Category Archives: Alternative Payment Models

On October 13th our friends over at STAT  broke the news [sorry, Paywall] about a “warranty” pilot program from Pfizer that offers both patients and health plans (including Medicare Part D plans) the opportunity to receive a refund for any amounts paid to purchase the company’s longstanding oral lung cancer therapy XALKORI when use is discontinued in the first three months for clinical reasons.… More

My colleague Ross Margulies has already told our readers about a provision of the new proposed Medicaid regulation governing how the program pays for outpatient prescription drugs under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, or MDRP.  Today, we turn our attention to another provision of that proposed rule, and that is CMS’s attempts to permit pharmaceutical manufacturers, states, and commercial payers to enter into value based payment arrangements for covered outpatient drugs. … More

It was a busy day for CMS today. After keeping everyone in suspense for months, CMS finally issued its decision on the Massachusetts state Medicaid program waiver request that proposed to limit access to covered outpatient drugs to Medicaid (in Massachusetts, called “MassHealth”) enrollees.  As many observers predicted, CMS did not approve the state’s request.  Notably, however, the CMS response letter provided a pathway for Massachusetts to achieve a substantially similar result. … More

Since August, 2017, a new class of transformative therapies referred to as cell therapies or gene therapies have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  These new cell and gene therapies are typically administered once, as opposed to repeatedly over the course of the patient’s lifetime.

Payers, providers, and manufacturers have been considering how existing payment systems – particularly Medicare and Medicaid – can recognize the value of these new treatments. … More

Introduction

Over the course of the last several blog posts, we’ve discussed how the Medicaid program could potentially be transformed under the incoming Trump Administration.  We also described the central role that state-led demonstration waivers would play in defining the parameters of this transformation.  Now, the association for State Medicaid directors is weighing in on precisely this issue.  The National Association of State Medicaid Directors (NAMD)recently published a document laying out the group’s priorities for the Medicaid program in the first 100 days of the incoming Trump Administration. … More

Currently, nearly 10 million Americans are dually-eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. These “dual eligibles” are low-income seniors and individuals with disabilities who are separately eligible for and receive coverage under both the Medicare and Medicaid programs.  In general, Medicare acts as the primary payer for dual-eligibles, while Medicaid provides “wrap-around” coverage for these individuals, helping with some out-of-pocket costs (such as premiums, copayments and deductibles) and offering coverage for services not otherwise covered by Medicare (vision,… More