Regulatory and Washington

WASHINGTON — The Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation on Wednesday estimated that in 2018, 14 million more people would be uninsured if the American Healthcare Act were to be passed by the Senate, compared to the current law. After additional changes to subsidies for insurance purchased in the nongroup market and to the Medicaid program took effect, the increase in the number of uninsured people would rise to 19 million in 2020 and then to 23 million in 2026, according to CBO/JCT estimates.

WASHNGTON — FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb penned a blog Tuesday asking for ‘more forceful’ steps to stem the opioid crisis. The blog is listed in its entirety below.

"As commissioner, my highest initial priority is to take immediate steps to reduce the scope of the epidemic of opioid addiction. I believe the Food and Drug Administration continues to have an important role to play in addressing this crisis, particularly when it comes to reducing the number of new cases of addiction.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Direct and indirect remuneration fees and delayed maximum allowable cost adjustment ranked highest on scales of both magnitude and immediacy for rural pharmacists, according to new research released by the RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis.

WASHINGTON — Target CEO on Tuesday testified before a House of Representatives committee to discuss why the proposed Border Adjustment Tax, which taxes imports 20% while exempting exports, is a bad idea.

"Under the new border adjustment tax, American families — your constituents — would pay more so many multinational corporations can pay even less," he testified.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s proposed 2018 budget could include a reduction in funding for Medicaid programs, as well as a cut of $193 billion from food stamps during the next decade, according to The Associated Press. If the cut to food stamps comes to fruition, it would represent a cut of more than 25% and potentially affect up to 42 million people.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The National Community Pharmacy on Monday submitted its comments to the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, suggesting how to improve access to prescription drugs and essential health services for Medicare beneficiaries. The organization, writing on behalf of the roughly 22,000 independent community pharmacy owners, highlighted pharmacy’s role in facilitating patient healthcare access.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens will present the findings of five recently completed clinical studies at the 22nd Annual International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research Annual International Meeting, May 20-24 in Boston. Clinical abstracts from the studies being presented focus primarily on Walgreens efforts to improve medication adherence and patient outcomes through various pharmacy initiatives.
 

The other day, I saw a young man in baggy jeans — that ridiculously enormous cut from the late 90s/early 2000s that seemed to fit every waist size from 28 inches to 4.5 ft., and gave every person the illusion of being their own “after” picture in one of those bad billboard weight loss ads. It was just another reminder that either, for a lack of creativity or extremely bad taste, every bad idea that ever existed eventually will be recycled.