’s… it’s BerkshAmazMorgan! Will any of us be safe from this dreaded, rampaging beast?

Five Steps to Address the Pain Points of Co-Pay Accumulator Programs

Posted by Howard Deutsch on Wed, Jan 31, 2018

In the cat-and-mouse co-pay card game, payers have made their next move. Pharmacy benefit managers have been promoting “co-pay accumulator” programs to plan sponsors as a way to reduce specialty drug spending. Left alone, these programs will result in confused patients who are less likely to adhere to their medications, and high costs for pharmaceutical manufacturers. Pharma companies need to respond.