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What We're Reading: PBM Industry Oversight; Florida Foreign Drug Importation Bill; Ebola Jumps Border
The American Medical Association has called for intensified oversight of the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) industry; the governor of Florida has signed a bill into law that would allow state residents to access cheaper medication through 2 prescription drug importation programs; the Ebola virus has crossed international borders during the second-worst outbreak in history.
AMA Calls for Intensified Oversight of PBM Industry
The American Medical Association (AMA) issued a call during its annual meeting for intensified oversight of the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) industry. According to the AMA, PBMs have similar roles to insurers, yet face no similar oversight, and are hindering policy makers’ efforts to lower drug costs with their “byzantine” confidential contracts that drive increased costs for drugs without justification. The new policy calls for active regulation of PBMs by state departments of insurance and more transparency, according to The Center for Biosimilars®.
Florida Governor Signs Foreign Drug Importation Bill
Ebola Jumps Border as Case Is Confirmed in Uganda
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law yesterday that would allow state residents to access cheaper medication from Canada and other countries through 2 strictly regulated prescription drug importation programs, The New York Times reported. While the legislation must first be approved by the federal government, DeSantis said that President Donald Trump supports the initiative and has directed HHS to accept it. Upon approval, the plan would return to the Florida Legislature for final enactment and funding possibly next year.An Ebola case has been confirmed in Uganda, marking the first time the virus has spread across international borders during the current outbreak, according to The Hill. Aid workers from the US Agency for International Development and the CDC have started vaccinating and training healthcare workers in nations that border affected parts of the Congo, including Uganda, Rwanda, and South Sudan. The outbreak has become the second-worst in recorded history as the virus has infected at least 2062 individuals and caused 1390 deaths.
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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