Costs Grow for Medicare Drugs
Prices for 10 of the most prescribed brand-name medications have risen nearly 7% since December under Medicare Part D insurance plans, while wholesale prices for the same drugs have risen just 3%, investigators from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee reported. The increases could indicate that despite initial success in containing drug prices, Part D plans may be losing some leverage over drug makers and drug prices, according to the investigators, who added that Part D premiums have jumped 13% over the past year. Meanwhile, the rebates insurers are getting from drug manufacturers are less than expected. The committee looked at prices for the top 10 drugs of 2004, most of which have no generic alternatives. For example, they found that the cost of a month's supply of Lipitor (atorvastatin) had climbed nearly 10% to more than $84 in mid-April, from about $77 in mid-December. Wholesale prices climbed 5% in that time. Pharmaceutical industry representatives disputed the panel's conclusions. “There is one big glaring omission in the Government Reform Committee's report: The Medicare prescription drug program continues to provide large cost savings to tens of millions of seniors and disabled Americans,” PhRMA Senior Vice President Ken Johnson said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the committee's report focuses on just a handful of medicines and tries to draw sweeping conclusions.”
Hospital CEOs See MD Shortage
More than two-thirds of hospital CEOs responding to a survey identified physician shortages as a serious problem that must be addressed soon, while more than three-quarters said that the nurse shortage is a serious problem, according to the Council on Physician and Nurse Supply, which commissioned the survey from health care staffing company AMN Healthcare. Almost all of the 400 CEOs responding said recruiting physicians was difficult or challenging, and almost all favored an expansion of physician training. Overall, 86% said they are currently recruiting physicians; 80% of those are looking for primary care physicians, and 74% are seeking specialists.
Washington, Kansas Pass Reforms
Governors in two states last month signed legislation aimed at expanding access to health coverage. In Washington, Gov. Chris Gregoire (D) gave final approval to a new law that includes a plan for covering more children and young adults by requiring that insurance carriers and state employee programs offer enrollees the opportunity to extend coverage for unmarried children up to age 25. The legislation also creates health record banks to improve provider-patient connectivity, and includes measures aimed at managing chronic illness better. In Kansas, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) signed into law a bipartisan measure that falls short of her goal of providing coverage for all state residents, but nonetheless puts the state “on a path toward coverage for all,” she said. The new law provides assistance to low-income uninsured families to help them buy private coverage, and includes grants to small businesses and loan guarantees to clinics that serve the uninsured. The measure also requires the state to develop a plan for full coverage by next year's legislative session.
Gender Differences in Care
Women with heart disease and diabetes are less likely to receive several types of routine outpatient care than are men with similar health problems, according to a Rand Corp. study published in the May/June edition of the journal Women's Health Issues. Researchers studied more than 50,000 patients, examining 11 different screening tests, treatments, or measurements of health status. Among people in commercial plans, women were significantly less likely than were men to receive the care evaluated in 6 of the 11 measures, while women enrolled in Medicare managed care plans were less likely to receive the care evaluated in 4 of the 11 measures. The largest disparity found by researchers was that women were less likely to lower their cholesterol to recommended levels after suffering an acute cardiac event, or if they had diabetes.
OxyContin Maker Pays Fine
Purdue Pharma and three current and former executives pleaded guilty last month in federal court to criminal charges that they misbranded the company's product, OxyContin (oxycodone). The company agreed to pay about $600 million in fines and other payments, while three top executives, including the company's president and its top attorney, agreed to pay a total of $34.5 million in fines. Misbranding involves promoting a drug in unauthorized ways, potentially for unapproved uses. U.S. Attorney John Brownlee said that Purdue and its executives had deliberately downplayed OxyContin's potential for addiction when promoting it and therefore persuaded physicians to prescribe it.