Latest news with #KellyRyan
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Industry pushes back on Senate-backed Rx price cap idea
BOSTON (SHNS) – Less than two weeks after the Senate moved to create a new prescription drug price cap system in Massachusetts, an industry official warned against legislative 'leapfrog' that could complicate the most recent round of reforms. A top pharmaceutical industry lobbyist urged lawmakers to hit the brakes on an attempt to impose upper price limits on certain medications, arguing that the new regulations would come while another cost control law is still being implemented. Both a 23-page amendment added to the Senate's fiscal year 2026 budget and a much broader, 118-page standalone bill (S 868) would allow the Health Policy Commission to impose upper price limits on some prescription drugs to cap what patients, providers and pharmacies pay. Kelly Ryan, deputy vice president for state policy at the influential industry group PhRMA, told legislators Monday the proposal would 'leapfrog substantial legislation enacted here in Massachusetts just this past December,' referring to a new prescription drug price control law. That law limited patient costs to no more than $25 for certain name-brand medications to treat chronic illnesses and eliminated those costs for similar generic options. It also created a new licensure process for pharmacy benefit managers, and stood up an Office for Pharmaceutical Policy and Analysis within the HPC. 'Where the bill before you focuses primarily on manufacturers when we're looking at pricing, the office is tasked with looking at the broader supply chain, providing detailed analysis, reports and policy recommendations,' Ryan told the Health Care Financing Committee at a hearing about the new bill. 'We urge the committee to let that work proceed before taking any next steps.' The Senate has not embraced the industry call to slow down. In late May, before lawmakers heard testimony on the larger bill at a public hearing, the Senate adopted a budget rider that would empower the HPC with the ability to cap certain drug costs and set limits on what Bay Staters pay. Sen. Cindy Friedman, who co-chairs the Health Care Financing Committee and authored both the bill and the amendment, said during budget debate the upper price limit measure builds on the new law with 'one more step in that direction.' 'Pharmaceutical companies should be thrilled to have their drugs go through this because they should have enormous value, right?' she told Ryan during Monday's hearing. 'We're looking for drugs that are very high cost with lots and lots of value. We want to know about that, and we're willing — we believe people should be willing to pay for that. It would seem to me this would work in your favor because, I would hope, your drugs have enormous value.' A handful of other states have pursued similar price caps, prompting legal battles. Ryan said 'not one [state's system] has been implemented to date.' 'States have spent years and millions of dollars, and not a single patient has been impacted,' she said. 'In fact, patients are likely going to be negatively impacted by [upper price limits].' Health care spending in Massachusetts continues to surge well beyond state targets for cost containment, burdening many household budgets and putting care out of reach for some low-income residents. While the Senate budget amendment focuses on prescription drug price caps, Friedman's underlying bill reaches into many other areas of reform, including by giving regulators more flexibility to examine an individual hospital, health system or insurer's spending. The legislation would also boost penalties for failure to comply with cost control plans and give the Division of Insurance new tools to modify premium rate increases, according to a summary produced by advocacy group Health Care for All. 'It is individuals, families and businesses who will ultimately bear the burden of these costs, both through increased premiums and growing out-of-pocket costs. An unacceptable 40% of residents continue to report challenges affording care,' Alex Sheff, senior director of policy and government relations at Health Care for All, said. 'These costs come on top of the growing cost of living, challenges that leave residents with impossible choices between paying rent and getting the health care that they need.' The Health Care Financing Committee is weighing a suite of other bills supporters say would rein in health care costs and promote affordability. Committee co-chair Rep. John Lawn said at the start of Monday's hearing that the panel 'must put more focus on all areas of the drug supply chain' to understand what causes high drug prices. Another proposal before the panel (H 1398 / S 899) would require hospitals receiving state funding to compensate their CEOs at a rate no more than 50 times the amount that the hospital's lowest-paid worker earns. Dr. Taylor Walker, a physician at Cambridge Health Alliance and president of the physician union CIR SEIU, said 44 of 57 health care CEOs in Massachusetts earn more than 50 times the salary of their institution's lowest-paid worker. Rep. John Moran asked Walker if the CEO compensation limit could push health care executives to leave for higher-paying roles elsewhere, such as in the pharmaceutical sector. 'I'd say the problem is actually not losing talent because we don't want to pay CEOs $6 million a year. The problem is that we're losing talent because we don't want to pay our doctors who are actually taking care of our patients, and we don't really give a shit about the people who are taking care of our communities,' Walker said. 'This is something that is absolutely maddening.' WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Washington Post
28-05-2025
- General
- Washington Post
The White House keeps promising ‘lifesaving' aid that's not coming
Kelly Ryan is the president of Jesuit Refugee Service/USA. Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared last week before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, where he spent much of his testimony responding to criticisms of the Trump administration's use of executive orders in January to dismantle congressionally authorized foreign assistance. The cuts and freezes have sent aid groups scrambling to triage help for desperate communities.
News.com.au
22-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Real Estate Institute of Victoria CEO Kelly Ryan announces shock departure
Real Estate Institute of Victoria chief executive Kelly Ryan has left the property industry group's top job almost exactly a year after stepping into the role. The former Netball Victoria boss joined the REIV as the group's first female CEO in May, 2024. Ms Ryan had also previously held roles leading operations for customer experiences at Marvel Stadium and had been chief marketing officer at the Western Bulldogs and helped set up the side's AFLW team. Ex-Netball Australia CEO Kelly Ryan named new Real Estate Institute of Victoria chief exec 'It has been a difficult decision to make as I have been fortunate to work with some incredibly talented people across the industry,' Ms Ryan said. 'However, the desire to pursue my own business interests has been an ambition for some time and the opportunity has now arisen to take advantage of this moment. I would like to thank the Board, staff and broader industry for supporting me across my time.' In a statement, the REIV said Ms Ryan had led with 'exceptional dedication, professionalism, and clarity of purpose'. They acknowledged her work in renewing their status as a Registered Training Organisation, helping to deliver a new Constitution and the relocation of their headquarters from Camberwell to Abbotsford. Just prior to Ms Ryan's appointment, the Institute bought a $10m new home in Abbotsford. It followed the $26m sale of their home of more than three decades at 335 Camberwell Rd, Camberwell, in 2023. Industry sources have indicated the industry body was grappling with Ms Ryan's departure earlier this week. The ex-chief executive initially indicated to journalists she would be attending a state budget lock up on behalf of the Institute this week — but did not attend. Reaction commentary wound up coming from REIV president Jacob Caine. Mr Caine has been appointed as interim chief executive and is taking a leave of absence from its Board to do so. The Institute's Vice President Sam Hatzistamatis will become president, having first been appointed to the Board in 2022. The REIV will seek a new chief executive in a nationwide hunt they say will 'commence shortly'.
