Senate To Tackle Medicare Physician Formula A bipartisan group of senators will tackle long-term reform of the Medicare physician pay formula. On 1/1, a 3.4% reduction went into effect due to the existing formula.  Some have accused physicians of spending more time lobbying on health plan prior authorization reform than on their own rate issues. #medicare #physicians Link to Article CMS Wants Tougher Regulation Of Accrediting Organizations A proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) wants reform of how accreditation organizations operate, including conflict of interest and other requirements in force for other organizations. CMS Fact Sheet here: https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/accrediting-organization-proposed-rule-fact-sheet Additional article here: https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/regulatory/cms-proposes-greater-oversight-consulting-limitations-accrediting-organizations (Some articles may require a subscription.) #cms #healthplans Link to Article Provider Lobbies Pushing PA Reform At State Level A number of states have enacted and more will enact broad reforms of prior authorization (PA).  Generally these reforms revolve around electronic PA transmission,

Weighty Lesson For Employers From NC State Employee Plan Experience On GLP-1 Drugs A lesson for employer groups as weight-loss drugs take off in popularity.  An analysis of data says that just 25 of over 6,200 prescribers in the North Carolina State Employee Plan accounted for 8 percent of the costs of prescriptions for costly weight loss drugs. These include GLP-1 meds Wegovy and Saxenda. These drugs accounted for 10% of total costs – or over $100 million. The state wanted to rein in costs with some ideas, but its pharmacy benefit manger shot them down. Shame on the healthcare players to not work with employers battling these cost issues. As important, there are telehealth entities now emerging, backed by private equity, advertising solely to prescribe such meds.  It is corrupt. #weightlossdrugs #drugpricing Link to Article Good News From Oscar Health; It Favors ACA Subsidy Extension Oscar reported major enrollment

House Republicans Vote To Ban QALYs House Republicans passed a bill to ban the use of the controversial Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALY) measurement in federal programs.  Additional article here: https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/payers/house-republicans-vote-ban-pricing-metrics-federal-programs #qalys #medicare #medicaid Link to Article Fitch Says MA Trends Will Mean A Credit Neutral Outlook Fitch Ratings says that the spike in medical expense and rate reductions in Medicare Advantage (MA) will end up being credit neutral, arguing plans are well-placed to weather a storm. #medicareadvantage Link to Article Even With Good 2023, CVS Health Saw Utilization Spike and Cuts Its 2024 Outlook CVS Health is cutting its 2024 outlook in the face of a utilization and medical expense spike at insurer Aetna. It otherwise had good 2023 results.  CVS also agreed with Humana and Centene that the 2025 rate announcement was inadequate. Additional articles here: https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/payers/cvs-earns-350-billion-revenue-2023-over-77-billion-profit and https://www.modernhealthcare.com/insurance/cvs-health-medicare-advantage-utilization-2024 and https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2024/02/07/cvs-health-profits-hit-2-billion-as-company-benefits-from-new-provider-businesses/?sh=443dc8d5507b (Some articles may require a subscription.) #cvshealth