A new cancer drug costs as much as a home down payment each month. Doctors say that's greed, not health care

CBC/Radio Canada

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) covered the impact of rising drug prices on patients. They mentioned ICER and West Health’s 2026 Launch Price and Access Report:

“The median net price for new drugs launched in the U.S. was more than $250,000 US last year, according to a new report from the Boston-based Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), up more than 35 percent from the $190,000 US median three years earlier.”

MUST READS

Politicians have failed to tackle health care affordability. It’s now voters’ rallying cry

STAT

STAT's Bob Herman published his latest article in the series, "Out of Pocket, Out of Reach," on the midterms and health care affordability:

"Voters across the country are furious over the high cost of health care, with resentment rippling across workers who get health coverage through their jobs. Polls from KFF, Pew Research Center, and CNN show Americans are fixated on health care costs even as prices for gas, groceries, and other necessities soar. That is leading to unprecedented support for more aggressive federal action on health care...

At a minimum, employers are expecting and supporting more federal and state regulation to rein in hospital and drug prices. Health care industry opposition and employer inertia have stymied wholesale changes over the past several decades, but the financial strain on workers and companies has made reform a priority."

Savings Across Drugs Under the GENEROUS Model in the US Medicaid Program

JAMA Health Forum

Researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health analyzed the potential savings for the GENEROUS model, in which state Medicaid programs will be able to access drugs at MFN prices:

“Our study suggests significant savings potential from the GENEROUS model, with an estimated net spending reduction of 30%. However, our aggregate savings estimate of $3.1 billion is significantly lower than other recent estimates. The difference is driven by estimates of best-price inputs into the rebate calculations."

Medicaid Cell And Gene Therapy Model Will Expand Beyond Sickle Cell To Rare Disease, Some Cancers

Pink Sheet

CMS is planning to open the Cell and Gene Therapy Access model to allow centralized outcomes-based contracting for gene therapies in the Medicaid program. Pink Sheet noted that while the current sickle cell disease program is growing rapidly, success may be difficult to emulate.

Drug Middlemen Will Soon Have to Share Details on How They Are Paid

The Wall Street Journal

The Trump administration will require the companies that manage hundreds of billions of dollars of drug spending to disclose details on how they get paid. Under a new regulation from the Labor Department expected to be released this week, pharmacy-benefit managers will have to provide their employer clients with granular information about the prices they pay for pharmaceuticals, as well as payments they receive from drugmakers, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The new rule is an effort to lower healthcare costs, said a Labor Department official, in line with an executive order from April 2025 and the Trump administration’s promise to significantly reform PBMs.

OTHER HEADLINES

• STAT: House lawmaker probes PBMs for ‘punitive’ audits of independent pharmacies
• Endpoints News: Employers accuse UnitedHealth of overpaying medical claims
• STAT: Lawmaker wants government watchdog to probe TrumpRx over claims about drug savings
• The Hill: Sanders, Wyden press insurers on Trump ACA coverage terminations
• The Associated Press: RFK Jr. eases access to unproven peptides despite opposition from FDA scientists

Key Upcoming Dates

• 11/2: Parkinson's disease — Final Evidence Report
• 11/30: Hypertension — Final Evidence Report
• 12/10: Friedrich's Ataxia — Evidence Report

Learn more about ICER’s ongoing and recently completed reports:

• Depression: Treatment-Resistant
• Friedreich’s Ataxia
• Huntington's disease
• Hypertension
• Parkinson's Disease

Email info@icer.org for more information.

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