Drug Pricing Transparency Congress

Drug Pricing Transparency Congress
Hybrid Event
March 28-29, 2022 | Philadelphia, PA
www.informaconnect.com/drug-pricing-transparency

Don’t miss the Drug Pricing Transparency Congress on March 28-29, 2022! You'll be part of the important discussions on how current and future drug pricing transparency regulations will impact commercialization, reimbursement, pricing and compliance practices. Experts will assess how companies are planning internally for these changes, provide updates impacting drug pricing transparency and explore what’s to come in 2023.

Visit www.informaconnect.com/drug-pricing-transparency for further details and to register. Drug Channels readers will save 10% off when they use promo code 22DRCH10 and register prior to March 4, 2022.*

The 2022 unique format includes 2 days of in-person programming, plus a virtual offering with live streaming of select sessions and recorded presentations available on-demand for 10 business days. Both the in-person and virtual options will include networking opportunities to connect with industry peers and colleagues.

What you’ll experience…

• Attend the Industry Pulse Session to Analyze Benchmarking Results
• Join the Ask the Experts Panel Discussion to Discuss Challenges and Gain Practical Solutions
• Hear Updates in the BIO and PhRMA Address on Examining New Legislation and Addressing Current Industry Efforts
• Engage in Conversation on State Drug Price Transparency Tools and Strategies to Ensure Operational Readiness
• Gain Insights into Implications and Requirements for New Product Launches
• And More!

View the agenda to see the complete picture—the program, speakers, and more!

Visit www.informaconnect.com/drug-pricing-transparency for further details and to register. Drug Channels readers will save 10% off when they use promo code 22DRCH10 and register prior to March 4, 2022.*

*Cannot be combined with other offers or used towards a current registration. Cannot be combined with special category rates or other offers. Other restrictions may apply.

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The content of Sponsored Posts does not necessarily reflect the views of Pembroke Consulting, Inc., Drug Channels, or any of its employees. To find out how you can promote an event on Drug Channels, please contact Paula Fein (paula@drugchannels.net).

A Solution to the Medicare Copay Problem

Today’s guest post comes from Jeff Berkowitz, CEO of advisory firm Real Endpoints.

Jeff describes problems with Medicare copays that reduce adherence and persistence among seniors. He then describes RE Assist, Real Endpoints’ tech-enabled solution with key information on foundations for more than 30 diseases.

To learn more about Medicare copayments and how the RE Assist solution helps patients, register to view Real Endpoints’ free webcast: Solving the Medicare Co-pay Dilemma.

Read on for Jeff’s insights.

Still Not Skyrocketing: New CMS Data Reinforce the Truth About U.S. Drug Spending

The boffins at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently dropped the latest National Health Expenditure (NHE) data, which measures all U.S. spending on healthcare. (See links below.) These data provide our first official look at how the pandemic has affected U.S. healthcare spending.

Today, I examine the key insights from these latest figures.

As you will see, outpatient drug spending remains a small—and shrinking—share of the $4.1 trillion spent on U.S. healthcare. What's more, drug spending again grew more slowly than overall healthcare spending.

Meanwhile, consumers shoulder a much higher portion of this spending compared with their share of hospital spending.

Demonizing pharmaceuticals as a driver of U.S. healthcare spending growth is simply inaccurate. Sadly, our politicians and journalists will probably continue to ignore the facts in favor of their opinions.

Betting Big on Biosimilars: How Evolving Market Dynamics Will Impact Patient Access

Today’s guest post comes from Fiza Bari, Senior Solutions Consultant and GTM Liaison at MMIT.

Fiza discusses the impending influx of biosimilars and its effect on manufacturers, specifically in the immunology space.

To learn more, sign up for MMIT’s Immunology Biosimilars webcast. It's a moderated discussion with payers on how the changing market might impact their management strategies in immunology.

Drug Channels News Roundup, January 2022: Insulin G2N Update; OptumRx “Data,” HDHPs, 340B Projections, and Fun with the CDC

Super Bowl LVI is on the horizon. Time for some blow-out beer commercials, occasionally interrupted by a football game. But who needs a Super Bowl party when you can tackle this month’s selection of notable news stories, intercepted for you from the Drug Channels gridiron:

• Offsides: A shocking update about the gross-to-net bubble for insulin

• Trick Play: OptumRx trolls us

• Fumble: High-deductible health plans foul out with patients

• Offensive Lines: The 340B program’s unstoppable growth

Plus, the CDC gets a snarky locker room pep talk on statistics.

P.S. Please join the nearly 13,300 fans who run after me at @DrugChannels on Twitter. You can also chase me on LinkedIn, where I have more than 23,000 followers. I kick off every day with links to neat stuff for you and no coin flips.

Four Big Implications for Patients and the Prescription Journey in 2022

Today’s guest post comes from Chris Dowd, Senior Vice President of Market Development at ConnectiveRx.

Chris discusses how COVID-19 is impacting stakeholders across the healthcare system, including patients, providers, pharmacies, and manufacturers.

On February 22nd at 1:00 pm ET, ConnectiveRx will host Four Big Implications for Patients and the Prescription Journey in 2022, a free webinar about the pandemic’s impact on key healthcare stakeholders.

Read on for Chris’ insights.

Five Takeaways from the Big Three PBMs’ 2022 Formulary Exclusions

For 2022, the three largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs)—Caremark (CVS Health), Express Scripts (Cigna), and OptumRx (United Health Group)— increased the number of drugs they excluded from their standard formularies.

Each exclusion list contains 400 to 500 products. Growth in the number of excluded drugs slowed, due partly to the fact that so many drugs have already been dropped from PBMs’ formularies.

Below, I highlight five observations about this year’s lists, including unexplainable differences in how PBMs handle specialty drugs, biosimilars, and insulin.

I also offer some thoughts on non-medical switching and what we still don’t know about how exclusions affect patients.

Let me know what you think by commenting below or on social media.

NEW: The Drug Channels 2022 Video Webinar Series

Join Dr. Adam J. Fein, CEO of Drug Channels Institute (DCI), for three live video webinars during 2022. These live, interactive events will be broadcast via Zoom from the Drug Channels Video studio in beautiful downtown Philadelphia.

Click here to order the Drug Channels 2022 Video Webinar Series

During these events, Dr. Fein will address the latest issues confronting the U.S. drug channel. Topics will be determined based on what’s happening—trends, policy changes, company announcements, and more. He’ll share DCI’s latest market data to help you stay on top of new developments. You will be able to use these events as both a capstone of your current learning and a touchpoint for the future.

The three events are scheduled for 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. ET on:

• April 22, 2022

• July 29, 2022

• December 16, 2022 (Drug Channels Outlook 2023)

PLUS: During each webinar, Dr. Fein will give participants an opportunity to unmute themselves and ask live questions. And after each event, each registrant will receive an email with links to register to view a replay of the event and to download the full slide deck.

Read on for a video invite and full details on pricing, including substantial discounts for multiple sites.

The 340B Rebate Model: A Solution to the Contract Pharmacy Controversy

Today’s guest post comes from Jeremy Docken, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Kalderos.

Jeremy describes Kalderos’ 340B rebate model. He discusses an independent research organization’s study of the 340B rebate model’s impact on covered entities’ cash flow.

To learn more, download the whitepaper: The Kalderos 340B Rebate Model In Action: Ensuring a Thriving and Sustainable 340B Program.

Read on for Jeremy’s insights.

The Retail Pharmacy Outlook for 2022

As I have highlighted in previous posts, retail pharmacies are experiencing a period of intense competition that continues to pressure prescription profits. What's more, the pharmacy shakeout is accelerating, as smaller competitors exit and larger companies reduce store count. 

In the video below, I provide a brief overview of key challenges facing retail pharmacy this year.

The video is excerpted from my Drug Channels Outlook 2022 video webinar. If you missed the live event, you can register to watch a replay.

Enjoy!

PCMA Business Forum

PCMA Business Forum
February 28 – March 1, 2022
JW Marriott Grande Lakes | Orlando, FL
Register Today!
www.pcma.com/businessforum

The PCMA Business Forum is PCMA's largest business networking and educational conference. PCMA’s PBM Members send a large number of executives from relevant business units including pharma and trade relations, specialty pharmacy, clinical and patient care services, and the c-suite. Dynamic conference activities for this two-day event include:

• 20+ timely and thought-provoking educational sessions featuring industry thought leaders. New for 2022, sessions will be broken out into three tracks:
• Strategic Insights – Our industries’ senior most thought leaders and decision makers (main stage sessions)
• Specialty Pharmacy insights and trends (breakout session track)
• Clinical and Patient Care collaboration (breakout session track)
• Pre-recorded PBM member company webinar briefings (for manufacturer registrants only)
• More than 15 hours of CPE sessions
• Dedicated time and private facilities for customer meetings
• Pre-conference networking through the virtual conference platform. The virtual platform includes a full attendee list, the ability to message and send meeting requests to other attendees, hotel maps and meeting room locations, and much more

Register Today!

Contact PCMA
Please contact Kayla Firriolo (kfirriolo@pcmanet.org) with questions or to request further information.

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The content of Sponsored Posts does not necessarily reflect the views of Pembroke Consulting, Inc., Drug Channels, or any of its employees. To find out how you can promote an event on Drug Channels, please contact Paula Fein (paula@drugchannels.net).

Tales of the Unsurprised: Brand-Name Drug Prices Fell for the Fourth Consecutive Year

Reality has again failed to cooperate with the politically motivated cries of “skyrocketing drug prices” or anecdotes about companies “jacking up prices” (as President Biden recently claimed).

Brand-name drug prices continue to decline, while the prices of other healthcare products and services continue to rise. For 2021, brand-name drugs’ net prices dropped for the fourth consecutive year. Meanwhile, brand-name drug list prices grew more slowly than overall inflation. What’s more, we project that the gross-to-net bubble for patent-protected brand-name drugs will exceed $200 billion in 2021. See our updated analysis below.

The factors that drive declining brand-name drug prices remain for 2022, suggesting that these trends will continue.

Pharmaceuticals account for less than 15% of U.S. healthcare spending—but absorb 99% of the political heat and attention. Let’s hope that this peek through the truth binoculars intrudes on any future legislative attempts to address drug pricing and the reimbursement system.