By Samantha Young, Kaiser Health News Prescription drug costs for California’s massive Medicaid program were draining the state budget, so in 2019 Gov. Gavin Newsom asked the private sector for help. The new Medicaid drug program debuted this January, with a private company in charge. But it was woefully unprepared, and thousands of low-income Californians were left…
The Georgia House unanimously passed a bill Wednesday that would strip the prescription drug benefit function from Medicaid’s managed care companies. It’s the second House bill approved in as many days that targets financial practices of the three Medicaid insurers in Georgia. On Tuesday, the chamber passed mental health legislation (House Bill 1013) that would…
By Michael McAuliff Democrats in the Senate are primed this month to make their first attempt at salvaging one of the most popular elements of President Joe Biden’s stalled Build Back Better plan — the proposal to cap insulin costs at $35 a month. It might not go well. That’s true even though the idea of…
One House bill would make Georgia’s Medicaid managed care insurers face stricter requirements on how they spend their government dollars. There’s a second bill that has also captured their attention – an attempt to wrest control of patients’ prescription drugs from those health plans. House Bill 1351 would remove the function of the three managed…
The term “340B” sounds like a savings plan offered to an investor. In reality, it’s a health care program that does have a savings element to it – for both hospitals and patients. 340B is a drug pricing program that lets health systems save millions of dollars on drug costs, increasing access to prescription medicines…
By Jonathon Green, CEO, Taylor Healthcare Group, with Michael Azzolin, CEO, PharmD on Demand Rural hospitals across Georgia operate on razor-thin margins, providing a necessary service to communities in need. Due to financial issues, several rural Georgia hospitals have closed over the past decade, forcing those in need of care to travel greater distances for health care….
The misuse of an anti-parasite drug to treat or prevent Covid has spiked in recent weeks, leading to increased calls to poison centers. The CDC issued a health advisory Thursday warning doctors and the public about the use of ivermectin to treat the virus. The drug, used for roundworm infections and the mostly tropical disease known as river blindness, is not approved for Covid. The Georgia Poison…
Half of Americans take no prescription drugs. At the other end of the spectrum are people like Karen Milligan. She needs several drugs and pays a lot for them. She has dealt with multiple sclerosis for three decades. It’s disease of the central nervous system with no cure. At 65, Karen is seeing her drug costs continue to increase, even for the…
A big change in drug treatment for cancer is arriving in Georgia. It’s not a new medication. What’s coming is something known as “white bagging,’’ an insurer tactic involving expensive infusion or injection drugs. And at Crisp Regional Health Services in Cordele, Jennifer Taylor, an oncology nurse practitioner, is concerned about the ultimate effect on patient…
A state Senate committee passed a much pared-down version of legislation that would have restructured the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH). Senate Bill 256 went from 32 pages to two in its latest version, which received unanimous approval from the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Tuesday. The original version would have taken…