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What We’re Reading: EU Proposes Drug Overhaul; Potential New Rules From CMS; Paying New Antibiotic Developers
The European Union has proposed the biggest drug overhaul in 20 years, prompting industry conflict; CMS has proposed 2 new rules focused on increasing care access and quality of care for people enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program; proposed legislation would promise $6 billion for treatments of drug-resistant infections that win approval.
EU Proposes Drug Law Overhaul, Inciting Industry Conflict
On Wednesday, Brussels published a long-anticipated draft of its proposed revamp of laws governing the European Union’s pharmaceuticals industry, inciting warnings from drugmakers that they’ll invest and innovate somewhere else, reports Reuters. The proposal looks to cut the length of basic market exclusivity that drugmakers get before generics can join the market from 10 to 8 years, and companies would get 2 more years of protection if they launch their new drugs in all 27 member states within 2 years, in the biggest overhaul of existing medical laws in 20 years.
CMS’ Introduces Medicaid, CHIP Proposals
CMS proposed 2 new rules Thursday afternoon that broadly focus on expanding access to care, quality of care, and opportunities to offer feedback for people enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) fee-for-service and managed care plans, according to Fierce Healthcare. Some changes are designed to align delivery of services covered under the programs with their commercial counterparts, said officials, like a national maximum appointment wait time standard and stronger state monitoring and reporting requirements.
Congress Might Compensate Manufacturers of New Antibiotics
A bipartisan group of US senators and representatives has presented legislation intended to encourage drugmakers to create antibiotics and antifungal drugs to address a rising public-health threat, reported The Wall Street Journal. The proposed bills would commit $6 billion to the purchase of new drugs to treat drug-resistant bacteria and fungi that federal officials designate as vitally important targets and set up a committee of federal officials to collaborate with patients and doctors to decide which new treatments approved by the FDA the federal government should purchase, with manufacturers potentially able to receive $750 million to $3 billion for new drugs over several years. The drugs would be free to Medicare and Medicaid patients and veterans receiving health benefits from the VA system.
Urticaria Diagnosis Challenged by Overlapping Pruritic Skin Conditions
April 23rd 2025Urticaria is complicated to diagnose by its symptomatic overlap with other skin conditions and the frequent misclassification in literature of distinct pathologies like vasculitic urticaria and bullous pemphigus.
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New Research Challenges Assumptions About Hospital-Physician Integration, Medicare Patient Mix
April 22nd 2025On this episode of Managed Care Cast, Brady Post, PhD, lead author of a study published in the April 2025 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care®, challenges the claim that hospital-employed physicians serve a more complex patient mix.
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Personalized Care Key as Tirzepatide Use Expands Rapidly
April 15th 2025Using commercial insurance claims data and the US launch of tirzepatide as their dividing point, John Ostrominski, MD, Harvard Medical School, and his team studied trends in the use of both glucose-lowering and weight-lowering medications, comparing outcomes between adults with and without type 2 diabetes.
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ACOs’ Focus on Rooting Out Fraud Aligns With CMS Vision Under Oz
April 23rd 2025Accountable care organizations (ACOs) are increasingly playing the role of data sleuths as they identify and report trends of anomalous billing in hopes of salvaging their shared savings. This mission dovetails with that of CMS, which under the new administration plans to prioritize rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse.
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