Friday Five: Top 5 healtcare business news items from the MCOL Weekend edition

Every business day, MCOL posts feature stories making news on the business of health care. Here are five we think are particularly important for this week:

Health secretary warns pharma: Administration will push ahead with drug pricing reforms

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Friday he would push ahead with drug pricing reforms despite pushback from the pharmaceutical industry.

The Hill

Friday, October 26, 2018

Trump Aims To Lower Some U.S. Drug Spending By Factoring In What Other Countries Pay

The Trump administration says it plans to change how Medicare pays for some expensive drugs for cancer and arthritis in a move to bring the costs more in line with the prices paid in European countries.

NPR

Thursday, October 25, 2018

U.S. 'turning the tide' on the opioid crisis, health secretary says

The U.S. is "beginning to turn the tide" on the opioid epidemic, HHS Secretary Alex Azar said Tuesday, pointing to new federal data showing a slight dip in overdose deaths last year.

Politico

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

CMS Broadens ACA Waiver Scope for State Insurance Programs

CMS has issued federal guidance intended to expand the scope and availability of state-level waiver programs.

HealthPayer Intelligence

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Medicaid expansion becomes key issue in GOP-leaning states

It’s helped them win every statewide office, control the Legislature and hold all the state’s congressional seats. So it was something of a surprise for Bob Tatum when he set out to ask his fellow Nebraskans if they would back a ballot initiative to expand Medicaid, one of the pillars of Obama’s health overhaul.

Associated Press

Monday, October 22, 2018

These and more weekly news items on the business of healthcare are featured in the MCOL Weekend edition, along with the MCOL Tidbits, and more, for MCOL Premium level members.