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Investigations
Congress Voices Bipartisan Support for FTC’s Fight Against Monopoly Power
American Economic Liberties Project During the first half of an oversight hearing in the House Judiciary Committee today, a bipartisan...
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Jul 14, 20235 min read
Bipartisan support on key panel for crackdown on pharmaceutical middlemen
The Washington Examiner Members of both parties on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability expressed support for the...
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May 30, 20233 min read
US Officials Probe a New Layer in Opaque Drug Pricing, Supply System
Round of subpoenas is the latest attempt to pierce industry Entities allow PBMs to ‘hide the ball,’ consultant says Bloomberg US...
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May 23, 20234 min read
A More Aggressive FTC Is Starting to Target Drug Mergers and Industry Middlemen
KFF Health News Under the leadership of an aggressive opponent of anti-competitive business practices, the Federal Trade Commission is...
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May 22, 20235 min read
Patients Often Lose in the Battle between Pharma and PBMs
Over the last five years, both PBMs and drug manufacturers have implemented restrictions that put more of the costs for specialty...
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May 20, 20239 min read
FTC Deepens Inquiry into Prescription Drug Middlemen
Agency issues orders to companies affiliated with CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, and Prime Therapeutics as it examines the PBMs’ impact...
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May 17, 20232 min read
Denied by AI: How Medicare Advantage plans use algorithms to cut off care for seniors in need
STAT+ News An algorithm, not a doctor, predicted a rapid recovery for Frances Walter, an 85-year-old Wisconsin woman with a shattered...
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Mar 16, 20239 min read
FTC’s Enforcement Action Against GoodRx Breathes New Life into Decade Old Regulation
Lexology The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) didn’t mince words. On September 2021, it called out the health app industry for failing to...
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Mar 9, 20237 min read
Middlemen Running Amok
The Cannon Reduced competition, shortages, and unaffordable options are symptoms of middlemen running amok. Administrators—who rarely...
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Feb 21, 20233 min read
I wrote about high-priced drugs for years. Then my toddler needed one.
As a health and science reporter, I’ve studied the maze of U.S. health care. But when my son got sick, I still got lost. The Washington...
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Feb 4, 202311 min read
How the FTC's crackdown on GoodRx could impact digital health
Axios Wednesday's crackdown by federal regulators on GoodRx highlights increasing efforts by the FTC under activist chair Lina Khan to...
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Feb 2, 20232 min read
With the FTC’s more expansive approach to antitrust, PBMs are in the crosshairs
STAT News The Democrats leading the Federal Trade Commission are hoping to expand the agency’s authority to crack down on unfair business...
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Jan 25, 20236 min read
FTC action on PBMs could be just what the doctor ordered to improve patient outcomes
A primer on prescription drug prices, pharmacy benefit managers, government action, and why physicians need to be heard. Medical...
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Jan 15, 20234 min read
Pharmacy Benefit Managers and the Federal Trade Commission: A Relationship Gone Sour
JAMA Authors: Barak D. Richman, JD, PhD1; Eli Y. Adashi, MD, MS2 On June 7, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced its...
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Jan 14, 20236 min read
Everyday High Prices
How discounting led to inflation, shortages, and inequality. Washington Monthly Magazine Author: Phillip Longman For years, the only...
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Jan 10, 202310 min read
Progressive lawmakers call on CMS to cull companies with history of Medicare fraud from ACO REACH
At least 10 organizations with records of healthcare fraud and abuse participated in the direct contracting program last year despite CMS...
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Dec 27, 20223 min read
How Medicare Advantage plans dodged auditors and overcharged taxpayers by millions
NPR In April 2016, government auditors asked a Blue Cross Medicare Advantage health plan in Minnesota to turn over medical records of...
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Dec 22, 20225 min read
How To Get Away With Corporate Murder: Unbundling And Disrupting Pharmacy Benefit Managers (Part 2)
This two-part article was researched and written in partnership with Cathy DuRei, President of Rumbly Health. Part 1 delved into what a...
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Nov 23, 20228 min read
Hidden audits reveal millions in overcharges by Medicare Advantage plans
NPR Shots: Health News Newly released federal audits reveal widespread overcharges and other errors in payments to Medicare Advantage...
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Nov 22, 20225 min read
How To Get Away With Corporate Murder: Unbundling And Disrupting Pharmacy Benefit Managers (Part 1)
Forbes If, as Mitt Romney said, a corporation is a person, then is it akin to murder if an idea takes down a company? What about if it...
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Nov 19, 20227 min read
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