Trump Yet To Clarify Tariffs On Healthcare Products
Donald Trump has yet to decide how potential tariffs on pharmaceutical products will be structured. In February, Trump said that tariffs on pharmaceuticals and other essential products would be about 25% and that U.S. companies may get a phase-in period for imported goods, giving them time to shift production onshore.
In a new survey of 200 healthcare industry experts, 82% said they expect tariff-related import expenses to increase hospital and health system costs by 15%. So, most of the tariff costs will be passed through.
Additional article: https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/supply-chain/hospital-finance-supply-leaders-predict-15-increase-in-tariff-related-costs/
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#drugpricing #branddrugmakers #tariffs
HCSC Joins Big Leagues
An interesting article on Health Care Service Corporation’s recent acquisition of Cigna’s Medicare businesses. While Medicare Advantage (MA) has significant headwinds, HCSC leadership believes in MA’s long-term viability. It does not plan to become as much of a behemoth as the big national players or expand MA beyond the current footprint, but it pretty much joins the ranks of Big Healthcare. It has 26.5 million members and is the largest nonprofit and the largest member-owned health insurance company. It now has MA in 25 states and D.C. It also now has Part D nationally and Medicare Supplement in 48 states and D.C.
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#hcsc #medicareadvantage #healthplans
https://www.modernhealthcare.com/insurance/hcsc-medicare-advantage-strategy-cigna
Bill Of The Month Shows Complexity Of Healthcare
Interesting bill of the month story from Kaiser Health News. In the end, a massive bill was dropped to a reasonable amount. But the story shows confusion around short-term policies vs. more robust Exchange coverage, the complexities of understanding places of services and cheapest locations, and the ongoing outrageousness of hospital prices.
#surprisebilling #nosurprisesact #nsa
— Marc S. Ryan
