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Axios
22-05-2025
- Health
- Axios
Top moments from Axios' Future of Health summit
Axios has some of the biggest voices in health care on our stage Wednesday at Planet Word in D.C. to talk about the major trends in technology, policy and business transforming how we give and receive medical care. The big picture: We're making it easier for you to follow along with our Future of Health Summit. ICYMI... 🫶 Journalist Katie Couric talked to Axios' Erica Pandey about losing loved ones to cancer, including her late husband Jay Monahan, who died in 1998. Through those experiences, she felt more informed when she got her own early-stage breast cancer diagnosis in 2022. She urged women to find out if they have "dense breasts" and explore which screenings beyond mammograms — including ultrasounds or MRIs — can best detect abnormalities, which can be like "looking for a snowball" in a snowfield. 💼 Oscar Health CEO Mark Bertolini talked to Axios' Tina Reed about conveying his priorities under the Trump administration: "You don't use certain words, like DEI, bad word ... I sit on the Verizon board, I chair their finance committee, our DEI effort is alive and well, it's just not called that anymore." 🩺 Dr. Anthony Sandler of Children's National Hospital told Axios' Alison Snyder that he is hopeful about the promise of personalized medicine. "I think we'll get smarter" about it, but the challenge will be creating a business model around it. 👀 Calley Means, a former health influencer turned White House adviser, told Axios' Maya Goldman that there is "a war on the American public having transparency" about their health and their treatment. 💊 Zocdoc CEO Oliver Kharraz told Axios' Tina Reed that the next stage of technology in medicine could incorporate "superhuman" augmentative artificial intelligence. 🧮 Rep. Greg Murphy told Axios' Victoria Knight the one word he would pick to describe the GOP health care agenda in the Trump administration so far is "accountability." 🏛️ Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wi.) slammed RFK's testimony before Congress earlier Wednesday in an interview with Axios' Peter Sullivan. She said it was "deeply troubling" that he was confirmed for his position.
Axios
23-04-2025
- Business
- Axios
New Arkansas law aimed at restricting companies from influencing drug prices is first of its kind
At least half a dozen states are weighing new restrictions aimed at limiting pharmacy benefit managers' ability to influence drug prices, including prohibitions on steering business to affiliated pharmacies. Why it matters: With Congress gridlocked on PBM legislation, more states are taking the lead in addressing industry practices that critics say drive up costs and are pushing independent pharmacies out of business, Axios' Tina Reed writes. Driving the news: Last week, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a first-in-the-nation law barring PBMs from owning pharmacies in that state. 39 state attorneys general have urged Congress to enact similar similar curbs, saying the companies "wield outsized power to reap massive profits at the expense of consumers." Zoom in: The Arkansas law, Act 624, received bipartisan support in the state legislature plus endorsement from the Arkansas Pharmacists Association. "PBMs are massive corporations that negotiate drug prices between pharmacies and insurance companies," according to a news release from Sanders' office. "However, in recent years these PBMs have bought up pharmacies, allowing them to take advantage of the convoluted healthcare landscape, inflate pharmaceutical prices and push competitors out of business." Zoom out: Among the states that might follow suit is Indiana, which is weighing legislation that would ban PBMs from owning pharmacies or having ownership ties with health carriers. Mississippi is working on a measure that would end the practice of "spread pricing," in which PBMs charge an insurer more than they pay a pharmacy for a drug, and pocket the difference. The bill also would restrict patient steering to affiliates and require mandatory data reporting to the state. Connecticut, Iowa, Maryland, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Virginia also have bills pending. In March, Alabama passed a requirement that PBMs reimburse independent pharmacies at rates no less than those paid by Medicaid. The intrigue: Large PBMs often are vertically integrated with insurance carriers, and critics say they're capable of funneling the majority of volume and profits directly to insurers and employers. The other side: The Arkansas measure drew sharp criticism from the trade group representing PBMs, which said it would force the closure of dozens of retail pharmacies, suspend home delivery of prescription drugs and restrict access to specialty pharmacies. PBMs like UnitedHealth Group's Optum Rx, which said it had "serious concerns" about the measure and was working with the state to ensure access to drugs for vulnerable populations. Patients who receive integrated mental health services that include medicines via an Optum-owned pharmacy for schizophrenia and severe depression could be cut off from their drugs, while cancer patients who get their specialty medications at home could lose that access, Patrick Conway, the CEO of Optum Rx, said during UnitedHealth Group's first-quarter earnings call.
Axios
10-02-2025
- Health
- Axios
Utah's embrace of weight loss drugs: slow but steady
Utah has one of the nation's lowest rates of prescriptions for anti-obesity GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic — but their usage is rising. The intrigue: After a flush of celebrity endorsements early on, the drugs were popularly seen as a luxury cosmetic intervention — along the same line as plastic surgery, which is famously commonplace in Utah. Yes, but: With expanding insurance coverage, the drugs are becoming more accessible and more widely viewed as a medical treatment for obesity.. Zoom out: The states with the highest rates of GLP-1 prescriptions are also the states with the highest obesity rates, with West Virginia at the top of both lists. That's according to insurance claims data provided to Axios by the health analytics company PurpleLab. The states with the lowest rates of use generally have some of the nation's lowest rates of obesity: Hawaii, D.C. and Rhode Island. Zoom in: About 2.3% of Utah adults obtained at least one GLP-1 prescription last year — a lower share than all but eight other states. More than 299,000 doses were dispensed here — a 6.1% increase from 2023. The big picture: PurpleLab's data offers a snapshot of the sustained increase in demand across the U.S. for the drugs hailed as game-changers in the fight against obesity, Axios' Tina Reed reports. More than 20 states saw double-digit growth in prescriptions. Between the lines: The most prescriptions went to adults ages 55 to 65 (29%), followed by seniors 65 and older (26%). That likely contributes to the low rate of use in Utah, the youngest state. Follow the money: The vast majority of prescriptions went to commercially insured patients while only 9% were written for Medicaid patients. 17% went to patients on Medicare.
