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Weekly View
October 9, 2026
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The Health Economics Methods Advisory (HEMA) released a Draft Report focused on approaches for health technology assessment (HTA) bodies to evaluate, present, and communicate uncertainty in health economic evaluations.
HEMA has been convened by the leaders of three global HTA organizations to independently assess new methods and processes. The three institutions include ICER, England’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), and Canada’s Drug Agency (CDA-AMC).
This draft report will be open for public comment until November 2, 2026, providing a unique opportunity for all interested parties to engage in the report development process.If you are interested in submitting a public comment on the Draft Report, visit the HEMA website.
| | Let's see what else happened this week... | | |
On October 20th, ICER and West Health are releasing this year’s Launch Price and Access Report, an independent analysis of drug prices and patient access for newly launched FDA-approved treatments.
On October 27th, join us for a webinar to discuss the report findings. We'll host a conversation around launch prices and the implications for affordability and patient access. Key takeaways from the 2026 Launch Price and Access report will be presented by Foluso Agboola, MBBS, MPH, SVP of Research at ICER, to set the stage for a panel discussion moderated by Sarah K. Emond, MPP, President and CEO of ICER, highlighting opportunities for enhancing patient affordability and access to new therapies.
Panelists include:
- Rebecca Kirch, JD, EVP of Policy and Programs, National Patient Advocate Foundation
- Magda Rusinowski, MS, Vice President, Business Group on Health
- Namrata Kaur Uberoi, PhD, MPH, Executive Director of Health Care Cost and Affordability, West Health
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Researchers from Harvard's PORTAL, Columbia University, and Dartmouth College found median prices charged by drugmakers have ballooned more than six-fold in nearly two decades, from about $39,000 in 2008 to more than $250,000 in 2025. The steady rise of new drug list prices equals an annual hike of about 16%, according to the Sept. 30 study published in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA. They also referenced ICER's first Launch Price and Access Report (released in October 2025):
"For some diseases such as cancer, prices can run much higher. The recently approved breakthrough pancreatic cancer drug, Rasonque, launched this year at a price of about $480,000 per year. It's one of several new cancer drugs since 2024 with price tags exceeding $400,000, according to a report from the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review."
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STAT’s Bob Herman published the latest article in the “Out of Pocket, Out of Reach” series, about how employers are dealing with rising health care expenditures:
“Workers and employers are drowning in their health insurance premiums. The reason for that deluge: the health care industry’s high and inscrutable prices. Health insurers don’t set their premiums in a vacuum. The biggest factor is the care people receive. And the biggest factor driving the cost of that care, STAT has found, is not how often people are going to the hospital or doctor’s office, but the out-of-control prices charged by every part of the health care industry, which workers and businesses are often powerless to stop…
One thing is changing, however...state policymakers and employers... are signaling an openness to government intervention to curb health care costs — an idea normally anathema in the private sector.”
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Last week, the Trump administration finalized a demonstration program, called GLOBE, that was meant to tie some Medicare drug prices to what pharma companies got in overseas markets, where the cost of drugs can be much lower. And on Wednesday, the drug industry’s major trade group PhRMA sued the government over the program.
In the lawsuit filed in DC district court, PhRMA argued that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) demonstration program — which applies to Medicare’s Part B coverage of drugs given in a hospital or by physicians — usurped Congress’ lawmaking powers.
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Most states that have joined the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ GENEROUS model are viewing available drug pricing information rather than negotiating discounts.
An agreement to join the GENErating cost Reductions fOr US Medicaid (GENEROUS) program is a gateway to access confidential manufacturer pricing data. Each deal requires a separate, subsequent drug rebate agreement that most states have not yet executed.
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Researchers from Brown University School of Public Health and Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine analyzed the impact of out-of-pocket caps on total CMS expenditures:
“An OOP cap of $3000 annually was estimated to reduce beneficiary spending by $1568 per year, a cap of $5000 annually by $1138 per year, and a cap of $10 000 annually by $707 per year, while increasing annual Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services expenditures by $96 billion, $70 billion, and $39 billion.”
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The latest KFF Health Tracking Poll finds that health care continues to be a priority for voters:
"Health costs continue to be a top affordability worry for voters, tied with concerns about gas prices as in recent months. Six in ten voters are worried about being able to afford their health care costs, and about half of voters say it is 'extremely important' for candidates in the midterm elections to talk about the cost of health care—ranking alongside the cost of living as the top two issues voters want to hear candidates talk about in the closing weeks of the midterm campaigns."
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10/15: Friedrich's Ataxia — Draft Evidence Report
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10/20: ICER, West Health Launch Price and Access — Final Report
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10/27: Launch Price and Access — Webinar (Register here)
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10/29: Hypertension — Public meeting (Register here)
Learn more about ICER’s ongoing and recently completed reports:
Email info@icer.org for more information.
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