About pharma
31 biopharmas at high risk of bankruptcy in 2020: Interesting piece about biopharma firms at high risk of bankruptcy next year. The most well-known is Teva. “While bankruptcy is a rare outcome for biopharmas, 2019 has bucked that trend with an uptick in Chapter 11 filings. Eleven companies have declared bankruptcy so far this year, compared to an average of four per year during the past decade, according to a review of data tracked by the firm BankruptcyData.”
Big Pharma has failed: the antibiotic pipeline needs to be taken under public ownership: Interesting analysis of the problem and one solution.
Regulatory agenda lays out timetable for major rules on drug pricing, interoperability: “The Trump administration estimates it will release rules on drug prices and information blocking this month but punted finalizing a rule on interoperability until as late as 2022.” The Nifty Pharma Index hit a two month high today.
Generic-Drug Approvals Soar, But Patients Still Go Without (Wall St. Journal, subscription required): Nothing new in this article for those keeping track of this issue. But it is a nice summary of the problems bringing generics to market after FDA approval- particularly lawsuits by the brand manufacturers. The tactics pharma companies use to extend patents is extensively discussed in Chapter 7, Technology, in the text.
About health insurance
House stopgap funding bill delays payment cuts to safety net hospitals for a month: “The House passed on Tuesday on a stopgap government funding bill that includes a month delay of $4 billion in payment cuts to safety-net hospitals.
The bill, which passed by a vote of 231 to 192 and heads to the Senate, would delay the cuts to disproportionate share hospitals (DSH) until Dec. 21.” The cuts were mandated by the ACA.
Anthem plans sue for $100M in federal payments: What is unusual about this story is that usually small plans (like the startup COOPs) have sued the federal government for not paying for losses based on promised risk-corridor payments.
CMS withdraws guidance on Medicaid block grants from OMB website: No reason was given for this action; however, “CMS Administrator Seema Verma announced last week that the federal government will issue new guidance outlining initial opportunities for states to test new Medicaid financing approaches, such as block grant and per capita cap proposals, for certain optional adult populations.”
About the public’s health
Primary Care Appointment Numbers Dropping, Despite ACA: Reasons range from longer appointments to alternatives such as televisits. Specialist and ER visits have not increased.