We Can Finally Cure Hepatitis C, but It’s Costing Taxpayers a Fortune
The cost of drugs for the liver disease in the first half of 2015 almost matches the total for all of 2014.
Browsing Tag
Part D
8 posts
A Major Loophole in the Health-Care Transparency Law: Nurses Don’t Need to Report Their Dealings With Drug Companies
New data on drug and device company payments to doctors largely excludes nurse practitioners and physician assistants, though they play an ever-larger role in health care. One advanced-practice nurse pleaded guilty last month to taking drug company kickbacks.
Fraud Still Plagues Medicare’s Prescription Drug Program
Medicare has increased oversight of its prescription drug program but many holes remain, allowing fraud and abuse to proliferate. Questionable practices were found at 1,400 pharmacies, which collectively billed Medicare $2.3 billion in 2014.
One Nation, Under Sedation
Congress wouldn’t allow Medicare to pay for benzodiazepines such as Xanax and Ativan until 2013. Now, the medications are among the most prescribed in its drug program.
The Federal Government Finally Releases Data on Doctors’ Prescribing Patterns
The move follows an investigation showing that Medicare did little to find dangerous prescribing by doctors to seniors and the disabled. It is also part of the government’s new push to bring transparency to taxpayer-supported medical care.
The Cost of a Cure
Medicare’s spending on drugs to treat hepatitis C soared more than 15-fold from 2013 to 2014 as new breakthroughs came to the market, according to previously undisclosed federal data. The drugs cure the disease, but taxpayers are footing the bill.
Medicare Finally Tightens the Reins on Its Drug Program
Medicare gives itself the power to ban physicians if they prescribe medications in abusive ways.
Medicare’s Drug Program Needs Stronger Protections Against Fraud
A new report finds that more than half of insurance companies in Medicare’s drug program haven’t reported fraud cases to the government. The findings echo an earlier investigation that found fraud flourishing in the program.